STACK NZ November 2016 Issue 79

34 / 58

W hen The Band decided to call it a day
in 1976 they did it in style. Not just
any group could call in Martin
Scorsese to film their farewell concert at the
Winterland in San Francisco, or have someone
dress the set so elaborately.
Billed as The Last Waltz, it was a helluva
goodbye and among the guests on stage were
Bob Dylan, Ringo Starr, Dr John, Joni Mitchell,
Muddy Waters, the Staples Singers, a horn
section arranged by Allen Toussaint among
others, Neil Diamond (who was actually pretty
hip then), Eric Clapton, Ronnie Hawkins who
had given most of the Canadians in The Band
their start when they were his Hawks…
Anyone who knows the period will tell you
that some of these people were at a point
when they were a bit worse for the drugs and
the lifestyle.
However neither that, nor some of the
slightly wobbly performances – or Scorsese’s
attention on the group’s Robbie Robertson
at the expense of other Band members –
changes the fact that The Last Waltz is one of
the great concert films.
The event is surrounded in myth and
stories now, not the least being that if you
look hard at the DVD you can see a smidgen
of coke up Neil Young’s hooter, that the Band’s
Rick Danko is clearly out of it in his interview
with the filmmaker, that Van Morrison was
enjoyably boozed during his performance of
Caravan…
Later in life the Band’s drummer Levon
Helm was scathing in his criticism of the
concert which relegated the group to
Robertson’s backing band (they reformed
without him in ‘83) and that there
was little trickle-down of money from
the subsequent album and DVD sales.
Well, Helm died in 2012 but we
hope his estate gets something from
the 40 th Anniversary CD reissue of
edited highlights from the event (no
one really needs to have the poets like
Lawrence Ferlinghetti whose Beat-cum-
hipster work sounded dated even at the
time).
And by dispensing with the visuals – which
can be exciting but also distract in places – the
music from the performers gets to stand on
its own merits.
Superstar sessions are usually fraught
and disappointing affairs where everyone’s
ego gets in the way, but because these
people were all equals and had established
themselves in their careers, the music
on The Last Waltz comes out surprisingly
well… despite some misgivings about a few
performances.
And mercifully Ringo wasn’t asked to sing.
Robertson could be a thrilling guitarist and
when he and Clapton lock down on Further
On Up The Road it takes off; Muddy Waters
and the Band knock Mannish Boy right to the
back of the 5,000-strong hall with help from
Paul Butterfield on harmonica; Ronnie Hawkins
delivers his roadhouse classic Who Do You
Love? (“Big time,” the musical journeyman
laughs); Joni Mitchell lines up for Coyote; Dr
John enjoys himself on Such a Night.
Dylan comes on for a bracket of four
songs, among them the sentimental favourite
Forever Young, and then there is a superstar
pile-up with him on I Shall Be Released.
The final section is a suite of pieces –
including Helm singing The Weight with
Mavis and Pops Staples and Danko – which
was recorded later with Emmylou Harris on
Evangeline.
Later this month a touring Last Waltz –
with The Band’s keyboard player Garth Hudson
and the show’s original musical director
John Simon – plays concerts in New Zealand
with the cream of local talent including Tami
Neilson, Barry Saunders, Delaney Davidson,
Adam McGrath, the Bads and others.
That should be worth catching, but if you
want to do your homework beforehand and
have an all-star album then make a point of
getting the double CD of the original concert.
Or the expanded four-CD or six LP edition?
The Last Waltz really was a band going out
in style.
For more interviews, overviews and reviews
by Graham Reid see:
visit MUSIC FEATURE
34 NOVEMBER 2016
MUSIC
Graham Reid looks back
40 years toThe Band's
famous farewell concert.
ALL OUR
PAST TIMES