''The Last Waltz'' was a
concert by the Canadian-American rock group
The Band, held on American
Thanksgiving Day
Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden and ...
, November 25, 1976, at
Winterland Ballroom
Winterland Ballroom (more commonly known as Winterland Arena or simply Winterland) was an ice skating rink and music venue in San Francisco, California. The arena was located at the corner of Post Street and Steiner Street. It was converted for ...
in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
. ''The Last Waltz'' was advertised as The Band's "farewell concert appearance",
[Concert poster on the first page of the 2002 album booklet and in the DVD photo gallery states: "The Band in their farewell concert appearance."] and the concert had The Band joined by more than a dozen special guests, including their previous employers
Ronnie Hawkins and
Bob Dylan, as well as
Paul Butterfield
Paul Vaughn Butterfield (December 17, 1942May 4, 1987) was an American blues harmonica player, singer and band leader. After early training as a classical flautist, he developed an interest in blues harmonica. He explored the blues scene in his n ...
,
Bobby Charles
Robert Charles Guidry (February 21, 1938 – January 14, 2010), known as Bobby Charles, was an American singer-songwriter.
Early life
An ethnic Cajun, Charles was born in Abbeville, Louisiana, United States, and grew up listening to Cajun mus ...
,
Eric Clapton,
Neil Diamond,
Emmylou Harris,
Dr. John,
Joni Mitchell,
Van Morrison,
Ringo Starr,
Muddy Waters,
Ronnie Wood
Ronald David Wood (born 1 June 1947) is an English rock musician, best known as an official member of the Rolling Stones since 1975, as well as a member of Faces and the Jeff Beck Group.
Wood began his career in 1964, playing guitar with a ...
, and
Neil Young. The musical director for the concert was The Band's original record producer,
John Simon.
The concert was produced and managed by
Bill Graham and was filmed by director
Martin Scorsese, who made it into a
documentary of the same title, released in 1978.
Jonathan Taplin, who was The Band's tour manager from 1969 to 1972 and later produced Scorsese's film ''
Mean Streets'', suggested that Scorsese would be the ideal director for the project, and introduced
Robbie Robertson and Scorsese. Taplin served as executive producer. The film features concert performances, intermittent song renditions shot on a studio soundstage, and interviews by Scorsese with members of The Band. The soundtrack and DVD were later released.
''The Last Waltz'' is hailed as one of the greatest documentary
concert film
A concert film, or concert movie, is a film that showcases a live performance from the perspective of a concert goer, the subject of which is an extended live performance or concert by either a musician or a stand-up comedian.
Early history
The ...
s ever made. In 2019, the film was selected by the
Library of Congress for preservation in the United States
National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Film synopsis
Beginning with a
title card
In films, an intertitle, also known as a title card, is a piece of filmed, printed text edited into the midst of (i.e., ''inter-'') the photographed action at various points. Intertitles used to convey character dialogue are referred to as "dialo ...
saying, "This film should be played loud!" the
concert documentary covers The Band's influences and career. The group consisted of
Rick Danko
Richard Clare Danko (December 29, 1943 – December 10, 1999) was a Canadian musician, bassist, songwriter, and singer, best known as a founding member of the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.
During ...
on bass, violin, and vocals,
Levon Helm on drums, mandolin, and vocals,
Garth Hudson
Eric "Garth" Hudson (born August 2, 1937) is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist best known as the keyboardist and occasional saxophonist for rock group the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. He was a ...
on keyboards, saxophone and accordion, songwriter
Richard Manuel
Richard George Manuel (April 3, 1943 – March 4, 1986) was a Canadian singer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter, best known as a pianist and one of three lead singers in The Band, for which he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and ...
on keyboards, drums, percussion and vocals, and guitarist-songwriter
Robbie Robertson on vocals.
![The Last Waltz](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/The_Last_Waltz.jpg)
Various other artists perform with The Band:
Muddy Waters,
Paul Butterfield
Paul Vaughn Butterfield (December 17, 1942May 4, 1987) was an American blues harmonica player, singer and band leader. After early training as a classical flautist, he developed an interest in blues harmonica. He explored the blues scene in his n ...
,
Neil Young,
Joni Mitchell,
Van Morrison,
Dr. John,
Neil Diamond, and
Eric Clapton. Genres covered include
blues,
rock and roll,
New Orleans R&B
New Orleans rhythm and blues is a style of rhythm and blues that originated in New Orleans. It was a direct precursor to rock and roll and strongly influenced ska. Instrumentation typically includes drums, bass, piano, horns, electric guitar, and ...
