Here are a couple of photos I found on the internet from last year, before the renovations started.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Washington Square Park
Thanks to Pete, Dan and all those who played and sang at WSP yesterday. The park is 2/3 closed due to renovation, but they have found a nice shady spot near the eastern edge of the park. Yesterday it was even quiet.
Here are a couple of photos I found on the internet from last year, before the renovations started.
Here are a couple of photos I found on the internet from last year, before the renovations started.
Sunday, July 06, 2008
The Last Waltz
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The Band: Manuel, Helm, Danko, Hudson, Robertson
Last weekend I watched Martin Scorcese’s The Last Waltz. In case you don’t know, this may be the greatest concert movie of all time. This is “The Band’s” final concert, filmed in 1976 (though most of the members got together again in the 1980’s). The film was mainly the brain-child of Robbie Robertson, lead guitarist and song-writer.
I first saw this movie in a theatre in Port Washington when it was released in 1978, together with my mother and my Uncle Joe—a huge fan of The Band in the 70’s. It impressed me then, mainly by the parade of guest singers / musicians who The Band invited up on the stage. Seeing it again, I liked it even more, especially for the masterful way that Scorcese mixed behind-the-scenes vignets with concert scenes to give a clear and strong characterization of each member of the group.
The members of the Band are: J. Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm, Richard Manuel, Rick Danko and Garth Hudson.
Robertson, the ostensible front man of the group though he does no lead singing, talented guitarist (Dylan’s favorite), Scorcese’s buddy, mugging for the camera; Danko also up front, a tall enthusiastic Canadian never missing a trick on the bass and singing with a compelling, slightly broken tenor; Manuel behind the piano, behind a big beard, the best singer in the group with an impressive high falsetto harmony, shy and drunk in the interviews; Hudson, the musical guru of the group, revered by all, tranquil and business-like behind the organ, then stepping forward to upstage Robertson with an effortless solo on the soprano sax. (Everytime I hear a sax, fiddle or even harmonica it leaves me wondering why rock and roll saw fit to crown the guitar the king of solo instruments—it always pales by comparison.) But my favorite is the drummer, Levon Helm.
Helm is the only authentic southerner in a group of Canadians and is the founding member. In the early sixties he came up to Toronto with rockabilly singer Ronnie Hawkins and helped him put together a group called Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks by hiring a group of local Canadian musicians. A few years later, after parting ways with Hawkins, the band was renamed Levon and the Hawks. Then, after a few years of touring as Dylan’s backing band, they were renamed The Band, and played original songs, all of which were credited to J. Robbie Robertson. Helm and others asserted that most of the songs were collaborative efforts, but Robertson ended up with all of the rights. Levon Helm is shorter than the other members of the Band; he speaks with a drawl, looks scrappy and driven. He is an awesome drummer with a strong voice, and his singing is featured on some of the Band’s best tunes, including “The Weight.”
If you watch The Last Waltz, you will see this group of accomplished musicians playing their own music, and accompanying Hawkins, Dylan, Neil Diamond, Neil Young, Muddy Waters, Joni Mitchell and Emmylou Harris and others, all without missing a beat. This band is tight and seasoned.
Some of my favorite scenes:
· Neil Young lumbering onto the stage with a big smile on his face, looking like some kind of half-hippy, half-bear down from Canada (though I’m not a big fan of the song he did: “Helpless”);
· the acoustic song they did with EmmyLou Harris: Helm plays mandolin and Manuel takes over on drums; Danko plays fiddle and Hudson fills in on bass; Robertson picks up an acoustic guitar—the whole thing sounds terrific.
· Danko and Manuel clowning around backstage, sounding like two kids from small-town Canada—shades of Bob and Doug Mackenzie.
· Dylan ending one song and beginning another on the acoustic guitar without giving as much as a glance to the band, as if throwing down a challenge. Danko gives a nod of recognition as he recognizes the chords of “Baby Let Me Carry You Down” and the entire Band comes in right on queue.
After seeing the Last Waltz I felt compelled to do some research to find out what had become of the various members. (My main sources are Wikipedia and my work-mate Gerry.)
Garth Hudson has been working and touring continuously since the 1970s and is still a respected session and studio musician.
J. Robbie Robertson has had a solo career as performer and songwriter, and also worked as musical director on several Martin Scorcese films.
Rick Danko continued working as a musician until his death of a heart attack in 1999.
Richard Manuel continued making music with some of his old Band-mates, as well as with Eric Clapton, but was never able to kick an addiction to alcohol and cocaine. In 1986 he committed suicide by hanging himself in a motel room in Florida.
Levon Helm continues performing to this day, and has also acted in several movies. In the late 1990’s he was diagnosed with throat cancer, but refused to get a laryngectomy. Instead, he was cured of the disease through radiation treatments, which caused significant damage to his vocal chords. Late last year (2007) Helm released the album “Dirt Farmer” which was awarded a Grammy. I would highly recommend this album for any lover of old-fashioned roots music, suffused with the energy of rock and roll. Even Helm’s singing sounds good, especially when redeemed by the sweet harmonies of his daughter.
