Roger Daltrey was born in London, England in 1944 and first achived fame as the vocalist of The Who. His voice and stage presence made him one of the most influential frontmans of the history of Rock and Roll.
Alongside John Entwistle, Keith Moon and Pete Townshend, Roger helped the group to become one of the best-selling bands of all time. They have sold an estimated amount of more than 100 million records worldwide. Some of their classic albums like “Who’s Next” and “Tommy” are always ranked among the greatest ever made.
The singer has a very broad taste in music and once revealed that a record from a Canadian-American group is one of the best albums of all time in his opinion.
The album that Roger Daltrey said is one of the best of all time
It’s very common that musicians listen to different music genres at home because they are usually tired of their own kind of music. It’s not different when it comes to Roger Daltrey that revealed in an interview with Classic Rock in 2023 that he loves Classical Music and it’s usually what he likes to hear when he is at home.
In the conversation he even said that the last Rock record he heard in his house was “Music From Big Pink” by The Band”. Which in his opinion is one of the best albums of all time.
“I’ve always liked classical music. After our gigs, classical music used to be the only thing that would calm me down. Chopin is good. I very rarely listen to rock music at home at all. The last rock record I listened to properly at home was Music from Big Pink, by The Band, which I still think is one of the best albums ever made. It’s got a real sense of freedom to it. It’s incredibly loose and incredibly tight all at once,” Roger Daltrey said.
Daltrey already said that “The Weight” is one of his favorite songs
The Band’s most famous album, “Music From Big Pink” was released in 1968 and featured “The Weight”, their most famous song. In an interview with BBC Radio 2 show “Tracks Of My Years” back in 2018 (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage), Daltrey even listed that track as one of his favorites of all time.
“What an album! I’ve met met The Band with Bob Dylan when they supported him on his tour in Belfast. I thought ‘This is gonna be something. But when I heard this album ‘Music From The Big Pink’ (1968), this song in particular (The Weight), the musicianship, there is a relaxed looseness. Just the sound is so wonderful,” Roger Daltrey said.
‘Music From The Big Pink’ was The Band’s debut album and the single “The Weight” appeared at number 63 on the Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart. In Canada, the song peaked at number 35. At the time the group was formed by Rick Danko, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel and Robbie Robertson.
Not long before recording their debut album, in 1966 The Band toured with Bob Dylan as his backing band. Curiously, the cover artwork of “Music From Big Pink” was made by Dylan himself.
The Band
The Band was initially active from 1968 to 1977, when the famous concert film “The Last Waltz” was recorded. Directed by the legendary Martin Scorsese, the show happened in 1976 at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. The group was joined by many special guests like Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Neil Diamond, Ronnie Wood and Ringo Starr.
They reunited again from 1983 to 1999, recording three new studio albums. Some of their most famous songs are “Up On Cripple Creek”, “Ophelia” and “I Shall Be Released”.
They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame back in 1994 by Eric Clapton. He said in his speech: “A standard of craft that really didn’t bow down to any kind of commerciality”.