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 ground breaking 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 the historicalera of Rock music, and were destined to change the face of Rock and Roll forever. Responsible for diversifying rock music, through the Electrification of Bob Dylans folk music, folk/rock was created, 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 thelist started to snowball. By the time the last name was 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.
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,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, that 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. Scorsese, who had meticulously, through the use of the sheet music and lyrics of the songs to be performed, choreographed camera placements and angels, down to the last detail. Bringing the music at it's purist form to the big screen. performing
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