The Ukulele Alphabet: Up on Cripple Creek by The Band
Letter U, Week 1
“Up on Cripple Creek” by The Band
At last! As long promised, The Band makes its appearance in the Ukulele Alphabet.
Falling in love with any musical group or artist is a matter of timing and fate. I stayed home from school on February 27, 1991 and saw R.E.M.’s “Losing My Religion” video for the first time; Howie Day opened for Pat McGee Band at one of the concerts I saw at the Crowbar in State College in April 2000;
But my Band discovery was a true Sliding Doors moment.
At some point in the ‘90s, my father had two CDs he decided he didn’t want in his collection: something from David Bowie and The Best of The Band.1 My sibling took the Bowie, I took The Band, and that random decision sealed my love for the group in stone.
Our choices actually track perfectly with our personalities, and Bowie is forever, but what if we had done the reverse? When would The Band have crossed my path later in life? (Probably when I met Dan, since he’s such a Dylan aficionado.)
As I mentioned in my Josh Ritter entry, we had the incredible fortune of seeing Josh play at Levon Helm’s barn in Woodstock a few years ago.2 This venue, the site of Levon’s Midnight Rambles, is as magical and holy a place to see a show as you would imagine.
Being in the space was probably as close as I’ll get to feeling the soul of a Band show and I hope some of you have the chance to see a musician you love there too.
And if you’ve never listened to the entirety of The Last Waltz, may I suggest making it a Thanksgiving tradition? It’s one of mine, since The Band played their final concert on Thanksgiving Day in 1976, and it’s perfect for a long morning of prepping a meal. Think about it!
I’m including the shortened Last Waltz version of this song below as the original because Levon is just one of those performers you have to watch in action.
Watch a clip from The Last Waltz of “Up on Cripple Creek”:
What’s the Ukulele Alphabet?
Read all about my 2025 ukulele performance project (and its rules) here.
I want to A-B-SEEEE some more!
Watch all the performances in the Ukulele Alphabet project.
- I have no idea why he didn’t want these CDs. That’s a box of snakes I’m not going to get into here. ↩︎
- We also stopped by the Woodstock town cemetery to say hello to Levon and Rick Danko during our visit. This was 2023, so Garth Hudson was still among us on this earthly plane, but we’ll return to visit him at the Woodstock Artists Cemetery across the road. ↩︎
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