,
Tin Pan Alley pop,
folk, and
rock. Further genres are explored in segments filmed later on a
sound stage
A sound stage (also written soundstage) is a soundproof, large structure, building, or room with large doors and high ceilings, used for the production of theatrical film-making and television productions, usually located on a secured movie or ...
with
Emmylou Harris (
country) and
the Staple Singers (
soul and
gospel).
The film begins with The Band performing the last song of the evening, their
cover version of the
Marvin Gaye hit "
Don't Do It", as an
encore. The film then
flashes back to the beginning of the concert, and follows it more or less chronologically. The Band is backed by a large
horn section
A horn section is a group of musicians playing horns. In an orchestra or concert band, it refers to the musicians who play the "French" horn, and in a British-style brass band it is the tenor horn players. In many popular music genres, the te ...
and performs many of its hit songs, including "
Up on Cripple Creek", "
Stage Fright
Stage fright or performance anxiety is the anxiety, fear, or persistent phobia which may be aroused in an individual by the requirement to perform in front of an audience, real or imagined, whether actually or potentially (for example, when perf ...
", and "
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down".
The live songs are interspersed with studio segments and interviews conducted by director Martin Scorsese in which the Band's members reminisce about the group's history. Robertson talks about Hudson joining the band on the condition that the other members pay him $10 a week each for music lessons. The
classically trained
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...
Hudson could then tell his parents that he was a music teacher instead of merely a rock-and-roll musician. Robertson also describes the surreal experience of playing in a burnt-out
nightclub owned by
Jack Ruby.
Manuel recalls that some of the early names for The Band included "The Honkies", and "The Crackers". Because they were simply referred to as "the band" by Dylan and their friends and neighbors in
Woodstock, New York
Woodstock is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States, in the northern part of the county, northwest of Kingston, NY. It lies within the borders of the Catskill Park. The population was 5,884 at the 2010 census, down from 6,241 in 20 ...
, they figured that was just what they would call themselves.
Danko is seen giving Scorsese a tour of The Band's
Shangri-La studio, and he plays a recording of "Sip the Wine", a track from his then-forthcoming 1977 solo album ''
Rick Danko
Richard Clare Danko (December 29, 1943 – December 10, 1999) was a Canadian musician, bassist, songwriter, and singer, best known as a founding member of the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.
During ...
''.
A recurring theme brought up in the interviews with Robertson is that the concert marks an end of an era for The Band, that after 16 years on the road, the time had come for a change. "That's what ''The Last Waltz'' is - 16 years on the road. The numbers start to scare you," Robertson tells Scorsese. "I mean, I couldn't live with 20 years on the road. I don't think I could even discuss it."
Origins
The idea for a farewell concert came about early in 1976 after Richard Manuel was seriously injured in a boating accident.
Robbie Robertson then began giving thought to leaving the road, envisioning The Band becoming a
studio-only band, similar to
the Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...
' decision to stop playing live shows in 1966.
[Fricke, The Last Waltz liner notes, 2001, page 17] He was also concerned about the negative effects of being on the road too long:
Though the other band members did not agree with Robertson's decision, the concert was set at
Bill Graham's
Winterland Ballroom
Winterland Ballroom (more commonly known as Winterland Arena or simply Winterland) was an ice skating rink and music venue in San Francisco, California. The arena was located at the corner of Post Street and Steiner Street. It was converted for ...
, where The Band had made its debut as a group in 1969.
[Fricke, The Last Waltz liner notes, 2001, pages 25–27] Originally, The Band was to perform on its own, but then the notion of inviting Ronnie Hawkins and Bob Dylan was hatched and the guest list grew to include other performers. Robertson wanted to invite people who had been a strong influence on their music, people who represented various music styles, including New Orleans rock and roll, English blues, and Chicago blues.
[ When he called Bill Graham, he said he wanted the concert to be a kind of celebration, the end of a chapter.][
With only six weeks before the planned date, Robertson called director Martin Scorsese, whom he knew loved rock music and had worked at the Woodstock Festival, to see if he would direct it as a concert documentary. When he mentioned some of the performers they had lined up, Scorsese reacted quickly: "''Van Morrison?'' Are you ''kidding?'' I ''have'' to do it. I don't have a choice."][ The group promoted the concert by appearing on the October 30 episode of ''Saturday Night Live'', where host ]Buck Henry
Buck Henry (born Henry Zuckerman; December 9, 1930 – January 8, 2020) was an American actor, screenwriter, and director. Henry's contributions to film included his work as a co-writer for Mike Nichols's ''The Graduate'' (1967) for which he r ...
introduced them by saying they were about to disband on Thanksgiving. They went into a set of " Life Is a Carnival", " The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", and "Stage Fright
Stage fright or performance anxiety is the anxiety, fear, or persistent phobia which may be aroused in an individual by the requirement to perform in front of an audience, real or imagined, whether actually or potentially (for example, when perf ...
