long time follower and commenter ‘drc’ reminded me that yesterday was the fortieth anniversary of ‘the last waltz’ – the band’s farewell concert presented at the legendary winterland ballroom in san francisco on thanksgiving day in 1976. promoted and organized by bill graham and filmed by martin scorsese, it is widely considered to be the one of the greatest rock films of all time. personally, i know of none finer. i bought the 25th anniversary release, and i never grow tired of watching it. the band runs through their long list of classic tunes, but also plays back up band for some of the musicians that had inspired them throughout their 17 year career – ronnie hawkins, muddy waters, bob dylan, joni mitchell, neil young, eric clapton, van morrison, and so many more.
the concert footage is broken up by scenes of band member interviews that were shot at their shangri la studios in malibu. apparently there is now a 40th anniversary edition with 4 cds and a dvd of the original movie, and i may have to splurge for that. in the meantime, i may break out the one i have and watch it on this thanksgiving weekend. at the bare minimum, i would need to watch levon sing ‘the night they drove old dixie down one’ one more time. it really doesn’t get any better than this.
http://www.npr.org/2016/11/24/503048226/robbie-robertson-on-the-last-waltz-40-years-later
redeyegin 
there are two seminal musical events that are always cited around Thanksgiving: The Band’s “The Last Waltz” and Arlo Guthrie’s “Alice’s Restaurant”. I had both albums in my teens and only one remained after the first listen. hands down one of the best and never get tired of it.
btw one of the lesser publicized yet important “musical” events also took place over Thanksgiving weekend 11 years prior to The Last Waltz….Kesey’s first Acid Test.
LikeLike