The Band is one of those storied, er, bands you read about, hear about and listen to and wonder to yourself, Were they really that great? Were they really The Band?

Sure they backed Bob Dylan in his legendary concerts when the folkie went electric and audience members referred to the curly headed Minnesota boy as “Judas.” Yes, Judas. As in the great betrayer. Just because Dylan went electric with The Band backing him.

Sure The Band released The Basement Tapes with Dylan and that collection included “I Shall Be Released,” a song that sits in my all-time top 10 and has been recorded and released nearly 400 times. So that’s something too.

But is The Band really The Band. In other words, the greatest band the world has ever known.

Some would argue persuasively that they are. You’ve got Robbie Robertson on guitar. Levon Helm on drums. Richard Manuel on keyboards. Plus the ultra-eccentric Garth Hudson with his huge beard and professorial demeanor on organ. And the good-natured Rick Danko on bass.

Not household names, you say? True. But if you’re a music geek, which I shamelessly consider myself, these guys are serious musical cats.

Don’t believe me? Watch The Last Waltz film directed by Martin Scorsese to see these boys in action in their farewell concert. Pretty compelling stuff. Not everything they touched turned to gold. But their good songs were better than great.

“Up on Cripple Creek” is one of those songs. It always sounded like a song The Grateful Dead should have recorded if Jerry or Bob had better voices or they were more concise songwriters (Deadheads, feel free to pile on my lack of musical taste now).

You can find “Up on Cripple Creek” on The Band’s second album creatively titled, The Band.

Buy “Up on Cripple Creek”

Best band ever? Still undecided. But the song is a classic.

Watch The Band perform “Up on Cripple Creek”