THE BAND : THE LAST WALTZ

 

Disc One (68:12)

  1. Theme from The Last Waltz
  2. Up on Cripple Creek
  3. Who Do You Love ? (Ronnie Hawkins)
  4. Helpless (Neil Young)
  5. Stage Fright
  6. Coyote (Joni Mitchell)
  7. Dry Your Eyes ((Neil Diamond)
  8. It Makes No Difference
  9. Such a Night (Dr. John)
  10. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
  11. Mystery Train
  12. Mannish Boy (Muddy Waters)
  13. Further on Up the Road (Eric Clapton)

Disc Two (66:07)

  1. Shape I'm In
  2. Down South in New Orleans (Bobby Charles)
  3. Ophelia
  4. Tura-Lura-Lural (That's an Irish Lullaby) (Van Morrison)
  5. Caravan (Van Morrison)
  6. Life Is a Carnival
  7. Baby, Let Me Follow You Down (Bob Dylan)
  8. I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met) (Bob Dylan)
  9. Forever Young (Bob Dylan)
  10. Baby, Let Me Follow You Down (Bob Dylan)
  11. I Shall Be Released (Bob Dylan)
  12. The Well
  13. Evangeline (with Emmylou Harris)
  14. Out of the Blue
  15. The Weight (with Mavis Staples)
  16. The Last Waltz Refrain
  17. Theme from The Last Waltz

Label : Warner Brothers

Release Year : 1978

Venue : Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, California, USA

Recording Date : November 25, 1976

Review (AllMusic) : As a film, The Last Waltz was a triumph - one of the first (and still one of the few) rock concert documentaries that was directed by a filmmaker who understood both the look and the sound of rock & roll, and executed with enough technical craft to capture all the nooks and crannies of a great live show. But as an album, The Last Waltz soundtrack had to compete with the Band's earlier live album, Rock of Ages, with which it bears a certain superficial resemblance - both found the group trying to create something grander than the standard-issue live double, and both featured the group beefed up by additional musicians. While Rock of Ages found the Band swinging along with the help of a horn section arranged by Allen Toussaint, The Last Waltz boasts a horn section (using Toussaint's earlier arrangements on a few cuts) and more than a baker's dozen guest stars, ranging from old cohorts Ronnie Hawkins and Bob Dylan to contemporaries Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, and Van Morrison. The Band are in fine if not exceptional form here; on most cuts, they don't sound quite as fiery as they did on Rock of Ages, though their performances are never less than expert, and the high points are dazzling, especially an impassioned version of "It Makes No Difference" and blazing readings of "Up on Cripple Creek" and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" (Levon Helm has made no secret that he felt breaking up the Band was a bad idea, and here it sounds if he was determined to prove how much they still had to offer). Ultimately, it's the Band's "special guests" who really make this set stand out - Muddy Waters' ferocious version of "Mannish Boy" would have been a wonder from a man half his age, Van Morrison sounds positively joyous on "Caravan," Neil Young and Joni Mitchell do well for their Canadian brethren, and Bob Dylan's closing set finds him in admirably loose and rollicking form. (One question remains - what exactly is Neil Diamond doing here?) And while the closing studio-recorded "Last Waltz Suite" sounds like padding, the contributions from Emmylou Harris and the Staple Singers are beautiful indeed. It could be argued that you're better off watching The Last Waltz on video than listening to it on CD, but either way it's a show well worth checking out.

Review (Wikipedia) : The Last Waltz is the thirteenth album by The Band, released on Warner Bros. Records in 1978, catalogue 3WS 3146. It is the soundtrack to the 1978 film of the same name, and the final album by the Band in its best-known configuration including Richard Manuel and Robbie Robertson. It peaked at #16 on the Billboard 200.The triple-album documents the Band's "farewell" concert which took place at Bill Graham's Winterland Ballroom on Thanksgiving Day 1976. The event included an actual Thanksgiving dinner for 5000 attendees, with ballroom dancing and a stage set for La Traviata borrowed from the San Francisco Opera. The concert featured songs by The Band interspersed with the group backing up a variety of musical guests. These included many with whom they had worked in the past, notably their previous employers Ronnie Hawkins and Bob Dylan. Van Morrison, a Woodstock neighbor, had co-written and sung on the track "4% Pantomine" for the Cahoots album. Individual members of the Band had played with the invitees on the following albums: in 1972 with Bobby Charles for his eponymous album; in 1973 with Ringo Starr on Ringo; in 1974 with Joni Mitchell on Court and Spark and with Neil Young for On the Beach; in 1975 with Muddy Waters and Paul Butterfield on The Muddy Waters Woodstock Album; in 1976 with Eric Clapton on No Reason to Cry and with Neil Diamond on Beautiful Noise. Sides one through five of the album consisted of songs taken from the concert. Side six comprised "The Last Waltz Suite," new numbers composed by Robertson and performed by the Band on an MGM soundstage. The suite featured Emmylou Harris and, on a remake of "The Weight," Roebuck and Mavis Staples. The music received overdubs at Village Recorders and Shangri-La Studios in post-production, owing to faults recorded during the concert. On April 16, 2002, a box set reissue of the album arrived in stores, including everything released on the original with additional tracks taken from the concert.