Here's a really, really great video on Richard Manuel (and oh yeah, The Band).

@bdp24 

You're still a young man! Cleanish living and you definitely got your exercise. Now, the gym has replaced working-man-full-body-workouts. Doing pretty well, myself, at 72. 

Saw The Flag at Cafe Au Go Go in Winter, 1968. Rumors were Hendrix was jamming with them, and would play with them during this run. Didn't happen. But, they did play together a few months later at the Fillmore East.

The Flag had chops! round this time, after Bloomfield quit/was fired, Super Session was released. Stephen Stills, Al Kooper, Mike Bloomfield and members of The Flag. I still play that one.

Later was Bloomfield/Kooper at the Fillmore, with the classic "Hey Jude/Mr. Fantasy" pairing. 

@wharfy: A former fellow band member friend of mine is a week younger then I (we met the first day of 7th grade in September of 1962, and played our first show together at the Jr. High Talent Show in the spring of ’64. A year later we were both playing in separate bands), and he’s still out on the road, currently playing bass in the band that’s opening for and then backing Nick Lowe in his live shows (he and they are also the band on Nick’s latest album). But he no longer has to do the manual labour.

Funny, I watched The Last Waltz just last week...out of the blue.  I have it on DVD and had to wake my DVD player up to watch it which it didn't like at first but then settled in and played flawlessly- just like The Band :)

@bdp24 

"But he no longer has to do the manual labour."

Someone else puts his wrestling mask on his face?

@wharfy: Ha! I tried on his spare, and damn I don't know how they can play with those things on. I started feeling pretty claustrophobic.