Northern Lights – Southern Cross
1975 studio album by the Band
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Northern Lights – Southern Cross is the sixth studio album by Canadian-American rock group the Band. It was released in November 1975 through Capitol Records. The album was self-produced and is the only Band album entirely written by guitarist Robbie Robertson. Recorded at the band's own Shangri-La studio, it was the group's first album of original material since Cahoots (1971).
| Northern Lights – Southern Cross | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | November 1975 | |||
| Recorded | Spring–Summer 1975 | |||
| Studios | Shangri-La Studio, Zuma Beach, California | |||
| Genres | ||||
| Length | 40:39 | |||
| Label | Capitol | |||
| Producer | The Band | |||
| The Band chronology | ||||
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | B+[2] |
| MusicHound |  [3] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [4] |
| Uncut | 8/10[5] |
Reviews for Northern Lights – Southern Cross were positive, with many considering it an improvement over the group's previous few albums. However, it was not as commercially successful as the Band's earlier work, stalling at number 26 in the US. "Ophelia" was released as a single, reaching number 62 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Track listing
All tracks are written by Robbie Robertson.
| No. | Title | Lead vocals | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Forbidden Fruit" | Levon Helm | 5:56 |
| 2. | "Hobo Jungle" | Richard Manuel | 4:10 |
| 3. | "Ophelia" | Helm | 3:29 |
| 4. | "Acadian Driftwood" |
| 6:41 |
| Total length: | 20:16 | ||
| No. | Title | Lead vocals | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Ring Your Bell" |
| 3:53 |
| 2. | "It Makes No Difference" | Danko | 6:30 |
| 3. | "Jupiter Hollow" |
| 5:18 |
| 4. | "Rags and Bones" | Manuel | 4:42 |
| Total length: | 20:23 | ||
| No. | Title | Lead vocals | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9. | "Twilight" (early alternate version) |
| 3:13 |
| 10. | "Christmas Must Be Tonight" (alternate version) | Danko | 3:01 |
| Total length: | 46:53 | ||
Personnel
- The Band [6]
- Rick Danko – bass, guitar, violin, harmonica, vocals, mixing
- Levon Helm – drums, guitar, percussion, vocals
- Garth Hudson – organ, keyboards, accordion, saxophones, synthesizers, piccolo, brass, woodwind, chanter, bass, mixing
- Richard Manuel – acoustic and electric piano, keyboards, organ, drums, clavinet, percussion, vocals
- Robbie Robertson – guitars, piano, clavinet, melodica, percussion, mixing
- Additional personnel
- Byron Berline – fiddle on "Acadian Driftwood"
- Nat Jeffrey – engineer, mixing
- Rob Fraboni – engineer, mixing
- Ed Anderson – engineer
Charts
Album - Billboard (United States)
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Billboard 200 | 26 |
Singles - Billboard (United States)
