Garth Hudson, founder member of the Band and Bob Dylan collaborator, dies aged 87
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Hudson was the last remaining member of the folk-rock group, releasing 10 studio albums with them and touring with Dylan in his newfound electric period. Garth Hudson, the last remaining founder member of the Band, has died aged 87. The multi-instrumentalist, who played keyboards and saxophone for the bestselling 1960s folk-rockers as well as Bob Dylan, died peacefully in his sleep at the Woodstock nursing home he lived in, the executor of his estate confirmed to the Toronto Star.
Hudson’s variously spirited and melancholy organ lines were a key part of the Band’s sound – including his psychedelically vamping intro to Chest Fever – and he was also an accordionist, including on the Dylan-penned When I Paint My Masterpiece. Hudson was also responsible for recording and archiving the sessions that became The Basement Tapes, with the Band and Dylan playing ad-hoc songs in a house in upstate New York.
Born Eric Hudson into a family of musicians in Windsor, Canada, in 1937, Hudson played church organ, piano and accordion during his childhood and had written his first song by the age of 11. Still in his teens, he joined a band – later called the Kapers – in London, Ontario, where his family had moved.
Ronnie Hawkins and Levon Helm saw Hudson perform and wanted to recruit him to their group the Hawks – though Hudson initially resisted as he was planning on becoming a music teacher. After agreeing to teach music theory to the rest of the band as part of his employment with them, he joined the lineup, also featuring Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko and Richard Manuel – minus Hawkins, who they split from in 1963, they later became the Band.
