Jericho

Located in Palestine, Jericho is one of the earliest known Neolithic villages. Excavations have given much evidence to the thought that village life and culture developed before the invention of pottery.

Jericho is probably most well-known from the biblical reference/story in the Book of Joshua where Joshua led the chosen tribes of Israel to victory over the inhabitants of the city with the help of Rahab (one of the earliest recorded prostitutes) and one hell of a trumpet section in his band in the Battle of Jericho.

This victory, and the ones which followed soon after, signified the end of the Sinai desert wanderings started when Moses led the Israelis out of Egypt a generation before.

Some believe that archeological findings support the biblical account of the seige and conquest of Jericho.

The British archeologist, Dame Kathleen Kenyon, was made famous by her work in Jericho, and later in Jerusalem.

The current city of Jericho is located a few miles from the ancient villages by the same name, on the West Bank of the Jordan River.

Joseph Wilson was the second son of Slade Wilson and his wife Adeline. Slade was a former member of the U.S. army who was the subject of an experimental medical treatment that unintentionally gave him use of a large portion of his brain power. The result was that Slade had super-human reflexes and strength. He used these abilities to become a super-powered mercenary called Deathstroke, the Terminator, all without the knowledge of his wife, a former Army officer herself.

The Wilson's first child Grant took after his father and was born prior to Slade's participation in the medical experiment. Joe, their second child, was more gentle with an artistic nature, and was conceived after Slade gained his powers. While Slade was away on another "business trip," agents of a terrorist known as the Jackal broke into the Wilson home, and took Joe hostage. They wanted information from Wilson as to who had hired him for a job. After revealing to Adeline his alternate identity as Deathstroke, the two parents met with the Jackal, who while holding a knife to Joe's throat, demanded the information from Wilson. Wilson refused and then killed the Jackal, but not before he could cut Joe's throat. The resulting injury cost Joe the use of his vocal cords, so he grew up mute.

After the death of Joe's older brother Grant while he tried to destroy the Teen Titans in his costumed identity as the Ravager, Deathstroke set about to fulfill the contract for Grant. To this end, Deathstroke used a girl named Terra infiltrate the Titans, learn their secrets and then betray them. All of the Titans were captured with the exception of Dick Grayson, who was the original Robin. As Grayson prepared to go after his teammates and friends, he was approached by Adeline Wilson and Joseph Wilson who offered to help him. The Wilsons were estranged after the Jackal incident, and Adeline was bent on ending Deathstroke's reign of terror.

It was at this time, that it was revealed that Joe was a mutant, whose DNA had been effected by the experiments done to his father. Calling himself Jericho, Joe had the ability to possess someone and control the actions of their body. His ability required him to look into the eyes of his victim and then he would become intangible and inhabit their form. If they were conscious, they would still possess their own voices and could talk, but Joe could use their voices if they were unconscious. Grayson, who had taken on the identity of Nighwing at this point, and Jericho tracked down the Titans and helped free them. After the ensuing battle, Jericho became a member of the Titans.

Jericho served as a member of the Teen Titans for a number of months, aiding in their adventures. During that time, Wilson's empathy for others drew him to Raven, one of his teammates. Raven is the daughter of a human woman and an extra-dimensional demon named Trigon. The demonic side of Raven's nature continued to grow stronger, causing her anguish. Wilson attempting to help ease her pain, possessed her to try and figure out what was happening. He was cast out of her almost immediately and his actions began a set of circumstances that would ultimately lead to his demise. First, Wilson's possession of Raven caused her to lose the last vestiages of her strength to resist her evil nature and she was taken over by it, allowing Trigon to come to Earth and conquer it. Raven in her evil form and Trigon were opposed by the souls of Azareth, a community from another dimension who had opposed Trigon and were destroyed because of it. With the help of the Teen Titans, the souls of Azareth were able to defeat Trigon.

Unfortunately, the defeat of Trigon tainted the souls of Azareth with his evil and they needed a person to act as a vessel for them. They sought Raven, but she was protected by her soul-self. However, because of his power, Jericho was an easy target for their possession, so they resided within him, growing in power and influence.

Over the next months, Jericho continued to aid the Titans while the souls of Azareth continued to strengthen. Finally, they completely took over Jericho, giving him the ability to call upon a soul self like Raven's only in the shape of a lion. Their power also healed the severed vocal chords, allowing Wilson the ability of speech. Jericho however hid all of these things from his teammates.

The souls of Azareth needed superhuman bodies to reside in and Wilson began a complicated plan to capture metahumans for them to possess. Taking control of the Wildebeast Society, a group of criminals possessing advanced weaponry, Jericho began to capture the members of the Teen Titans both old and new to use as vessels for the souls.

After capturing most of the Titans, the few left tracked their teammates back to the Wildebeasts' lair to find that they had been betrayed by one of their own. The souls began their transfer into the bodies of the Titans and Wilson once again became the dominant personality for a few moments. The remaining Titans had been accompanied by Wilson's father Deathstoke, the Terminator and Jericho begged his father to kill him, knowing that it was the only way to defeat the souls before they took over his friends. Deathstroke complied plunging his sword through his son, killing him.

Sadly overlooked upon its release in 1993, Jericho represented a "comeback" for the Band. Following the suicide of singer/piano player Richard Manuel in 1986, coupled with the absence of guitarist/principal songwriter Robbie Robertson, many thought any attempt at recreating the glorious, hand-wrought sound of the Band could only result in failure. True, without the songwriting contributions of Robertson, the album lacks the unique narrative voice behind the best of the Band's material. However, with a stellar rendition of a Dylan tune, as well as one by Springsteen, Jericho is worthy of comparisons with the Band's last outstanding studio album, 1975's Northern Lights, Southern Cross.

Penned by lead guitarist Jim Weider, the album leads off with Remedy, a mid-tempo groove featuring some good and greasy horns, Levon Helm sings with all the Southern swagger of the Band's best country-fried rock and roll.

Next is Dylan's Blind Willie McTell, the stand-out track on the album. The Band have taken this tune, branded it, and made it their own. Sorry Bob, but I'll stand on your coffee table in my dirty boots and declare that fact. *

With its use of historical detail, the Caves of Jericho, a dirge-like account of a Kentucky mining disaster, recalls some of the narrative songs from Northern Lights, Southern Cross.

Atlantic City, from Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska, once again shows the Band's fine interpretive skills. This song is the lone remainder from an aborted recording project, circa 1990. This one was produced by Rob Hyman and Eric Bazilian of the Hooters fame (or infamy, depending on your point of view).

Too Soon Gone, a plaintive ballad dedicated to the late Richard Manuel, is sung with aching vulnerability by Rick Danko.

Country Boy, a Ray Charles tune, features Richard Manuel from a live performance posthumously resurrected and later embellished by Garth Hudson and company.

Apart from the dreadful Amazon, River of Dreams, a maudlin plea for the ecology entirely out of place among the Band's rough-hewn and ragged musical Americana, the remainder of the tracks are solid, blues-based exercises in the kind of smoky barroom roots-rock the Band, as the Hawks, perfected some thirty years before.

Though 1976's the Last Waltz represented the end of Robbie Robertson's association with the Band, the others sought to prove there was more good music left in the tank. Though it took seventeen years to deliver, much more good music does indeed reside within the tracks of Jericho.

*With apologies to Steve Earle for the twist on his coffee table quote from an interview in Harp magazine.