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Discography / Chest Fever

Chest Fever

Second track on Music from Big Pink, and the song that turned Garth Hudson from the quiet member at the back of the stage into the group's most reliable showstopper. Its dramatic organ introduction, based on Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor, gave Hudson a spotlight none of his other parts did, and in concert the intro grew over the years into its own separate showpiece, credited solely to him and known as "The Genetic Method," different every time he played it. The version at Woodstock in 1969 and the New Year's Eve recording that became part of Rock of Ages, where Hudson slips a bar of "Auld Lang Syne" into the improvisation right at midnight, are both frequently singled out.

The lyrics have a stranger history than most of Robertson's catalog. Musically the song is credited to Robertson alone, but by Levon Helm's account the words were improvised on the spot by Helm and Richard Manuel while the instrumental tracks were being recorded, a loose story about a man made sick with love by a hard-drinking, fast-talking woman. Robertson himself has called the lyrics essentially meaningless, filler used to hold a place while the band worked out the arrangement. Helm later pointed to this song specifically whenever the subject of songwriting royalties came up: ask someone what they remember about "Chest Fever," he'd say, the lyrics or the organ part.

Notable versions