November 25, 1976: Once upon a time, there was a rock and roll band named simply "The Band." On this Thanksgiving Night, their original lineup played its last concert. It led to what has often been called the greatest rock documentary, titled The Last Waltz.
In 1957, in his native Arkansas, high school senior Levon Helm met singer Ronnie Hawkins. Hawkins invited Helm to drum with his band, The Hawks. Hawkins hadn't gotten very far in America, but was popular in Canada. The rest of the band was from the Canadian Province of Ontario: Lead guitarist Robbie Robertson from Toronto, bass guitarist Rick Danko from Blayney, and keyboard players Richard Manuel from Stratford, and Garth Hudson from Windsor, across the Detroit River from Detroit.
In 1963, tired of playing the same old songs instead of original material, the Hawks left Hawkins. In 1965, they joined Bob Dylan, and became his touring band until his motorcycle wreck in 1966. As Dylan recovered in 1967, together, in the basement of Dylan's house in Saugerties, New York, they recorded what became known as The Basement Tapes. These songs wouldn't be released until 1975.
But they did form the basis for the group's 1968 debut album, named for the house: Music from Big Pink. Because the locals called them simply "the band," that's what they called themselves. Three of the songs on the album were written by Dylan: "Tears of Rage," written with Manuel; "This Wheel's On Fire," written with Danko; and one of the best songs Dylan's ever written, "I Shall Be Released." But the album is best known for "The Weight," written by Robertson, who became the group's main songwriter.
In 1969, The Band played at the Woodstock festival, and then released their follow-up album, also titled simply The Band. It included their 2 best-known songs: "Up On Cripple Creek," a truck driver's tale of his mistress (clearly, "my big mama" and "my Bessie," both mentioned in the last verse, are 2 different women); and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," in which a Confederate civilian laments what the Civil War did to his people (who, of course, started it, for an incredibly evil reason).
The continued to record and tour together, but got weary of touring. In 1976, Robertson said they should retire from live performances. On October 30, they appeared on Saturday Night Live. They played 1 more show, on November 25, at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, and it was filmed for a documentary by Martin Scorcese, who was coming off making Taxi Driver.
It was Thanksgiving Night, and free turkey dinners were provided for the 5,000 people in attendance. The night was loaded with guests. The Band had made peace with Hawkins, and he was on hand. So was Dylan. So was blues legend Muddy Waters, whom the whole Band admired. So were ex-Beatle Ringo Starr, Rolling Stone Ron Wood, Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Neil Diamond, Van Morrison, Emmylou Harris and Paul Butterfield. The show ended with Dylan leading the ensemble singing "I Shall Be Released." The film about the show, The Last Waltz, was released on April 26, 1978.
In 1983, without Robertson, who didn't want to get back together, the rest of the band went back on tour. But on March 4, 1986, after a performance outside Orlando in Winter Park, Florida, Manuel, struggling with substance abuse, hanged himself in his motel room. He was only 42 years old.
In 1992, The Band played "When I Paint My Masterpiece" at the Dylan tribute concert at Madison Square Garden. At that point, The Band consisted of Helm, Danko, Hudson, guitarist Jim Weider, keyboardist Richard Bell and drummer Randy Ciarlante (as Helm switched to mandolin).
Danko died on December 10, 1999; Bell on June 15, 2007; Helm on April 19, 2012; and Hawkins on May 29, 2022. As of November 25, 2022, Robertson, Hudson, Weider and Ciarlante are still alive.
UPDATE: Robertson died on August 9, 2023. Garth Hudson died on January 21, 2025. And it took me until 2024 to think of this, but the 1970s were Schrödinger's Decade. There was too much overwrought music, and, at the same time, not enough of it.
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November 25, 1976, like all Thanksgiving Days, was a Thursday. There were 2 games played in the NFL.
* The Detroit Lions beat the Buffalo Bills, 27-14 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan. In a losing effort for the Bills, O.J. Simpson rushed for 273 yards, a new single-game NFL record. I have a separate entry for this event.
Walter Payton would break that record the next season. O.J., of course, would go on to have a very different kind of "record."
* And the Dallas Cowboys beat the football version of the St. Louis Cardinals, 19-14 at Texas Stadium in suburban Irving, 10 miles northwest of downtown Dallas. The leading rusher in that game only had 54 yards, and it was the Cowboys' quarterback, Roger "the Dodger" Staubach.
There were 3 college games:
* Number 11 Texas A&M beat arch-rival Texas, 27-3 at Memorial Stadium in Austin.
* Number 17 Rutgers beat Colgate, 17-9 at Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey. This completed an 11-0, undefeated season for Rutgers. I have a separate entry for that event.
* And Kent State beat Northern Illinois, 42-0 at Dix Stadium in the Cleveland suburb of Kent, Ohio.
One more note from football on this day: Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb was born.
Baseball was out of season. In recent times, the NBA and the NHL have avoided playing on Thanksgiving, so as not to compete for TV ratings with the NFL. But, this time, there were 3 NBA games:
* The Cleveland Cavaliers, beat the Detroit Pistons, 111-105 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.
* The Houston Rockets beat the New Orleans Jazz, 105-99 at the Superdome in New Orleans. In defeat, "Pistol" Pete Maravich scored 35 points.
* And the Phoenix Suns beat the Washington Bullets, 104-98 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
There were 2 NHL games. The New York Islanders lost to the Detroit Red Wings, 3-1 at the Nassau Coliseum. And the Boston Bruins beat the Vancouver Canucks, 4-2 at the Boston Garden.
And there were 2 games in the World Hockey Association. The New England Whalers beat the Birmingham Bulls, 5-3 at the Jefferson County Civic Center in Birmingham. And the Quebec Nordiques beat the Indianapolis Racers, 5-0 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.
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