The Band

Perhaps one of the most underrated Band albums, Cahoots finds the mostly Canadian outfit rocking their fourth LP with stride-hitting perfection. With Allen Toussaint's horn arrangements, a duet with Van Morrison and a country-funk version of Dozier/Holland's "Don't Do It," Cahoots dares you to get up and dance like a drunken hobo.

"Run away--run away--it's the restless age," sings the Band at the beginning of Cahoots
(Capitol SMAS 651) and they mean it. They also mean it when they sing of the endlessness of
the river, admonishing the listener that "You can ride on it or drink it,/Poison it or dam
it,/Fish in it and wash in it,/Swim in it and you can die in it, run you river run ..." Cahoots is
about finding a place for yourself in the restless age. The mood of the album is fil... More >

Whew, these fellows can really play. They cook on "Smoke Signal," and you should hear the guitar solo on "Last of the Blacksmiths." Seem overly worried about the passing of the world as they know it, though--not just blacksmiths, but eagles, rivers, trains, the works. (Grade - B-)