The Band – The Band

This used to be my mother’s copy of The Band, which I consider to be one of the best albums of all time. I had such a strong connection to it that, when I decided that I would start my own collection I asked her if I could have it. She reluctantly agreed and this kick started my lifelong obsession with collecting records. I remember hearing it every Saturday morning when I was a kid, without fail, along with the best of Van Morrison (but I liked this better). This record is such an anchor to my childhood that, to this day, every time I hear the opening chords of Across the Great divide I get a wonderfully vivid picture of playing with my Star Wars figures in our family’s big brown beanbag, and the crackle of the vinyl reminds me of the rain on the old corrugated iron roof out the back of our house, which is decades gone now. So not only is this the oldest record in my collection but it’s still my favourite.