The Bandβs debut album was released on 1 July 1968.
While much of the music was composed by Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, Levon Helm, and Richard Manuel in the pink house they shared in West Saugerties, NY (where they recorded the Basement Tapes with Bob Dylan), the recording of Music from Big Pink took place in New York City and Los Angeles.
Dylan had initially wanted to participate in the recording sessions, but decided that the Band needed to establish their own identity. He provided 3 songs on the album, βI Shall Be Released,β βTears of Rageβ (co-written with Richard Manuel), and βThis Wheelβs on Fireβ (co-written with Rick Danko).
Dylan also provided the artwork for the album cover (much has been made of the fact that Dylanβs painting includes 6 musicians, while The Band has only 5 members).
While the album received mostly positive reviews, it sold only modestly at the time in the US (it was a bigger hit in Canada and the UK).
