The Band

1 page (8 1/2 x 11 in.; 216 x 279 mm). Typing paper comprising the complete song in four stanzas, with minor edits in ink. A few minor stains.

"My sister Bonnie was beautiful, cool and musically precocious, that is, she had great ears. I was in the end of my freshman year at UNC in 1965 when I got a postcard from her saying she had heard the best band ever. I didn’t take this assessment lightly. Bonnie had been involved in music from the age of 15 singing backup and recording with a high school band which included Jack Cassidy in DC, our home town. The “best” band ever was Levon and the Hawks and they were appearing at Tony Mart’s on Somers Point outside Atlantic City. A year later I met Levon at his and Bonnie’s apartment in LA. They were to be an item until late in 1969 and she spent a lot of time with The Band in Woodstock during those transitional years. While in LA, she and Levon were friends with Leon Russell. I remember that Levon and Leon, Bobby Keyes, Jesse Ed Davis and others were part of a pick up band that played dates around town and it’s at that time that Bonnie became close to Kay Poorboy who was Carl Radle’s girlfriend. Bonnie was also good friends with other “Shelter People”, so it was natural for Kaye and Carl to invite her to Miami to the Layla recordings, every day of which Bonnie’s diaries recount in excellent detail." (Monty Diamond)

A draft of "Lonesome Suzie" from The Band's influential Music from Big Pink album