Show Notes
“It hadn’t really hit me that when the song was over, so was The Band.” Levon Helm later remembered as The Band stumbled from the Winterland stage at 3:00 AM following one of the biggest shows of their lives. However, it wasn't over. After combining through footage it was determined they needed to film additional content. Thus, The Last Waltz Suite was born. A combination of live recordings on the MGM soundstage featuring The Staple Singers and Emmylou Harris and studio recordings including all-new material. It was a confusing time, a group that had at the very least said they were publically finished, kept working away on material but they were drifting apart. Each member began to work on various projects as if the band they had put over a decade into didn’t exist anymore. They rather neglect the elephant in the room rather than fully deal with band politics. The Band: A History is produced, written and hosted by Tyrell William Lisson with additional research and writing by Alex McGillivray and post-production sound and editing by Michael Koehler. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
More from The Band: A History
Levon Helm built The Barn in Woodstock as a place to keep making music, make a home and then when stuggles hit - through throat cancer and in the process, built something just as lasting with his daughter Amy, who grew up on that stage and has kept it running ever since he passed.
Jericho was the first Band studio album in sixteen years, and by the time it arrived a lot had changed. Richard Manuel was gone. Robbie Robertson was gone. What remained were Levon Helm, Rick Danko, and Garth Hudson, joined by Jim Weider, Randy Ciarlante, and Richard Bell, trying to figure out what The Band could still sound like in the 1990s.
This episode traces the final years of Richard Manuel, from The Band’s relentless touring in 1984–86 to his last night in Winter Park, Florida. We follow the grind of the road, the pressures that built around him, and the moments of beauty still present in his late performances. This is the story of a brilliant singer living through the hardest years of his life, the night everything changed, and the music and tributes he left behind.
This episode follows guitarist Jim Weider, from growing up in Woodstock to finding his way onto the road with Levon, Rick, Richard, and Garth. We trace how he joined The Band in the mid-’80s, held things together through years of hard touring, helped shape their final studio records in the ’90s.