45) The Band : Rolling Stone

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The Band was four-fifths Canadian -- drummer Levon Helm was from Arkansas -- but its second album was all American. Guitarist Robbie Robertson's songs vividly evoke the country's pioneer age -- "Across the Great Divide," "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" -- while pointedly reflecting the state of the nation in the 1960s. The Band's long life on the road resonates in the brawn of Garth Hudson's keyboards and Helm's juke-joint attack. But Robertson's stories truly come to life in Helm's man-of-the-soil growl, Rick Danko's high tenor and Richard Manuel's spectral croon. "Somebody once said he had a tear in his voice," Helm said of Manuel. "Richard had one of the richest, textured voices I'd ever heard."

Total album sales: 1 million

Peak chart position: 9

Next: Bob Marley and the Wailers

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