Music

Albums I Wish I Would Have Brought With Me To Prison:

The Band - The Last Waltz

By Whitey Mcgee

First, there was the TAMI show in the days of Motown. Quickly capitalizing on this idea was the Rolling Stones' Rock n' Roll Circus. There were a few "supergroups" in the late 60's built for people who were lucky enough to do boatloads of coke with Eric Clapton. And finally, there was The Last Waltz , without a doubt, the most aptly named album this side of 30 Years of Maximum R&B .

In case you were wondering, I have my first parole hearing on the 14 th of next month, and I'm feeling pretty good about it. I mean, I haven't done anything to reprise my actions of last summer - well, except for that time I bashed someone's head in with a loose toilet seat cover and then stabbed him in the left eye with a piece of rock I had stolen from the exercise yard. Come on, you'd do it too if someone told you that your haircut looked like Elvis when you were clearly going for Johnny Cash. No respect. No respect at all. But that is neither here nor there. I'm here to talk about the music, goddamn it.

Anywho, I was anticipating the end of my incarceration one day when I recalled the most bittersweet moment in the history of music - November 25 th , 1976, another ending point of sorts. On this date, the most unbelievable display of musical genius was unveiled at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco . Legends like Bob Dylan, Robbie Robertson, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Muddy Waters and even NEIL FUCKING DIAMOND came together for one of the greatest concerts ever. See, even those involved probably did not identify the magnitude of the event that they were a part of.

Beginning as a farewell to The Band - the greatest backup band in musical history - the Waltz became a swan song for the entire enterprise of Rock and Roll. Everything before that day was now the stuff of legends. And all that followed never quite surpassed what the Gods had invented between Elvis' Sun Sessions in 1954 and that one night at Winterland.

There are lots of explanations as to why this was the end. Some say that drugs and riches had addled the Masters of the Genre, and they're right. Clapton, for example, had just returned from a stint, measured in years, hiding in his attic and blowing thousands of dollars up his nose. Martin Scorsese noted that before the film version of "The Last Waltz" was edited, you could see white powder dangling from the olfactories of Neil Young and Joni Mitchell. But who are we to judge? These are the leaders of a social and Cultural Revolution and were bound to crash eventually. Make no mistake; the music of The Last Waltz was as remarkable as its cast of characters.

The curtain rises on two ballroom dancers as the "Last Waltz Theme" plays on an antique Wurlitzer. Energy is high and the crowd erupts to the first few strands of "Up on Cripple Creek ," with Levon Helm howling his testimony for weakness in regard to the fairer sex. After the cheering subsides, they introduce the Canadian Cowboy, Ronnie "The Hawk" Hawkins and beautifully execute the standard "Who Do You Love?" Never mind the sub-par English. Things slow down a little from there as Neil and Joni serenade with a heartfelt rendition of "Helpless." The lull does not last long as The Band returns with their solo tune, "Stage Fright," more than anything else a formality on this night. Joni's "Coyote," a departure from her youthful soprano, but nonetheless setting the stage as one of departure and experimental rock. Next, Diamond confidently belts out "Dry Your Eyes" and solidifies his place as the "Guy Who Invited Himself to the Party." Closing out the first set are two more Band classics, the melancholy "It Makes No Difference" and the irreverent "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down." Dr. John, Paul Butterfield warm up the crowd for two of the more recognizable fixtures of the evening. Waters wails out his signature "Mannish Boy" and Clapton, with a piercingly focused expression on his wan visage ends the first act with the climactic "Further on up the Road."

The second set with songs The Band must have picked as the most fun to play, for they would be the final songs that they would ever be on stage to play together. Starting quickly with a horn accompanied version of "The Shape I'm In" and following with a rousing rendition of the best song derived from a Shakespearean character, "Ophelia." Van Morrison takes the stage next with an inspired performance of "Caravan," arguably the closest to a bona fide hit played by any performer. Appropriately, the last live performance of a song penned by The Band was "Life is a Carnival," a Cajun rhythm and horn piece in essence about hawking stolen goods. Seriously, that's what Rock and Roll is all about - developing the creations stolen from the foundation built by those at Winterland that Thanksgiving night.

The conclusion of this slice of history includes five performances from Bob Dylan who discovered The Band in 1965, wrote songs for them and collaborated on three albums. In turn, Robertson was on stage when he shot through the hearts of every folk-music lover and joined Rock and Roll at the Newport Folk Festival. The most memorable moment, of both the concert and Rock history, occurred at the concert's conclusion, Dylan's "I Shall Be Released." I cry every time I watch Scorsese's masterpiece of concert film or listen to even the first few bars of Dylan's vocals. The sight of everyone on stage, gathered in groups of three around microphones. Singing like children who don't know any better. Perhaps it's just me, but I think you can see in Rick Danko's eyes that he knew that this was the moment that Rock and Roll would end. There would be tribute concerts for people like Dylan and the Beatles in the years to come, but there was no performance as wistful, fragile and meaningful; none that symbolized the unity of such genius or the overall belief in little pieces of notes and poetry as Thanksgiving Night, 1976. Truly, it was The Last Waltz .

So, when you're off listening to your Linkin Park or Chingy or Blink 182, thank your lucky stars that these illustrious people had the guts to end rock and roll before people like you were given the chance to ruin it. Furthermore, if you're looking at the end of a path that you have taken in your life, be it a prison sentence or a high-school romance, take in The Last Waltz so you can feel the end of something meaningful instead.