Hi all
Just wanted to share a story with you that goes to show that The Band
are transcendental. It is my story and at the end there is someone
else's story......
I had just started uni when The Last Waltz took place and had just
started work when the movie was first released. Whilst at uni, my
friends were into music (particularly Bob's Blood on the Tracks and
then Desire) but for some reason not The Band. And The Band had never
toured Australia, although I am sure there would have been a strong
fan base after Big Pink and The Band were released. (Actually
motorcycles were our greatest passion at uni!)
So, the years pass, interests change, friends drift apart and later re-
join...life goes on.. I did re-connect with Bob when Time Out of Mind
was released and saw hime when he was here in 2003.
When The Last Waltz received a new conema release here in Brisbane,
Austalia where I live I thought, I must see this as I'd heard of it
vaguely over the years. Well, I was hooked.. I couldn't take my eyes
off them, particularly Rick and Levon (now after many re-viewings I
think it gross negligience of how little footage there was of Richard
- not a close-up on his verse in I Shall Be Released, etc, no
Georgia...) and of course there was Bob and Joni Mitchell (who I was
a big fan of over the years). So I went out and bought the
compilation of Greatest Hits and lived with that. Also In the last
year, I've been off work through ill-health and Bob was touring again
in August. I couldn't get to the concert but it piqued my interest
and started to re-immerse myself in his music and life in many ways
and of course The Band wove in and out of his story and had there own
story, so I re-immersed myself in their music finally buying Big Pink,
The Band, Rock of Ages....
Well I've just gone back to work and was lunching with a friend
outside the other day when I saw a young guy - he might have been 17
or 18 - black stove-pipe jeans, black Converse sneakers, black hair
but most im****tantly, a black t-****rt that said THE BAND with one of
Eliot Landy's classic The Band photos. I immediately asked him where
he got it and he told me that he and his friends at art college had
made them themselves. They play Big Pink all the time in their
studios. We chatted back and forther - have you got this - yes, have
you got that - yes. They had everything....
It just made me happy and I had a wonderful rest of the day at work.
I can see those kids in their studio listening to Lonesome Suzie and
Long Black Veil and everything else and think The Band will always
live on...
Thanks for listening.. This was a story I wanted to share.
Cheers
Annie Mc
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