Jubilation was the twelfth and final album by Canadian-American rockers The Band. Recorded in the spring of 1998 in Levon Helm's home studio in Woodstock, New York, it was released September 15, 1998.
For the first and only time in their latter-day career, busking the trend set on the first two records, there were more originals than covers on Jubilation. Highlights of the album include "Last Train to Memphis", featuring laid-back licks by guest guitarist Eric Clapton, Garth Hudson's otherworldly instrumental closer "French Girls" (actually, a solo vehicle for Hudson), Rick Danko's "High Cotton" and the ode to Ronnie Hawkins, "White Cadillac".
The album does fall short in one respect. Group members are frequently absent from tracks. On only one track, "If I Should Fail" do all six group members appear. Helm and Danko are missing from one track each, guitarist Jim Weider is missing from two. The biggest offender is Richard Bell, as producer/engineer Aaron Hurwitz replaced him on piano and keyboards for much of the album (Bell only appears on three tracks total), and Hurwitz could arguably be considered the group's primary pianist during this period. Hudson and drummer/percussionist Randy Ciarlante are on every track. Friends and family abounded to help out.
Track Listing
- Book Faded Brown (P. Jost; 4:12)
- Don't Wait (K. Doherty-L. Helm-The Band; 4:09)
- Last Train To Memphis (B. Charles-L. Helm-The Band; 4:06)
- High Cotton (R. Danko-L. Helm-T. Pacheco; 3:25)
- Kentucky Downpour (M. Grebb-L. Helm-The Band; 4:26)
- Bound By Love (J. Hiatt; 3:22)
- White Cadillac (Ode To Ronnie Hawkins) (R. Ciarlante-L. Helm-J. Weider; 3:38)
- If I Should Fail (R. Danko-T. Pacheco; 3:56)
- Spirit of the Dance (R. Ciarlante-R. Danko-L. Helm-J. Weider; 5:05)
- You See Me (A. Toussaint; 4:36)
- French Girls (G. Hudson; 2:07)
Group Members and Other Participants
- Rick Danko - acoustic and electric basses, acoustic guitar and vocals
- Levon Helm - drums, acoustic guitar, harmonica, mandolin, percussion and vocals
- Garth Hudson - organ, accordion, piano, synthesizers, vocoder, soprano, alto and tenor saxophones and percussion
- Randy Ciarlante - drums, percussion and vocals
- Jim Weider - guitars, mandolin and dobro
- Aaron Hurwitz - producer, engineer, piano, organ, accordion and backing vocal
- Richard Bell - piano, organ, accordion
- Tom Malone - trombone, trumpet, and tenor and baritone saxophones
- Eric Clapton - lead and rhythm guitars
- John Hiatt - high-string guitar and vocals
- Bobby Charles - percussion and backing vocal
- Marie Spinosa - percussion and backing vocal
- Marty Grebb - keyboards and backing vocal
- Jim Eppard - tenor guitar and mandolin
- Mike Dunn - electric bass
- Kevin Doherty - backing vocal
- Amy Helm - backing vocal
- Maud Hudson - backing vocal
