With Thanksgiving right upon us,,, Let's remember days past,,,,,,,,,,,,
In My House ... the morning of Turkey day is not the Macy's Day Parade,, but THE LAST WALTZ, and Arlo Guthrie's Alice's Restaurant,,
The Last Waltz was a concert by the Band held on Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. Billed as a "farewell" performance after 16 years of touring, the concert saw The Band joined by more than a dozen special guests, including Paul Butterfield, Eric Clapton, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Ronnie Hawkins, Dr. John, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Ringo Starr, Muddy Waters, Ronnie Wood and Neil Young. Martin Scorcese's films documented that Final Performance. and unlike Other breakups,,, THE BAND never performed together again,.. These were the guys that were with Dylan in the days when he - Dylan - moved from Acoustic folk music to electric,,,and began to get boo'd - especially at the Newport Festival,,, it was THE BAND that provided Most of the ELECTRIC - to Dylan's Electric concerts... And the Band is credited for changing American Music and influencing artists in the late 60's early 70's with their Album "Music From Big Pink" - Big Pink being the y house they all lived in in Woodstock...
We in the Hudson Valley have been lucky enough to see some of the guys over the years perform (as they live ) locally,,, Although there was an article last week that Garth Hudson showed up at Levon's Midnight Ramble, and that was a big deal. You used to be able to see Rick Danko play at Tinker Street, and the Joyous Lake - both in Woodstock,, and he was on occasion joined by Levon or Garth.
So ,,, Richard Manuel took his own life in 1986, Rick Danko passed on Dec 10th, 1999 of Hard living,,, Robbie Robertson is still making music, but has never really reconnected with his Band Mates,,, Garth Hudson lives near Woodstock, and we have seen him and His Wife Maude on occasion,,, recently joining Cowboy Junkies at the Bearsville Theater, Levon Helm - Woodstock resident, Performs Weekly at his Midnight Ramble,, and his CD of last year "DIRT FARMER" won a Grammy. Seeing Levon at the Village Green in Woodstock, or having Lunch at Taco Juans, or a Coffee at Bread Alone in not an uncommon site,,, After Beating Throat Cancer, he has refound his musical Life .. and is turning into an American music legend. So here is a Video from the LAST WALTZ,, there are many others posted - so check 'em out! - you can go get the Full DVD of the Last Waltz on DVD or BLU Ray!!! -
Now - at About noon time on Thanksgiving day,,, Both WDST or WPDH will be playing this version of Alice's Restaurant,,, WE have always listened to ARLO,,, Now probably not many children these days would know the GROUP W bench,,, but mine do,, and I hope that their exposure to Arlo has helped to make them aware of the past,,and that they will be listening to Arlo with their Kids, and that part of our family history is then passed to the next generations,,,and we hope that they will live in a time of PEACE and that singing is a way to End War..
but for now let's just listen to Arlo and make sure that you are singing along when he gets to the Part of "you can get anything you want at Alice's restaurant" cause as Arlo says "You got to sing loud if you wanna Stop War and stuff"
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