Stage Fright (The Band song)
| "Stage Fright" | |
|---|---|
| Single by The Band | |
| from the album Stage Fright | |
| B-side | "Sleeping" |
| Released | 1971 (Denmark) |
| Recorded | May-June 1970 |
| Genre | Roots rock |
| Length | 3:40 |
| Label | Capitol Records |
| Songwriter(s) | Robbie Robertson |
| Producer(s) | The Band |
| "Stage Fright" | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Single by The Band | |
| from the album Before the Flood | |
| A-side | "Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)" (Bob Dylan) |
| Released | 1974 |
| Recorded | February 1974 |
| Genre | Roots rock |
| Length | 4:22 |
| Label | Asylum Records |
| Songwriter(s) | Robbie Robertson |
"Stage Fright" is the title track of the Band's third album, Stage Fright. It features Rick Danko on lead vocals and was written by Robbie Robertson. According to author Barney Hoskyns, Robertson originally intended it to be sung by Richard Manuel but it became clear that the song was better suited to Danko's "nervous, tremulous voice."
Live performances of the song appear on Rock of Ages, released in 1972, and on Before the Flood, a live album of The Band's 1974 tour with Bob Dylan. It was also performed at The Last Waltz. The studio version was released as a single in Denmark. The live version from Before the Flood was released as the B-side of Dylan's "Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)" single in 1974.
According to AllMusic critic William Ruhlmann, the lyrics are about "the pitfalls of fortune and fame." Author Neil Minturn regards the subject of the lyrics to be "the history of The Band itself." The Band drummer Levon Helm has written that the song is about "the terror of performing." Others believe that the lyrics refer to Bob Dylan, who had stopped touring live during the late 1960s. Author David Yaffe suggests that "Stage Fright" could have been written about Dylan or about Robbie Robertson himself. Author Barney Hoskyns acknowledges speculation that the song is about Dylan, but states that it is actually about Robertson's experience of his own stage fright at the Band's first live show the prior year.Time Magazine praised the song's image of a plowboy, who in the opening of the song received "his fortune and fame" but "since that day he ain't been the same."
...
Wikipedia