In 1965, Bob Dylan hired a group of musicians for his U.S. Tour and then the 1966 World Tour.  This same group had backed up various frontmen and were just simply “the band”.  In ’68, they moved with Dylan to New York and recorded the infamous Basement Tapes,  which launched their own debut album the following year – Music from Big Pink.  They thought a great name was “The Band” for obvious reasons.  Ten successful albums later, they are now rock icons.

The Weight was never a significant hit but it is definitely their best-known song.  I remember sitting around a college dorm playing it over and over again trying to figure if they were singing “Take a load off, Annie” or was it “Granny”?  I think we even played it backwards.  Anyway, just for fun, put this one in your song list.  Everybody knows it (even the Millennials) and will sing along.  The words are basically nonsensical and have a vaguely religious context, but it doesn’t belong in church – it’s certainly nightclub material.

There are three lead tracks – harmonica, flute, and fiddle – because of that wonderful end phrase “you put the load right on me”.  You and your backups will have to work a little to get that right – worth the effort.