Richard Manuel
When I wrote earlier about my 47 favorite movies, I forgot one. . .Martin Scorsese's The Last Waltz (which gives Scorsese three on my list).
Robbie Robertson
I have been re-immersing myself in The Band, a band of excellent multi-instrumentalists with great roots songwriting, three outstanding vocalists (Danko, Manuel and Helm), and a great guitarist/songwriter.
The band got their real start backing up Toronto's Ronnie Hawkins (whose cover of Bo Diddley's Who Do You Love? is a highlight of the film, along with Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, and Dylan's performances). The Hawks left Hawkins, and were Bob Dylan's back up band on that tumultuous tour when he "went electric" in 1965. They backed him up again in the early 70's (where I saw them in Vancouver, British Columbia). The Band went on to sell millions of records, and received massive critical acclaim. An early hit was "The Weight," (also included on the Easy Rider soundtrack. . .one of the earliest rock soundtrack movies).
The band got their real start backing up Toronto's Ronnie Hawkins (whose cover of Bo Diddley's Who Do You Love? is a highlight of the film, along with Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, and Dylan's performances). The Hawks left Hawkins, and were Bob Dylan's back up band on that tumultuous tour when he "went electric" in 1965. They backed him up again in the early 70's (where I saw them in Vancouver, British Columbia). The Band went on to sell millions of records, and received massive critical acclaim. An early hit was "The Weight," (also included on the Easy Rider soundtrack. . .one of the earliest rock soundtrack movies).
Garth Hudson
Rolling Stone magazine named them the "Band of the Decade." The Toronto Star's (in their old home town) called them "the seminal American folk-rock troupe of the late 1960s and early 1970s." One critic called them "The Smithsonian of American rock and roll." And the record producer John Simon said "It's simple: The Band changed popular music. It was never the same."
Levon Helm
The restored movie includes surround sound on the DVD releases. Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Neil Diamond, Emmylou Harris, Muddy Waters, The Staples, Ringo Starr, Ron Wood, Dr. John, Paul Butterfield and Ronnie Hawkins all came to play and pay tribute at the Band's final concert. This was a band that was indeed far greater than the sum of its (excellent) parts.
The restored movie includes surround sound on the DVD releases. Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Neil Diamond, Emmylou Harris, Muddy Waters, The Staples, Ringo Starr, Ron Wood, Dr. John, Paul Butterfield and Ronnie Hawkins all came to play and pay tribute at the Band's final concert. This was a band that was indeed far greater than the sum of its (excellent) parts.
Rick Danko
Emmylou Harris said "The Band had always been my idea of a perfect band."
Buy the CDs and DVD if you love rock and roll. If you have Comcast Digital, The Last Waltz is currently appearing as a free on-demand movie.
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2 comments:
Funny, I just watched this last month. I agree that the music was great, but the cutting really bothered me. I would have prefered this to be a 2 volume set. The interviews, and the concert. I thought the transitions in Scorese's Dylan flick were way smoother. The Last Waltz jumped out to the interviews far too frequently for my taste. I guess I was looking for more of a straight concert film.
My brother gave me this for my birthday when the special edition came out on DVD, and I've watched it several times .. it's easily one of the best concert films ever, surpassed perhaps only by Don't Look Back and Gimme Shelter
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