" and closed out the episode with a cover of "Georgia on My Mind
"Georgia on My Mind" is a 1930 song written by Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell and first recorded that same year by Hoagy Carmichael. However, the song has been most often associated with soul singer Ray Charles, who was a native of the U ...
" with Manuel on lead vocals.
Concert
Promoted and organized by Bill Graham, whose home turf was Winterland and who had a long association with The Band, the concert was an elaborate affair, with over 300 workers. Starting at 5:00 pm, the audience of 5,000 was served turkey dinners. There was ballroom dancing
Ballroom dance is a set of partner dances, which are enjoyed both socially and competitively around the world, mostly because of its performance and entertainment aspects. Ballroom dancing is also widely enjoyed on stage, film, and television. ...
, with music by the Berkeley Promenade Orchestra. Poets Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Lawrence Monsanto Ferlinghetti (March 24, 1919 – February 22, 2021) was an American poet, painter, social activist, and co-founder of City Lights Booksellers & Publishers. The author of poetry, translations, fiction, theatre, art criticism, an ...
, Lenore Kandel
Lenore Kandel (January 14, 1932 in New York City – October 18, 2009 in San Francisco, California) was an American poet, affiliated with the Beat Generation and Hippie counterculture.
Biography
Her first works of poetry were the chapbooks '' ...
, Diane di Prima
Diane di Prima (August 6, 1934October 25, 2020) was an American poet, known for her association with the Beat movement. She was also an artist, prose writer, and teacher. Her magnum opus is widely considered to be ''Loba'', a collection of poems ...
, Michael McClure, Robert Duncan, and Freewheelin' Frank gave readings.[
]
The Band started its concert at around 9:00 pm, opening with "Up on Cripple Creek". This was followed by eleven more of The Band's most popular songs, including " The Shape I'm In", " This Wheel's on Fire", and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down". They were backed by a large horn section with charts arranged by Allen Toussaint and other musicians.
They were then joined by a succession of guest artists, starting with Ronnie Hawkins. As the Hawks, The Band served as Hawkins' backing band in the early 1960s. Dr. John took a seat at the piano for his signature song, "Such a Night". He then switched to guitar and joined Bobby Charles
Robert Charles Guidry (February 21, 1938 – January 14, 2010), known as Bobby Charles, was an American singer-songwriter.
Early life
An ethnic Cajun, Charles was born in Abbeville, Louisiana, United States, and grew up listening to Cajun mus ...
on "Down South in New Orleans".
A blues set was next with harmonica player Paul Butterfield, Muddy Waters, pianist Pinetop Perkins
Joe Willie "Pinetop" Perkins (July 7, 1913 – March 21, 2011) was an American blues pianist. He played with some of the most influential blues and rock-and-roll performers of his time and received numerous honors, including a Grammy Life ...
, and Eric Clapton. As Clapton was taking his first solo on " Further on Up the Road", his guitar strap came loose and Robertson picked up the solo without missing a beat.
Neil Young followed, singing " Helpless" with backing vocals by Joni Mitchell, who remained off stage. According to Robertson's commentary on ''The Last Waltz'' DVD, this was so her later appearance in the show would have more of an impact. Mitchell came on after Young and sang three songs, two with the backing of Dr. John on congas.
Neil Diamond was next, introducing his "Dry Your Eyes" by saying, "I'm only gonna do one song, but I'm gonna do it good." Robertson had produced Diamond's album '' Beautiful Noise'' the same year and co-wrote "Dry Your Eyes", which during the concert he hailed as a "great song".
Van Morrison then performed two songs, a special arrangement of " Tura Lura Lural (That's an Irish Lullaby)" as a duet with Richard Manuel and his own show-stopper, " Caravan".
Canadians Young and Mitchell were then invited back out to help the Band perform " Acadian Driftwood", an ode to the Acadians of Canadian history. The Band then performed a short set of some more of its songs before Bob Dylan came on stage to lead his former backing band through four songs.
The Band and all its guests, with the addition of Ringo Starr on drums and Ronnie Wood on guitar, then sang "I Shall Be Released" as a closing number. Dylan, who wrote the song, and Manuel, whose falsetto rendition had made the song famous on ''Music from Big Pink
''Music from Big Pink'' is the debut studio album by the Band. Released in 1968, it employs a distinctive blend of country, rock, folk, classical, R&B, blues, and soul. The music was composed partly in " Big Pink", a house shared by bassist/s ...
'', shared lead vocals, although Manuel cannot be clearly seen in the film and switched between his normal and falsetto voices between verses.
