How Robbie Robertson almost reunited with Levon Helm and The Band

In the aftermath of the acclaimed “Jericho” record, booking agent Steve Martin had the $3 million offer from concert promoter John Scher in his briefcase, and Robertson’s agent Nick Wechsler placed a call to Band manager Joe Forno Jr.

Pianist Richard Manuel, organist Garth Hudson, guitarist Robbie Robertson, bassist Rick Danko, and bare-chested drummer Levon Helm are captured on infrared color film reclining on rugs in the yard of Manuel and Hudson’s home above the Ashokan Reservoir in Woodstock, New York, 1969. One of Manuel’s cats roams the property in the background. Photography by Elliott Landy

Leading up to The Band’s January 1994 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, there was a proposed $3 million, 20-night tour if Robbie Robertson rejoined Levon Helm, Rick Danko, and Garth Hudson for the first time since the fabled Last Waltz. Deep-rooted Band insider Joe Forno Jr. made the revelation in his 2021 memoir, Levon’s Man: Woodstock, the Death of Richard Manuel, and My Decade Managing The Band, and untangles precisely why the tantalizing offer fizzled in the second segment of an exclusive interview below. For part one, which dissects “The 30th Anniversary of Jericho, the Reunited Band’s Comeback Album,” tap on the link.

Robertson, who kept his health under wraps and only the day before tweeted a vintage photo of he and Hudson humorously observing Richard Manuel’s independent cat strolling around a swimming pool, departed this mortal realm out of the blue from prostate cancer on Aug. 9, 2023, at age 80, ahead…