The Band Made A Difference

The Band came out of nowhere. Starting off as The Hawks with Ronnie Hawkins they kept the name when they started playing as a backup band for Bob Dylan. With Dylan they became The Band after numerous people were asking Dylan who they were and his reply was "oh, thats just the band". It stuck with them and decided to keep the name. The Band consisted of 4 Canadians Robbie Robertson, Garth Hudson, Rick Danko, and Richard Manuel and 1 American Levon Helm. They carried on through a phenomenal career from their debut album Music From Big Pink to Northern Lights - Southern Cross. In 1976 they decided to call it quits, after Robertson was weary of touring and Manuel was suffering a neck injury from a boating accident. But they didn't leave without a bang. Robertson came up with the idea of a last concert, later called The Last Waltz. This concert was performed on Thanksgiving day in 1976. On the card was everyone from Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan, Ronnie Hawkins, Van Morrison, Dr John, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Ronnie Wood, Neil Diamond, and Paul Butterfeild. Directed by the great Martin Scorsese it defined what The Band was all about. They had fun and you can really see it. This song It Makes No Difference also defined The Band, beautiful and soulful.