Two loose jam sessions then formed. "Jam #1" featured the Band minus Richard Manuel playing with Neil Young, Ronnie Wood, and Eric Clapton on guitar, Dr. John on piano, Paul Butterfield on harmonica, and Ringo Starr on drums. It was followed by "Jam #2" with the same personnel minus Robertson and Danko. Stephen Stills, who showed up late, took a guitar solo and Carl Radle
Carl Dean Radle (June 18, 1942 – May 30, 1980) was an American bassist who toured and recorded with many of the most influential recording artists of the late 1960s and 1970s. He was posthumously inducted to the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame i ...
joined on bass.
The Band then came out at around 2:15 am to perform an encore, " Don't Do It". It was the last time the group performed under the name "The Band" with its classic lineup. The five joined on stage at a Rick Danko concert in 1978. The Band reformed without Robertson in 1980 and headlined at The Roxy in Los Angeles with Scottish group Blue
Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...
supporting, guests were Dr. John and Joe Cocker. Rick Danko later performed at various Los Angeles venues along with Blue, and at his invitation, they recorded their ''LA Sessions'' album at Shangri-La Studios.
Film production
Concert filming
Robertson initially wanted to record the concert on 16 mm film
16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, educ ...
. He recruited Martin Scorsese to direct based on his use of music in '' Mean Streets''. Under Scorsese, the film grew into a full-scale studio production with seven 35 mm cameras.
The cameras were operated by several cinematographers, including Michael Chapman (''Raging Bull
''Raging Bull'' is a 1980 American biographical sports drama film directed by Martin Scorsese, produced by Robert Chartoff and Irwin Winkler and adapted by Paul Schrader and Mardik Martin from Jake LaMotta's 1970 memoir '' Raging Bull: My ...
''), Vilmos Zsigmond
Vilmos Zsigmond ASC (; June 16, 1930 – January 1, 2016) was a Hungarian-American cinematographer. His work in cinematography helped shape the look of American movies in the 1970s, making him one of the leading figures in the American New Wa ...
(''Close Encounters of the Third Kind
''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' is a 1977 American science fiction film written and directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban, Cary Guffey, and François Truffaut. It tells the story ...
''), and László Kovács (''Easy Rider
''Easy Rider'' is a 1969 American independent drug culture road drama film written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern, produced by Fonda, and directed by Hopper. Fonda and Hopper play two bikers who travel through the American So ...
'', ''Five Easy Pieces
''Five Easy Pieces'' is a 1970 American drama film directed by Bob Rafelson, written by Carole Eastman (as Adrien Joyce) and Rafelson, and starring Jack Nicholson, Karen Black, Susan Anspach, Lois Smith, and Ralph Waite. The film tells the s ...
''). The stage
Stage or stages may refer to:
Acting
* Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions
* Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage"
* ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper
* Sta ...
and lighting
Lighting or illumination is the deliberate use of light to achieve practical or aesthetic effects. Lighting includes the use of both artificial light sources like lamps and light fixtures, as well as natural illumination by capturing daylig ...
were designed by Boris Leven, who had been the production designer on such musical films as ''West Side Story
''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents.
Inspired by William Shakespeare's play '' Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid ...
'' and ''The Sound of Music
''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, ''The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. S ...
''. With Bill Graham's assistance, the set from the San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera (SFO) is an American opera company founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola (1881–1953) based in San Francisco, California.
History
Gaetano Merola (1923–1953)
Merola's road to prominence in the Bay Area began in 1906 when h ...
's production of '' La traviata'' was rented as a backdrop for the stage. Crystal chandeliers were also hung over the stage.
John Simon, who ran the rehearsals for the show, would give Scorsese details as to who sang what and who soloed when for each song. Scorsese meticulously storyboarded the songs, setting up lighting and camera cues to fit the lyrics of the songs. But despite his planning, in the rigors of the live concert setting, with the loud rock music and the hours spent filming the show, there were unscripted film reloads and camera malfunctions. It was not possible for all songs to be covered. At one point, all the cameras, except László Kovács', were shut down for a scheduled film reload as Muddy Waters was to perform "Mannish Boy
"Mannish Boy" (or "Manish Boy" as it was first labeled) is a blues standard written by Muddy Waters, Mel London, and Bo Diddley (with Waters and Diddley being credited under their birth names). First recorded in 1955 by Waters, it serves as an " ...
". Kovács, frustrated by Scorsese's constant instructions, had removed his headset earlier in the evening and had not heard the orders to stop filming.[Fricke, The Last Waltz liner notes, 2001, page 49] As Scorsese frantically tried to get other cameras up, Kovács was already rolling and able to capture the iconic song by the blues legend. "It was just luck," Scorsese recalled in the DVD documentary
A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in term ...
, ''The Last Waltz Revisited''.
Notably omitted from the film is Stephen Stills, who only performed in a jam session. Also omitted were performances by poets Lenore Kandel, Robert Duncan, Freewheelin' Frank Reynolds, Emmett Grogan, Diane DiPrima and Sweet William. Both jam sessions were omitted from the film entirely.
