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The Weight By The Band & More
On The Acoustic

On this page you'll find The Weight by The Band and several other songs for the acoustic player to learn. View my acoustic demos and go ahead and grab the free downloadable .pdf chords and lyric sheets.

If required, you can purchase any full lesson video for a small fee.

The Weight By The Band

Jump links to quickly access the sections for The Band songs.


The Weight By The Band & More
Chords, Demos, Rhythm Tips, Tutorials

1. Evangeline

The Band never released this song Evangeline as a single. It appears on the box set entitled "The Last Waltz" from 1978 and is the soundtrack of the film of the same name.

Emmylou Harris appeared on this track with the group and then went on to cover the song with Dolly Parton on her album of the same name.

This was the original members of the band captured here performing before they split up and many have since passed on. There are only two chords in this song and they are G and a D.

  • Drop D Tuning = No
  • Capo = No
  • Rhythm = root down up down up bass down up down up and repeat
  • Picking = Yes
  • Chords = G, D
Chords & Lyrics

 

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2. Ophelia

This song is actually about heroine in case you were wondering.

It was written by band member Robbie Robertson and was one of the tracks on their 1975 album Northern Lights Southern Cross and it was also the lead single from the album.

As popular as The Band was, they never had a top 20 song in the US. Their highest ranking song was a #10 in Canada. This particular song reached #62 on the US charts.

Vince Gill and My Morning Jacket have covered the song.

  • Drop D Tuning = No
  • Capo = No
  • Rhythm = down down up down up and repeat
  • Picking = Yes
  • Chords = G, B7, A7, C, D, E, C7, D7
Chords & Lyrics

 

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3. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

In 1969 this song hit the airwaves and was The Band's highest charting song at #10 in Canada and #25 in the US. It was from the album "The Band".

Joan Biaz had a #3 hit with her version a few years later in 1971. The song is about the last year of the American Civil War and was researched by Robbie Robertson and Levon Helm before the story was developed around the melody that Robertson already had at the time.

The chords in this song are pretty simple with a G - C - Em, D and an A.

  • Drop D Tuning = No
  • Capo = No
  • Rhythm = root down up root up down up and repeat
  • Picking = No just a few riffs
  • Chords = G, Em, C, A, D
Chords & Lyrics

 

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4. The Weight

In 1968 the debut album from The Band called "Music From Big Pink" was released and also this single called "The Weight". The song reached #63 in the US, #35 in Canada and #21 in the UK on the charts.

There were several releases of the song and it was also covered by Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross and The Supremes as well as The Temptations.

When The Band first signed to Capitol Records for their first album, they were called The Krackers. But for this album they had switched their name and it remained that way. This is probably the best known song by The Band. 

  • Drop D Tuning = No
  • Capo = No
  • Rhythm = down down down down up with a few shuffles in various places
  • Picking = Yes
  • Chords = G, C, C/G, Bm, D, D/Gb, Em  
Chords & Lyrics

 

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5. Up On Cripple Creek

Band members Robbie Robertson and Levon Helm co-wrote this one and it was the fifth single from theie 1969 album "The Band".

The Band also performed on The Ed Sullivan Show back in  November of 1969 and this was the song they performed.

It reached #25 on the Billboard Hot 100. Another simple chord structure here using the A, D, E , G and Gbm chords.

  • Drop D Tuning = No
  • Capo = No
  • Rhythm = down up up down up down up and repeat
  • Picking = No
  • Chords = A, D, E, Gbm, G
Chords & Lyrics

 

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Thanks for stopping by The Weight by The Band page and I hope you found some useful information here. I'll be adding more of The Band greatest hits to this page over time.

The Band Wiki Page


If you liked The Band page you might also like ... (click images)

The Band Documentary



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