On this week's episode, we discuss the Band and their second LP, The Band (also affectionately known as the Brown Album).  With 50 plus years having passed, its difficult to understand the impact the Band had on the music industry, but it was HUGE. It is also hard to find a band that incorporated more American music traditions into their sound than the Band did, which is odd when you consider all but one of the members was Canadian. After years of honing their skills in individual groups, they found each other while playing together as unit backing rockabilly great Ronnie Hawkins and later backing the newly electrified Bob Dylan. On this, their second album, the Band continues the exploration of musical genres and lyrical themes they started with the debut album: Music From Big Pink.  Like its predecessor, The Band is a collection of outstanding songs played expertly by some of the best musicians in all of rock. Yet The Band  feels like a more cohesive statement and may arguably be their masterpiece. And it is fitting that we explore this album in the wake of the recent passing of main songwriter and guitarist, Robbie Robertson.