Unexpected negotiations with Dylan
While Bob Dylan had agreed to perform at the concert, which was being filmed, he decided during the intermission that he did not want his own performance filmed after all. He feared it might detract from his film ''Renaldo and Clara
''Renaldo and Clara'' is a 1978 American film directed by Bob Dylan and starring Bob Dylan, Sara Dylan and Joan Baez. Written by Dylan and Sam Shepard, the film incorporates three distinct film genres: concert footage, documentary interviews, and ...
'', which he directed during the Rolling Thunder Revue
The Rolling Thunder Revue was a 1975–1976 concert tour by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan with numerous musicians and collaborators. The purpose of the tour was to allow Dylan, who had now become a major recording artist and concert perfor ...
tour, which ended months earlier.[Fricke, The Last Waltz liner notes, 2001, page 53] However, Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
had agreed to finance ''Last Waltz'' only if Dylan would appear in it.
Levon Helm said that Scorsese "went nuts" upon hearing that Dylan changed his mind, while "Robbie became totally pale."[ More than a million dollars would have been lost without Dylan's performance in the film, said Helm.][ Jonathan Taplin, the Band's manager and producer of the film, was also beside himself, knowing that he had no influence over Dylan. He, along with Robertson and Scorsese, then went to Graham: "Bill, you're going to have to go and talk to Bob."][ They knew that Graham had worked with Dylan before, such as during Graham's SNACK Benefit Concert a year earlier. They wanted Graham to explain to Dylan how dire the situation was, said Helm.][
As Graham walked toward Dylan's dressing room, he tried to reassure them, "Don't worry, I'm gonna make it happen."][ As they waited, there were frantic backstage negotiations between Graham and Dylan, recalls Helm:]
Robertson also assured Dylan that the concert film's release would be delayed until after his film.[ Taplin later said that "Bill did the greatest thing that night. In a sense, he really saved the day for us."][
At one point during Dylan's performance, Robertson states that Lou Kemp, a close friend of Dylan, said "We're not filming this." And Bill just said, "Get out of here, or I'll kill you."] Graham told him "This is ''history'', don't mess with it!" Kemp backed off.[ To add to the confusion, Scorsese said that when Dylan got on stage, the sound was so loud he did not know what to shoot: "Fortunately, we got our cues right and we shot the two songs that were used in the film."
According to Kemp, "More or less, Bob got his way. I think they shot a little more than he wanted but they didn't shoot as much as ''they'' wanted. As it ended up, everybody came out whole.][Graham, Bill; Greenfield, Robert.”Bill Graham Presents”, Bantam Doubleday (1992) pp. 370–373 ] Robertson was also satisfied:
Drug use
Scorsese has said that during this period, he was using cocaine
Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Ameri ...
heavily. Drugs were present in large quantities during the concert. A smudge of cocaine on Neil Young's nose was obscured in post-production.
Post-concert production
Following the concert, Scorsese filmed for several days on an MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...
studio soundstage, with the Band, the Staple Singers and Emmylou Harris. The Band's performance of "The Weight
"The Weight" is a song by the Canadian-American group the Band that was released as a single in 1968 and on the group's debut album '' Music from Big Pink''. It was their first release under this name, after their previous releases as Canadian ...
" with the Staple Singers was included in the film instead of the concert version. The Band and Harris performed "Evangeline", which was also included in the film. Interviews with group members were conducted by Scorsese at the Band's Shangri-La Studio in Malibu, California
Malibu ( ; es, Malibú; Chumash: ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, situated about west of Downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate and its strip of the Malib ...
. Additionally, Robertson composed "The Last Waltz Suite", parts of which were used as a film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...
. Finally, according to musical director John Simon, during post-production, the live recording was altered to clean up "playing mistakes, out-of-tune singing, bad horn-balance in the remote truck. Only Levon's part was retained in its entirety."
Due to Scorsese's commitments on '' New York, New York'' and another documentary, '' American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince'', the film's release was delayed until 1978.
During the editing process, Scorsese and Robertson became friends, and frequently collaborated on further projects, with Robertson acting as music producer and consultant on ''Raging Bull
''Raging Bull'' is a 1980 American biographical sports drama film directed by Martin Scorsese, produced by Robert Chartoff and Irwin Winkler and adapted by Paul Schrader and Mardik Martin from Jake LaMotta's 1970 memoir '' Raging Bull: My ...
'', '' The King of Comedy'', ''The Color of Money
''The Color of Money'' is a 1986 American sports drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and released by Touchstone Pictures. The film was created from a screenplay by Richard Price, based on the 1984 novel of the same name by Walter Tevis. Th ...
