Since it’s Thanksgiving, let us give thanks for the indispensible Wolfgang’s Vault, which has posted the most complete available recording of The Last Waltz, the all-star farewell concert by The Band on Thanksgiving 1976. Whatever qualms you might have about the film — I refer you to LevonHelm’s autobiography This Wheel’s On Fire for [...]
On November 25, 1976, the five members of The Band -- Rick Danko, LevonHelm, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, and Robbie Robertson - played their last concert together. It was billed as The Last Waltz . The Thanksgiving Day show (all 5,000 tickleholders were given a full sit-down turkey dinner before the show) was held at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom and was filmed by Martin Scorsese....
... in for a while. I've heard it scream with a guitar fed through a vocoder and a drum pound break LevonHelm might be able to play, but with a sound he couldn't even imagine. I've heard a growl thrown at the song like Patton would, a genuine grit-teeth roar deep from inside somehow and as though each moment of the song was critical. A live version from 2003 was released on the Tell
... much, but I can appreciate what they do. Robbie Robertson is one of my favorite guitar players, LevonHelm kicks ass ("Yazoo" is one of the best vocal performances I've ever heard), Danko and Manuel have beautiful voices and Garth Hudson is about the best rock organist ever. Still, something about their sound doesn't quite add up for me. I like them, but I'm not in love...