Pullin’ ‘Tubes: Big Time, Bill, Big Time. Big Time.
Ronnie Hawkins pitched Robbie Robertson on joining his band with one undeniable sentence: “Son, you won’t make much money, but you’ll get more pussy than Frank Sinatra.” That’s what most heterosexual males call “a decent offer.”
Some 15 or so years later, Hawkins stood with Robertson and the other four brilliant members of The Band on the Winterland stage on Thanksgiving day in 1976. It’d mark the last time these five performed together as one of the greatest mostly non-American, American rock bands in music history (and probably the most underrated). Just about 31 years after The Last Waltz, we celebrate the greatest rock concert ever and the greatest concert film of all-time. Lotta superlatives today.
There’s no legitimate or acceptable excuse to be a music fan and not own this DVD. But if for some strange reason you “just never bought it,” we’ve compiled just about every single musical clip from the movie after the jump. Spend this fine turkey day with The Band and some little-known friends like Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Van the Man Morrison, Joni Mitchell, Muddy Waters, Paul Butterfield, Dr. John, Neil Diamond, Ronnie Hawkins and more. Could you imagine if blogs existed back then? The Internet may have exploded that night.
Maybe one day when the time is right, we can finally pull off my Last Waltz Halloween Party. It’ll be better than Vegoose. Anyway, read on to really enjoy your Thanksgiving…
Bob Dylan & The Band — Forever Young/Baby Let Me Follow You Down
Ronnie Hawkins & The Band — Who Do You Love?
Neil Young & The Band (w/ Joni Mitchell) — Helpless
Van Morrison & The Band — Caravan (best performance ever)
The Band — It Makes No Difference
Dr. John & The Band — Such A Night (Y’all know the doctor?)
Eric Clapton & The Band — Further On Up The Road (broken guitar straps rule)
Paul Butterfield & The Band — Mystery Train
The Band — Up On Cripple Creek (w/ “Good evening” from Bill Graham)
The Band — Stage Fright
The Band — Some Fuckin’ Around/The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
Muddy Waters & The Band — Mannish Boy
The Band — Ophelia/Garth Hudson’s “Evil People” Story
Joni Mitchell & The Band — Coyote (perfectly written song)
The Band — The Shape I’m In
The Band — The Weight (semi-studio performance)
Neil Diamond & The Band — Dry Your Eyes (adult dose!)
Full ensemble assembled on stage — I Shall Be Released
Now, seriously, if you don’t own this, go do some Black Friday shopping for yourself…
you should read Levon Helm’s book “This Wheel’s on Fire” (if you haven’t already) - really interesting take on the the band, the last waltz, and well, his daily hate for robbie robertron (at some point he even gloats “i am so much awesomer than robbie because my movie was critically acclaimed whereas his movies sucked!)
[...] Thankful I am NOT a Jets Fan this Thanksgiving wrote an interesting post today!.Here’s a quick excerptRonnie Hawkins pitched Robbie Robertson on joining his band with one undeniable sentence: “Son, you won’t make much money, but you’ll get more pussy than Frank Sinatra.” That’s what most heterosexual males call “a decent offer.” Some 15 or so years later, Hawkins stood with Robertson and the other four brilliant members of The Band on the Winterland stage on Thanksgiving day in 1976. It’d mark the last time these five performed together as one of the greatest mostly non-American, American rock b [...]