'', ''Casino
A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...
'', ''Gangs of New York
''Gangs of New York'' is a 2002 American epic historical drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian and Kenneth Lonergan, based on Herbert Asbury's 1927 book '' The Gangs of New York''. The film stars Le ...
'', ''The Departed
''The Departed'' is a 2006 American epic crime thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by William Monahan. It is both a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film '' Infernal Affairs'' and also loosely based on the real-life Boston Win ...
'' and ''Shutter Island
''Shutter Island'' is a novel by American writer Dennis Lehane, published by HarperCollins in April 2003. It is about a U.S. Marshal who goes to an isolated hospital for the criminally insane to investigate the disappearance of a patient who is ...
''.
Reception
Critical reception
The film has been hailed critically, listed among the greatest concert films. On review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film holds an approval rating of 98% based on 50 reviews, with an average rating of 8.50/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Among one of, if not the best rock movie ever made, The Last Waltz is a revealing, electrifying view of the classic band at their height." ''Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...
'' film critic Michael Wilmington calls it "the greatest rock concert movie ever made – and maybe the best rock movie, period". Terry Lawson of the ''Detroit Free Press
The ''Detroit Free Press'' is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, US. The Sunday edition is titled the ''Sunday Free Press''. It is sometimes referred to as the Freep (reflected in the paper's web address, www.freep.com). It primari ...
'' comments that "This is one of the great movie experiences." ''Total Film
''Total Film'' is a British film magazine published 13 times a year (published monthly and a summer issue is added every year since issue 91, 2004, which is published between July and August issue) by Future Publishing. The magazine was launched ...
'' considers it "the greatest concert film ever shot". Janet Maslin
Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...
of ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' gave it a negative review, stating that it "articulates so little of the end-of-an-era feeling it hints at ... that it's impossible to view the ''Last Waltz'' as anything but an also-ran." However, ''The New York Times'' in 2003 placed the film on its ''Best 1000 Movies Ever'' list, while ''Rolling Stone'' called it the "Greatest Concert Movie of All Time".
Music critic Robert Christgau gives the soundtrack a " B+", saying "the movie improves when you can't see it." He praises the blues numbers by Muddy Waters and Paul Butterfield
Paul Vaughn Butterfield (December 17, 1942May 4, 1987) was an American blues harmonica player, singer and band leader. After early training as a classical flautist, he developed an interest in blues harmonica. He explored the blues scene in his n ...
, the horn arrangements by Allen Toussaint, and the "blistering if messy" guitar duet by Robertson and Eric Clapton. Film critic Roger Ebert awarded the film three stars out of a possible four, noting that although "the film is such a revealing document of a time", it also suggested the musicians had reached the end of their careers.
Criticism by Levon Helm
Levon Helm, in his 1993 autobiography ''This Wheel's on Fire
"This Wheel's on Fire" is a song written by Bob Dylan and Rick Danko. It was originally recorded by Dylan and the Band during their 1967 sessions, portions of which (including this song) comprised the 1975 album, '' The Basement Tapes''. The B ...
'', expresses serious reservations about Scorsese's handling of the film, claiming that Scorsese and Robertson (who produced the film) conspired to make the Band look like Robertson's sidemen. He states that Robertson, who is depicted singing powerful backing vocals, was actually singing into a microphone that was turned off throughout most of the concert (a typical practice during their live performances).
Helm was also dissatisfied with Manuel and Hudson's minimal screen time and the fact most of the band members never received any money for the various home videos, DVDs and soundtracks released by Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
after the project.[
]
Appreciation by Robbie Robertson
Robertson said he was relieved when the concert ended, as he was constantly worried that something would go wrong, as it did when Dylan suddenly backed out of being filmed. To all the people involved, he said "Thank God we got through it."[ He recalls that all the cameramen were hugging one another, feeling they had succeeded in capturing a unique rock concert on film.
He also thanked Graham for producing the concert at Winterland, where the Band had its debut in 1969:
]
Home video releases
For the concert's 25th anniversary in 2002, the film was remastered
Remaster refers to changing the quality of the sound or of the image, or both, of previously created recordings, either audiophonic, cinematic, or videographic. The terms digital remastering and digitally remastered are also used.
Mastering
A ...
and a new theatrical print was made for a limited release to promote the release of the DVD and four-CD box set of the film soundtrack. It opened in San Francisco's Castro Theatre
The Castro Theatre is a historic movie palace in San Francisco that became San Francisco Historic Landmark #100 in September 1976. Located at 429 Castro Street in the Castro District, it was built in 1922 with a California Churrigueresque fa ...
, with the release later expanded to 15 theaters.
