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Eric Garth Hudson (August 2, 1937 – January 21, 2025) was a Canadian multi-instrumentalist best known as the keyboardist and occasional saxophonist for The Band. He was a principal architect of the group's sound and was described as "the most brilliant organist in the rock world" by Keyboard magazine. In 1994, Hudson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Band.
A master of the Lowrey organ, Hudson's other primary instruments were piano, accordion, electronic keyboards, and saxophones (soprano, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone, bass saxophone). He was a much-in-demand and respected session musician, performing with dozens of artists; Elton John has cited him as an early influence. By the time of his death in 2025, he was its last surviving original member.
In 1956, he joined London band the Silhouettes. The group relocated to the Windsor/Detroit area where work was more plentiful. It was there, in 1958, that the Silhouettes joined with fellow Londoner Paul "London" Hutchins and became Paul London and the Capers. Hudson primarily played saxophone in the group, and some piano in a style inspired by Johnnie Johnson, but saw his first Lowrey Organ at a show in Detroit and determined that he would get one. The group found moderate success and plenty of work, recording a few songs in Toronto in 1960, changing their name to "...Kapers" with a 'K', recording a few more songs at Chess Studios in Chicago.P68, Chapter two "Who Do You Love: Ronnie Hawkins & The Hawks" in Jason Schneider's book "Whispering Pines: The Northern Roots of American Music... From Hank Snow to The Band" ECW Press Toronto 2009 First Edition hardcover
Hudson was first approached by Ronnie Hawkins and Levon Helm in the summer of 1961, after a Kapers show in London, and asked to join , an offer he declined. The Hawks persisted, and in December 1961, Hudson agreed to join the band on two conditions: that Hawkins buy him a Lowrey organ, and that he be paid an extra $10 a week by each of the other band members to give music lessons to the other Hawks. This second condition was in part to justify the move to his parents, who he feared would think he was squandering his years of music education by playing in a rock and roll band.P69, Chapter two "Who Do You Love: Ronnie Hawkins & The Hawks" in Jason Schneider's book "Whispering Pines: The Northern Roots of American Music... From Hank Snow to The Band" ECW Press Toronto 2009 First Edition hardcover Discussing the thinking behind his early fears in The Last Waltz, Hudson told interviewer-director Martin Scorsese: "There is a view that jazz is 'evil' because it comes from evil people, but actually the greatest priests on 52nd Street and on the streets of New York City were the musicians. They were doing the greatest healing work. They knew how to punch through music that would cure and make people feel good."
When the 24-year-old Hudson joined the Hawks, the backing band for Ronnie Hawkins, the band already consisted of 21-year-old Levon Helm (drums), and 18-year-olds Robbie Robertson (guitar), Rick Danko (bass) and Richard Manuel (piano). The lineup that would become the Band was now complete.
In August 1965, they were introduced to Bob Dylan by manager Albert Grossman's assistant, Mary Martin. In October, Dylan and the Hawks recorded the single "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?"Heylin, 1996, Bob Dylan: A Life In Stolen Moments, pp. 83–84. and, in January 1966, recorded material with Dylan for what would turn into the Blonde on Blonde album.Heylin, 1996, Bob Dylan: A Life In Stolen Moments, pp. 86–89. Dylan recruited the band to accompany him on his controversial 1966 "electric" tour of the United States, Australia and Europe. (An album of Dylan's 1966 performance with his band, , was finally released in 1998.) Subsequent to Bob Dylan's motorcycle accident in July 1966, the group settled in a pink house in West Saugerties, New York, near Woodstock.Sounes, Howard. Down the Highway: The Life of Bob Dylan (Grove Press: New York 2001), p. 221 Dylan was a frequent visitor, and Hudson's recordings of their collaborations resulted in The Basement Tapes.
By 1968, the group recorded its debut album, Music from Big Pink. The album was recorded in Los Angeles (at Capitol) and New York (at A&R Studio). Capitol originally announced that the group would be called the Crackers, but when Music from Big Pink was released they were officially named the Band. The album includes Hudson's organ showcase, "Chest Fever", a song that in the Band's live shows would be vastly expanded by a solo organ introduction, entitled "The Genetic Method", an work that would be played differently at each performance. An example can be heard on The Band's performance at Woodstock, in which the organ intro was an improvisation based on Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor; another example can be heard on the live album Rock of Ages. Hudson was also adept at the accordion, which he played on some of the group's recordings, such as "Rockin Chair", from The Band; the traditional "Ain't No More Cane", from The Basement Tapes; Dylan's "When I Paint My Masterpiece"; and Bobby Charles's "Down South in New Orleans" during The Last Waltz. His saxophone solo work can be heard on such songs as "Tears of Rage" (from Big Pink) and "Unfaithful Servant" (from The Band). Hudson is credited with playing all of the brass and woodwinds on the studio version of "Ophelia" from the 1975 album Northern Lights - Southern Cross. This album, the first to be recorded in the Band's Shangri-La recording studio in Malibu, California, also saw Hudson adding synthesizers to his arsenal of instruments.
Hudson provided innovative accompaniment. For example, the song "Up on Cripple Creek" features Hudson playing a clavinet through a wah-wah pedal to create a swampy sound reminiscent of a Jew's harp or the croak of a frog. This clavinet–wah wah pedal configuration was later adopted by many funk musicians.
The initial iteration of the Band made its final bow as a touring band with a lavish final concert on Thanksgiving Day 1976 at the Winterland in San Francisco, an all-star tribute concert documented in The Last Waltz.
