THE LAST WALTZ
The Band Members: Rick Danko, Richard Manuel, Levon Helm, Robbie Robertson, and Garth Hudson.
On one magical Thanksgiving day in 1976, on one magical San Francisco stage, at the Winterland Ballroom. Legendary performers came together to bid farewell to one of Rock and Rolls groundbreaking bands of their generation. The Band comprised of five multi talented musicians, that each brought their own unique mixtures of musical backgrounds and original styles together into one sound. They emerged onto the music scene, during a historical period of Rock music,
destined to change the face of Rock and Roll forever. Responsible for diversifying rock music, through the electrification of Bob Dylan’s folk music, creating what is now known as folk/rock, and with the release of their first album, Music From The Big Pink, out of which country/rock was created. Their final contribution came with the release of the motion picture, The Last Waltz. Hailed as the best Rockumentary in the history of Rock and Roll to date.
Growing weary of life on the road, The Band, decided after sixteen years of touring together to quit performing live. The idea was to become a studio band, eliminating live performances all together. They started planning the details. of their final stage appearance together. A concert to be held on, Thanksgiving November 25, 1976, at the famed Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. They first invited Ronnie Hawkins and Bob Dylan, to join them. Soon the list began to snowball. By the time the last name had been added to the list, it had grown to an impressive fifteen guest appearances, which included some of the top recording artist in the industry at the time. The list included; Eric Clapton, Neil Diamond, Dr John, Neil Young, Emmy Lou Harris, Ronnie Hawkins, Paul Butterfield, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Muddy Waters, Ron Wood, Stephen Stills, Ringo Star, The Staples, and Bob Dylan.
The event was promoted and organized by Bill Graham. The evening began at five PM. The audience of 5,000 were served "turkey dinner" followed by Ballroom dancing with music performed by the Berkeley Promenade Orchestra. The concert to follow began at 9 PM, and was filmed by Martin Scorsese. Scorsese, who had meticulously choreographed camera placements and angels, down to the last detail, using sheet music and lyrics of the songs to be performed that evening
Thus bringing the music at its purist form to the big screen.
The movie shows live concert footage, interviews with The Band members as they look back & share stories of their sixteen years on the road, studio segments of The Band with Emmy Lou Harris, performing Evangeline, and with the Staples, performing The Weight.
If you are a Classic Rocker and you have never seen this movie, then you are truly in for an experience, which will transport you through time. You cannot help but feel as though you were back in the 70's, when music was more than just something we listened to, it was something we experienced on a deeper level.