The DVD features a commentary track
An audio commentary is an additional audio track, usually digital, consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with a video. Commentaries can be serious or entertaining in nature, and can add informatio ...
by Robertson and Scorsese, a featurette
In the American film industry, a featurette is a kind of film that is shorter than a full-length feature, but longer than a short film. The term may refer to either of two types of content: a shorter film or a companion film.
Medium-length film ...
, ''Revisiting The Last Waltz'', and a gallery of images from the concert, the studio filming and the film premiere. A bonus scene is footage of "Jam #2", which is cut short because they had run out of replacement sound synchronizers for the cameras after ten hours of continuous filming.
The original 2002 DVD release was packaged as a "special edition". In addition to the extra features on the disc, the Amaray case came in a foil-embossed cardboard sleeve, and inside was an eight-page booklet, featuring a five-page essay by Robertson entitled "The End of a Musical Journey". Also included was a US$5 rebate coupon for the four-CD box set. In 2005, the DVD was re-issued with different artwork and stripped of the outer foil packaging, inner booklet and coupon; the disc's contents remained unchanged.
In 2006, ''The Last Waltz'' was among the first eight titles released in Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...
's high definition Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...
format. The soundtracks on the Blu-ray release consist of an uncompressed 5.1 Linear PCM track, a very high fidelity format, and a standard Dolby Digital 5.1 track.
On March 29, 2022, The Criterion Collection released a new 4K digital restoration, supervised and approved by Scorsese, with Dolby Vision HDR and a 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack, supervised and approved by Robertson.
Albums
The original soundtrack album was a three-LP album released on April 16, 1978 (later as a two-disc CD). It has many songs not in the film, including "Down South in New Orleans" with Bobby Charles
Robert Charles Guidry (February 21, 1938 – January 14, 2010), known as Bobby Charles, was an American singer-songwriter.
Early life
An ethnic Cajun, Charles was born in Abbeville, Louisiana, United States, and grew up listening to Cajun mus ...
and Dr. John on guitar, " Tura Lura Lural (That's an Irish Lullaby)" by Van Morrison, " Life is a Carnival" by the Band, and "I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)" by Bob Dylan. John Casado
John Charles Casado (born May 30, 1944) is an American graphic designer, artist and photographer, best known for designing logos for the first Macintosh computer, Esprit Holdings, Esprit, and New Line Cinema, as well as numerous album covers for ...
designed the packaging and logotype trademark.
In 2002, a four-CD box set was released, as was a DVD-Audio
DVD-Audio (commonly abbreviated as DVD-A) is a digital format for delivering high-fidelity audio content on a DVD. DVD-Audio uses most of the storage on the disc for high-quality audio and is not intended to be a video delivery format.
The st ...
edition. Robbie Robertson produced the album, remastering all the songs. The set includes 16 previously unreleased songs from the concert, as well as takes from rehearsals. Among the additions are Louis Jordan's " Caldonia" by Muddy Waters, the concert version of "The Weight
"The Weight" is a song by the Canadian-American group the Band that was released as a single in 1968 and on the group's debut album '' Music from Big Pink''. It was their first release under this name, after their previous releases as Canadian ...
", "Jam #1" and "Jam #2" in their entirety, and extended sets with Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan.
The soundtrack recordings underwent post-concert production featuring heavy use of overdub
Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more av ...
bing and re-sequencing. Bootleg collectors have circulated an original line recording of the concert as a more accurate and complete document of the event. It includes songs not available in the film or the official album releases, including "Georgia on My Mind
"Georgia on My Mind" is a 1930 song written by Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell and first recorded that same year by Hoagy Carmichael. However, the song has been most often associated with soul singer Ray Charles, who was a native of the U ...
", "King Harvest (Has Surely Come)
"King Harvest (Has Surely Come)" is a song by The Band, which originally appeared as the final track on their second album, '' The Band''.
The song is credited solely to guitarist Robbie Robertson, although drummer/singer Levon Helm claimed that ...
", the complete "Chest Fever
"Chest Fever" is a song recorded by the Band on its 1968 debut, ''Music from Big Pink''. It is, according to Peter Viney, a historian of the group, the album track that has appeared on the most subsequent live albums and compilations, second only ...
" and the live version of "Evangeline".
Performances
Performers
The Band
*Rick Danko
Richard Clare Danko (December 29, 1943 – December 10, 1999) was a Canadian musician, bassist, songwriter, and singer, best known as a founding member of the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.
During ...
– bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
, fiddle, vocals
* Levon Helm – drums, mandolin, vocals
*Garth Hudson
Eric "Garth" Hudson (born August 2, 1937) is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist best known as the keyboardist and occasional saxophonist for rock group the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. He was a ...
– organ, piano, accordion, synthesizers, soprano saxophone, clavinet
*Richard Manuel
Richard George Manuel (April 3, 1943 – March 4, 1986) was a Canadian singer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter, best known as a pianist and one of three lead singers in The Band, for which he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and ...