I see a poignant and instructive contrast between Richard Manuel who committed suicide at the age of 42, writing that things would never be as good as they once were, and Levon Helm who continues to create superior music despite daunting set-backs. It is not up to us to decide when the good times are over—until we are buried there is always more to come. So try not to mix Gran Marnier and cocaine. And go out and buy “Dirt Farmer”.
I first saw this movie in a theatre in Port Washington when it was released in 1978, together with my mother and my Uncle Joe—a huge fan of The Band in the 70’s. It impressed me then, mainly by the parade of guest singers / musicians who The Band invited up on the stage. Seeing it again, I liked it even more, especially for the masterful way that Scorcese mixed behind-the-scenes vignets with concert scenes to give a clear and strong characterization of each member of the group.
The members of the Band are: J. Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm, Richard Manuel, Rick Danko and Garth Hudson.
Robertson, the ostensible front man of the group though he does no lead singing, talented guitarist (Dylan’s favorite), Scorcese’s buddy, mugging for the camera; Danko also up front, a tall enthusiastic Canadian never missing a trick on the bass and singing with a compelling, slightly broken tenor; Manuel behind the piano, behind a big beard, the best singer in the group with an impressive high falsetto harmony, shy and drunk in the interviews; Hudson, the musical guru of the group, revered by all, tranquil and business-like behind the organ, then stepping forward to upstage Robertson with an effortless solo on the soprano sax. (Everytime I hear a sax, fiddle or even harmonica it leaves me wondering why rock and roll saw fit to crown the guitar the king of solo instruments—it always pales by comparison.) But my favorite is the drummer, Levon Helm.
Helm is the only authentic southerner in a group of Canadians and is the founding member. In the early sixties he came up to Toronto with rockabilly singer Ronnie Hawkins and helped him put together a group called Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks by hiring a group of local Canadian musicians. A few years later, after parting ways with Hawkins, the band was renamed Levon and the Hawks. Then, after a few years of touring as Dylan’s backing band, they were renamed The Band, and played original songs, all of which were credited to J. Robbie Robertson. Helm and others asserted that most of the songs were collaborative efforts, but Robertson ended up with all of the rights. Levon Helm is shorter than the other members of the Band; he speaks with a drawl, looks scrappy and driven. He is an awesome drummer with a strong voice, and his singing is featured on some of the Band’s best tunes, including “The Weight.”
If you watch The Last Waltz, you will see this group of accomplished musicians playing their own music, and accompanying Hawkins, Dylan, Neil Diamond, Neil Young, Muddy Waters, Joni Mitchell and Emmylou Harris and others, all without missing a beat. This band is tight and seasoned.
Some of my favorite scenes:
· Neil Young lumbering onto the stage with a big smile on his face, looking like some kind of half-hippy, half-bear down from Canada (though I’m not a big fan of the song he did: “Helpless”);
· the acoustic song they did with EmmyLou Harris: Helm plays mandolin and Manuel takes over on drums; Danko plays fiddle and Hudson fills in on bass; Robertson picks up an acoustic guitar—the whole thing sounds terrific.
· Danko and Manuel clowning around backstage, sounding like two kids from small-town Canada—shades of Bob and Doug Mackenzie.
· Dylan ending one song and beginning another on the acoustic guitar without giving as much as a glance to the band, as if throwing down a challenge. Danko gives a nod of recognition as he recognizes the chords of “Baby Let Me Carry You Down” and the entire Band comes in right on queue.
After seeing the Last Waltz I felt compelled to do some research to find out what had become of the various members. (My main sources are Wikipedia and my work-mate Gerry.)
Garth Hudson has been working and touring continuously since the 1970s and is still a respected session and studio musician.
J. Robbie Robertson has had a solo career as performer and songwriter, and also worked as musical director on several Martin Scorcese films.
Rick Danko continued working as a musician until his death of a heart attack in 1999.
Richard Manuel continued making music with some of his old Band-mates, as well as with Eric Clapton, but was never able to kick an addiction to alcohol and cocaine. In 1986 he committed suicide by hanging himself in a motel room in Florida.
Levon Helm continues performing to this day, and has also acted in several movies. In the late 1990’s he was diagnosed with throat cancer, but refused to get a laryngectomy. Instead, he was cured of the disease through radiation treatments, which caused significant damage to his vocal chords. Late last year (2007) Helm released the album “Dirt Farmer” which was awarded a Grammy. I would highly recommend this album for any lover of old-fashioned roots music, suffused with the energy of rock and roll. Even Helm’s singing sounds good, especially when redeemed by the sweet harmonies of his daughter.
I see a poignant and instructive contrast between Richard Manuel who committed suicide at the age of 42, writing that things would never be as good as they once were, and Levon Helm who continues to create superior music despite daunting set-backs. It is not up to us to decide when the good times are over—until we are buried there is always more to come. So try not to mix Gran Marnier and cocaine. And go out and buy “Dirt Farmer”.
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