This year marked 30 years since Richard Manuel committed suicide in a Winter Park, Fla., motel room. It’s time for a formal anthology chronicling his career.
The inherent problem is Manuel was not a solo artist. But, pulling quality recordings from concerts and studio outtakes would give an intriguing insight into the artists and make for a worthy addition to The Band’s discography.
It’s hard to know for sure what is in the vaults. But, any potential collection, for starters, must include “In a Station,” “Just Another Whistle Stop,” “Tears of Rage” and “You Don’t Know Me.”
What about an official release of “Georgia on My Mind” from The Last Waltz? Or, one of the rare live performances of “In a Station” or perhaps “Tears of Rage” with horns?
Surely, there is room for debate and discussion about what tracks should be on the list. If nothing else, this would be a great way to formally release some recordings from the Band that might not otherwise see the light of day.
Plus, it would be a great way to honor a great musician.
For the sake of argument, here is a potential tracklist (add your thoughts to the comments):
- Tears of Rage (perhaps an unreleased live version)
- In a Station (perhaps an unreleased live version)
- I Shall Be Released (didn’t Levon Helm mention a non-falsetto version was recorded during the Big Pink sessions?)
- Lonesome Suzie
- We Can Talk (either an outtake from the Big Pink sessions or a live version, such as at Woodstock)
- Working in the Canastas (because it is a fun instrumental and has not been released yet)
- Orange Juice Blues
- Ruben Remus
- Whispering Pines
- Jawbone
- Just Another Whistle Stop (the song was performed live several times)
- Share Your Love
- Saved (The Band played live a few times)
- Georgia on My Mind (perhaps the version from The Last Waltz)
- She Knows
- Do the Honky Tonk
- Katie’s Been Gone
- Beautiful Thing (did he record a version during the No Reason to Cry sessions or some other time? Outside of The Basement Tapes version, of course)