Take a load off, Fannie

Music in this episode:The Band - “The Weight” (1968)Bob Dylan - “It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” (1965)The Canadian Squires - “Uh Uh Uh” (1965)Ronnie Hawkins - “Mary Lou” (1959)Peter, Paul & Mary - “Puff, the Magic Dragon” (1963)The Staple Singers - “The Weight” (1968)The Band feat. The Staple Singers - “The Weight” (1976)James Carr - “The Dark End of the Street” (1967)The Band - “Up On Cripple Creek” (1969)The Band - “Ophelia” (1975)Aretha Franklin - “The Weight” (1970)The Chambers Brothers - “The Weight” (1973)Mavis Staples - “You Are Not Alone” (2010)Norah Jones and Mavis Staples - “I'll Be Gone” (2019)Lottie Kimbrough - “Wayward Girl Blues” (c. 1924)Jimmie Rodgers - “Blue Yodel No. 9” (1930)Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys - “Steel Guitar Rag” (1936)I learned a lot of my background material from the excellent episode of A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs about “The Weight”. There’s further background in this Rolling Stone article.Here’s a good guitar tutorial for the song.Corrections: at one point, I refer to Ronnie Hawkins as Roger Hawkins, who was his cousin. Also, the Bob Wills song uses tenor sax, not alto sax. Get full access to Ethan teaches you music at ethanhein.substack.com/subscribe