He was active during this period as a session musician, performing on movie soundtracks and albums by many other artists, including Emmylou Harris, Van Morrison ( Wavelength) and Leonard Cohen ( Recent Songs). He composed music for Our Lady Queen of the Angels, a multimedia show created for the Los Angeles in 1980. In the early 1980s he accompanied the Call on one of their albums and appeared with them in a music video which was played on MTV. He can be seen playing two separate keyboards in the Call's video for "The Walls Came Down".
The Band reformed in 1983, with all the original members except Robbie Robertson. Richard Manuel, who had lived at Hudson's ranch in 1978, died by suicide in 1986. Supplemented by a rotating roster of additional musicians, the Band continued to tour, releasing three albums in the 1990s.
In 1988, Hudson recorded "Feed the Birds" on , produced by Hal Willner.
In 1990 Hudson, playing accordion and soprano saxophone, along with bandmates Levon Helm and Rick Danko, who harmonized with the vocalists, took part in Roger Waters's massive performance of The Wall at the Berlin Wall.
As a member of the Band, Hudson was inducted into the Juno Hall of Fame in 1989 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. He played on various solo efforts of his bandmates Rick Danko, Levon Helm, and Robbie Robertson.
In 2002, he joined Burrito Deluxe, a quasi-reunion of country-rock group Flying Burrito Brothers. Other members included pedal steel player Sneaky Pete Kleinow, Carlton Moody of the Moody Brothers on lead vocals and guitars, bassist Jeff "Stick" Davis of the Amazing Rhythm Aces, and drummer Rick Lonow. The group recorded two albums, Georgia Peach and The Whole Enchilada, before Kleinow departed in 2004 because of health problems.
In 2005, Hudson formed his own 12-piece band, the Best!, with his wife, Maud on vocals. That same year, Garth and Maud Hudson released Live at the Wolf, a piano and vocal album recorded live at the Wolf Performance Hall in London, Ontario. Maud died on February 28, 2022.
On November 20, 2005, Hudson received the Hamilton Music Award for Best Instrumentalist.
He continued as a much-in-demand session player, performing with such artists as Neko Case ( Fox Confessor Brings the Flood and Middle Cyclone), Chris Castle ( Last Bird Home), Teddy Thompson ( Separate Ways), the Secret Machines ( Ten Silver Drops), the Sadies ( Live 2006), the The Lemonheads, Jonah Smith (2006 self-titled debut), Yesterday's News ( The Northside Hotel), Billy the Kid ( The Lost Cause) and others. He contributed an original electronic score to an off-Broadway production of Dragon Slayers, written by Stanley Keyes and directed by Brad Mays in 1986 at the Union Square Theatre in New York. The production was restaged with a new cast in Los Angeles in 1990.
A few of the artists Hudson performed with in 2006 are Ronnie Hawkins, the Sadies, Neko Case, Heavy Trash, John Hiatt, the North Mississippi All-Stars, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, and Chris Zaloom, some of these performances were recorded. Hudson and his talent on piano are prominently featured in the 2007 Daniel Lanois DVD documentary Here Is What Is.
In 2010, Hudson released Garth Hudson Presents: A Canadian Celebration of the Band. The album features Canadian artists covering songs that were recorded by the Band. Hudson plays on every track and co-produced the album with Peter J. Moore. Acts that appear on the album include Neil Young, Bruce Cockburn, Blue Rodeo, Cowboy Junkies, the Trews, Great Big Sea, Hawksley Workman, Mary Margaret O'Hara, Chantal Kreviazuk, Raine Maida and Ian Thornley.
In 2012, Garth and Maud Hudson invited family and friends for a three-day party at Clubhouse Studio in Rhinebeck, New York to celebrate his 75th birthday. It went so well, they held three more over the next three years and called them the Birthday Sessions. At the time of Garth's death, audio and video materials were being prepared for release.
Garth Hudson made his final public appearance on April 16, 2023, performing in Kingston, New York, in the Flower Hill House Concert No. 6, where he played Duke Ellington‘s “Sophisticated Lady”.
| +Garth Hudson studio albums | |||
| 1980 | Music for Our Lady Queen of the Angels | Buscador Music | Cassette only release. 2005 CD reissue on Other People's Music |
| 2001 | The Sea to the North | Breeze Hill Records | Reissued by Dreamsville Records, Woodstock Records, Corazong Records |
| +Garth Hudson live albums | |||
| 2005 | Live at the Wolf | Make It Real Records | With Maud Hudson |
| +Garth Hudson studio appearances | |||
| 1988 | A&M Records | "Feed the Birds" (from "All Innocent Children Had Better Beware" medley) | |
| 2010 | Garth Hudson Presents: A Canadian Celebration of the Band | Curve Music/Sony Music | all tracks |
| 2013 | The Beautiful Old: Turn-of-the-Century Songs | Doubloon Records | "The Rosary (1898)", "Till We Meet Again (1918)" |
| +Garth Hudson live appearances | |||
| 2006 | The Harry Smith Project: Anthology Of American Folk Music Revisited | Shout! Factory | "No Depression in Heaven" (with Maud Hudson) |
| 2013 | Love for Levon (A Benefit to Save The Barn) | Time Life | Appears with John Prine on "When I Paint My Masterpiece" and Dierks Bentley on "Chest Fever" |
| +Garth Hudson guest appearances | |||
| 1965 | So Many Roads | Vanguard Records | with John P. Hammond |
| 1975 | The Muddy Waters Woodstock Album | Chess Records | with Muddy Waters |
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