Watch the Band Rip Through ‘Up on Cripple Creek’ in Newly Uploaded ‘Ed Sullivan’ Video

With the entire catalogue of The Ed Sullivan Show recently added to streaming platforms, fans can watch performances that were previously only available as low-resolution bootlegs. The series’ YouTube channel has clips that include Ike & Tina Turner, Elvis Presley, the Beatles, and, as of Sunday, the Band.

The November 2nd, 1969 video features a full clip of “Up On Cripple Creek” (until now, it was only available as a 30-second preview). The group was promoting the release of their self-titled LP, released two months prior. Levon Helm takes the lead on vocals in a tweed jacket, with Robbie Robertson, Richard Manuel, and Rick Danko backing him. Head to 1:42 to see Garth Hudson beaming.

The film Once Were Brothers, a film about Robertson’s life, hit theaters just as the pandemic hit and streamed online last spring. While in quarantine, Robertson told IndieLand he’s working on a follow-up to his 2016 autobiography Testimony and scoring Martin Scorsese’s upcoming film Killers of the Flower Moon. 

In February, the Band dropped a 50th anniversary reissue of Stage Fright. It contains the track sequencing Robertson originally intended — regardless of how fans might feel about it. “I don’t give a fuck,” he said in a recent interview. “I know what it should be, you know. Don’t tell me what to do with my music. And the original sequence is available forever. So if you want that, you can have that. But this is what I want.”