American Music Honors has good reason to pay tribute to mostly Canadian group, The Band

The cover of The Band’s self-titled 1969 album (from left, Richard Manuel, Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Garth Hudson and Robbie Robertson).

This year’s American Music Honors — being presented by The Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music at Monmouth University, April 18 — will include a “special tribute” to The Band. This may strike some people as a little strange. The Band may be a hugely influential group among American rock ‘n’ roll musicians, and in Americana music circles, but four of the five original members — Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel and Garth Hudson — were born and raised in Canada. Only Levon Helm was born in The United States. (Following Hudson’s death, last year, all five are now deceased.)

The honor brings up a question: What, exactly, constitutes an American musician? And I would argue that no one benefits from too narrow a definition: You can’t just go by birth nationality.

The Band, of course, came together in Canada as The Hawks — the backing band for Ronnie Hawkins, an Arkansas native who discovered, in the late ’50s and early ’60s, that he could play for bigger audiences North of the Border. Musicians who could play authentic American rockabilly were a rare commodity there, after all. Hawkins soon lived in Canada full-time and opened his own nightclub in Toronto.

The Hawks whom Hawkins originally brought with him to Canada, with the exception of drummer Helm, eventually returned to The United States. And a new band — featuring Robertson, Manuel, Danko and Hudson — formed around Hawkins and Helm. By 1963, the backing musicians decided to form their own group, originally known as The Levon Helm Sextet (also featuring saxophonist Jerry Penfound) and then, Levon & the Hawks. Among the places they played was Tony Mart’s Nightclub in Somers Point.

Though not yet known as The Band, they gained renown as Bob Dylan’s backing group on 1965 and 1966 tours. Group members moved to Woodstock, New York, to be near Dylan, who was living there; they later stayed mostly in The United States, up until their deaths. Recording and touring as a quintet, they became one of the most successful rock groups of the ’60s and ’70s while continuing to work with Dylan occasionally.

Helm, Danko and Manuel all sang lead vocals, but Helm’s distinctive Southern drawl was featured on many of the group’s signature songs, including “The Weight,” “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” and “Up on Cripple Creek.” Robertson, the group’s primary songwriter, drew much of his inspiration from Southern culture, learned second-hand through Helms, and via his own travels and musical experiences.

Shown at “The Last Waltz” are, from left, Neil Diamond, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, The Band’s Rick Danko, Van Morrison, Bob Dylan and The Band’s Robbie Robertson.

“The Last Waltz,” the 1976 all-star farewell concert of the group’s original lineup (Robertson stopped performing with them after that, though the other four later re-grouped with other musicians), was, among other things, an attempt to honor all the group’s influences, including rockabilly (represented by Hawkins), blues (Muddy Waters), New Orleans R&B (Dr. John), Tin Pan Alley (Neil Diamond) and more. The missing influences of country (Emmylou Harris) and gospel (The Staple Singers) were added for the movie and soundtrack.

The four Canadian members of the group might not have grown up in The United States. But they embraced American music whole-heartedly, and you cannot tell the story of American music in the 20th century without them. The same goes, of course, for many musicians from other countries who were inspired by American music, including The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, U2 and so on.

I think the thing that makes a piece of music “American” has to do with the way that it is made, not borderlines. And at a time when we are seeing so much vilification of immigrants, that is not a trivial point.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, from the first year that it started inducting people, has not opted for purism. James Brown, who most people would label as “funk” rather than “rock,” was in that first class, along with Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and others. And later inductees have come from the genres of folk (e.g., Joan Baez), pop (Madonna), blues (Buddy Guy), country (Dolly Parton), hip-hop (Run-DMC), jazz (Miles Davis), reggae (Bob Marley), disco (Donna Summer), etc.

I see no reason why the American Music Honors shouldn’t follow a similar strategy. If Paul McCartney or Pete Townshend or Neil Young or Joni Mitchell — none of whom are United States natives — is willing to come to West Long Branch, one of these years, to accept an award, why on Earth should they not be welcomed?

In addition to the tribute to The Band, this year’s American Music Honors — taking place April 18 at 8:30 p.m. at The Pollak Theatre at Monmouth University in West Long Branch — will honor The E Street Band, Patti Smith, Dionne Warwick, Dr. Dre and The Doors. Visit springsteencenter.org.

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