– piano, organ, drums, clavinet, dobro, vocals
* Robbie Robertson – guitar, piano, vocals
Horn section
* Rich Cooper – trumpet, flugelhorn
* James Gordon – flute, tenor saxophone
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while ...
, clarinet
*Jerry Hey
Jerry Hey (born 1950) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, horn arranger, string arranger, orchestrator and session musician who has played on hundreds of commercial recordings, including Michael Jackson's ''Thriller'', '' Rock with You'' ...
– trumpet, flugelhorn
* Howard Johnson – tuba, baritone saxophone, flugelhorn, bass clarinet
* Charlie Keagle – clarinet, flute, saxophone
* Tom Malone – trombone, euphonium
The euphonium is a medium-sized, 3 or 4-valve, often compensating, conical-bore, tenor-voiced brass instrument that derives its name from the Ancient Greek word ''euphōnos'', meaning "well-sounding" or "sweet-voiced" ( ''eu'' means "well" o ...
, alto flute
* Larry Packer – electric violin
An electric violin is a violin equipped with an electronic output of its sound. The term most properly refers to an instrument intentionally made to be electrified with built-in pickups, usually with a solid body. It can also refer to a violin fi ...
*Horns arranged by Henry Glover
Henry Bernard Glover (May 21, 1921 – April 7, 1991) was an American songwriter, arranger, record producer and trumpet player. In the music industry of the time, Glover was one of the most successful and influential black executives. He gain ...
, Garth Hudson
Eric "Garth" Hudson (born August 2, 1937) is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist best known as the keyboardist and occasional saxophonist for rock group the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. He was a ...
, Howard Johnson, Tom Malone, John Simon, and Allen Toussaint
Other musicians
*Bob Margolin
Bob Margolin (born May 9, 1949) is an American electric blues guitarist. His nickname is Steady Rollin'.
Biography
Margolin started playing guitar in 1964, and his first appearance on record was with Boston psychedelic band The Freeborne, and t ...
– guitar (Muddy Waters)
* Dennis St. John – drums (Neil Diamond)
* John Simon – piano on "Tura Lura Lural", "Georgia On My Mind", and "''The Last Waltz'' Suite: Evangeline" (concert version)
Guests
*Paul Butterfield
Paul Vaughn Butterfield (December 17, 1942May 4, 1987) was an American blues harmonica player, singer and band leader. After early training as a classical flautist, he developed an interest in blues harmonica. He explored the blues scene in his n ...
– harmonica, vocals
*Bobby Charles
Robert Charles Guidry (February 21, 1938 – January 14, 2010), known as Bobby Charles, was an American singer-songwriter.
Early life
An ethnic Cajun, Charles was born in Abbeville, Louisiana, United States, and grew up listening to Cajun mus ...
– vocals
* Eric Clapton – guitar, vocals
* Neil Diamond – guitar, vocals
* Dr. John – piano, guitar, congas, vocals
* Bob Dylan – guitar, vocals
* Bill Graham – master of ceremonies
* Emmylou Harris – acoustic guitar, vocals
* Ronnie Hawkins – vocals
* Michael McClure – poet
* Joni Mitchell – acoustic guitar, vocals
* Van Morrison – vocals
*Pinetop Perkins
Joe Willie "Pinetop" Perkins (July 7, 1913 – March 21, 2011) was an American blues pianist. He played with some of the most influential blues and rock-and-roll performers of his time and received numerous honors, including a Grammy Life ...
– piano, vocals
*Carl Radle
Carl Dean Radle (June 18, 1942 – May 30, 1980) was an American bassist who toured and recorded with many of the most influential recording artists of the late 1960s and 1970s. He was posthumously inducted to the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame i ...
– bass
* Cleotha Staples – backing vocals
* Mavis Staples – vocals
* Roebuck "Pops" Staples – guitar, vocals
* Yvonne Staples – backing vocals
* Ringo Starr – drums
* Stephen Stills – guitar
* Muddy Waters – vocals
*Ronnie Wood
Ronald David Wood (born 1 June 1947) is an English rock musician, best known as an official member of the Rolling Stones since 1975, as well as a member of Faces and the Jeff Beck Group.
Wood began his career in 1964, playing guitar with a ...
– guitar
* Neil Young – guitars, harmonica, vocals
Charts
Certifications
Bibliography
*
References
External links
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Last Waltz, The
American documentary films
Concert films
Films directed by Martin Scorsese
Films shot in San Francisco
Rockumentaries
The Band
Robbie Robertson
United Artists films
United States National Film Registry films
1970s English-language films
1970s American films
1976 in American music
Thanksgiving in films
1976 in San Francisco