Rick Danko’s life played out on stage from his first performance as a six year old at a talent show through his death fifty years later. Along the way Danko backed Bob Dylan on a world tour, played at Woodstock and he was on stage during the filming of the greatest concert film of all-time. His music and performances exemplified the apex of Americana, which is impressive for a kid from Canada.

Richard Clare Danko was born in Simcoe, Ontario in 1943 and was playing the guitar and banjo by kindergarten. He formed the Rick Danko Band in middle school dropped out of school at age 14 to play professionally.  At age 17 he opened for American rockabilly singer Ronnie Hawkins and his band The Hawks. Danko soon joined The Hawks as a rhythm guitarist and switched to bass after the bass player was fired. From 1960 through 1963, Danko toured with Ronnie Hawkins and along the way The Hawks became a formidable band.

In 1964 The Hawks, comprised of Danko, Richard Manuel, Levon Helm, Robbie Robertson and Garth Hudson, split with Hawkins and struck out on their own. They shared vocal duties and toured under a few different names, including the Levon Helm Sextet, the Canadian Squires and Levon and The Hawks. They toured ceaselessly and eventually caught the attention of Bob Dylan’s manager, who asked them to be Dylan’s backing band on a short tour in 1965 and a world tour in 1966.

On July 25, 1965, Dylan “went electric” during his infamous show at the Newport Folk Festival. Dylan became a traitor to the folk crowd and the tour following the Newport show was rather rough. Dylan split the shows into acoustic and electric sets and the audience reception was venomous. Boos, catcalls and jeering was commonplace and it rattled drummer Levon Helm so much that he quit the tour. The rest of The Hawks soldiered on but returned to the United States worn out and road weary.

Dylan withdrew to his home in Woodstock, New York and The Hawks followed. Danko rented a pink house in town and Garth Hudson and Richard Manuel moved in. Robbie Robertson rented a place down the road but everybody hung at Danko’s house, which they called Big Pink. They set up a makeshift recording studio in the basement and Dylan would routinely stop by to jam. Out of these sessions came the legendary “Basement Tapes” bootlegs which generated a tremendous amount of excitement in the underground tape trading scene and was eventually released in 1975.

By 1968, Levon Helm made his way to Woodstock and the reunited Hawks changed their name to The Band. The Band signed to Capitol Records and set out to record their debut album, “Music from Big Pink”. After recording, Danko was involved in a very serious car accident which left him with a fractured neck and multiple broken bones. This accident, much like Dylan’s motorcycle accident two years earlier, was not publicized but Danko was laid up for months and The Band was unable to tour.

Free from the demands of touring, The Band started writing material for their self-titled sophomore album. “The Band” was recorded in the pool house at Sammy Davis, Jr.’s mansion in Hollywood.  The album was released in September of 1969 and reached #9 on the chart. The Band resumed touring and released their third consecutive Top 30 album, “Stage Fright”, in 1970. The album hit #3 and The Band was flying high.

The Band was also riding high on the Festival Express in 1970. The Festival Express was a tour in which the participating bands travelled to the shows together on train. The tour was brief but notable due to the collection of talent that included The Band, Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Delaney & Bonnie, Mountain, Traffic and Ten Years After. This was the high point of Danko and The Band’s career as in-fighting and drug abuse would unravel everything.

In 1973 The Band played a legendary show with The Allman Brothers and the Grateful Dead. The Band released a few more albums but really only seemed to be at their best when playing with others. In 1974 The Band reunited with Bob Dylan on his first ever number one album, “Planet Waves”, and followed that with a live album with Dylan in 1975, the exceptional “Before the Flood”. Before disbanding in 1977, The Band played their final show which was recorded for a concert movie called “The Last Waltz”. Directed by Martin Scorsese, the film also featured performances by Neil Young, Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, Ronnie Wood, Eric Clapton, Dr. John, Neil Diamond, Muddy Waters, Joni Mitchell and Ringo Starr.

Danko released a solo album in 1977 and continued to perform with former members of The Band as well as artists like Paul Butterfield, RIngo Starr, Roger Waters and Van Morrison. In 1989, Danko’s son died from asphyxia due to vomiting after a night of heavy drinking. Danko’s own drug and alcohol addictions continued to worsen and in 1996 he was charged and convicted of heroin possession in Japan. His sentence was suspended and Danko tried to get clean but with limited success. Three years later, on December 7, 1999, Danko played his final show at The Ark in Ann Arbor. Three days later died in his sleep.

Danko and The Band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.

Ronnie Hawkins and The Hawks – Farther Up the Road 1961:

“The Weight” (Danko sings the fourth verse that starts with Crazy Chester) off the album “Music From Big Pink” 1968:

Danko, Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Janis Joplin, John Dawson – “Ain’t No More Cane” from the Festival Express 1970:

“It Makes No Difference” from “The Last Waltz” performance, November 25, 1976:

“Stage Fright” from “The Last Waltz” performance, November 25, 1976:

Rick Danko – “New Mexicoe” (Eric Clapton on guitar) off the album “Rick Danko” 1977:

Drive By Truckers – “Danko/Manuel” off the album “The Dirty South” 2004: