The Last Waltz (soundtrack)

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This article is about the 1978 album. For other uses, see The Last Waltz (disambiguation).
The Last Waltz
LastWaltzCover.jpg
Soundtrack album by the Band
Released April 7, 1978 (1978-04-07)
Recorded November 25, 1976
Venue Winterland Arena, San Francisco
Genre Rock
Length 129:06
Label Warner Bros.
Producer Robbie Robertson
the Band chronology
Anthology
(1978)		 The Last Waltz
(1978)		 To Kingdom Come
(1989)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 4/5 stars[1]
Christgau's Record Guide B+[2]
Rolling Stone (not rated)[3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide 4/5 stars[4]
Uncut 8/10[5]

The Last Waltz is the second live 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 original configuration of the Band. It peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard 200.

Contents

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 5,000 attendees, with ballroom dancing and a stage set for La traviata borrowed from the San Francisco Opera.[6]

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% Pantomime" 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 self-titled album; in 1973 with Ringo Starr on Ringo; in 1974 with Joni Mitchell on Court and Spark and with Neil Young on On the Beach and the sessions for Homegrown, later assembled into an album and released in 2020; 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.[6] 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.[7]

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.

Track listing

The performance of "Helpless" by Neil Young features backing vocals by Joni Mitchell; Paul Butterfield plays harmonica for Muddy Waters on "Mannish Boy"; Dr. John plays congas on "Coyote" and plays guitar on "Down South in New Orleans"; the entire ensemble sings back-up on the closer, "I Shall Be Released".

Side one
No. Title Singer/guest performer Length
1. "Theme from The Last Waltz"     3:28
2. "Up on Cripple Creek"   Levon Helm 4:44
3. "Who Do You Love?"   Ronnie Hawkins 4:16
4. "Helpless"   Neil Young 5:47
5. "Stage Fright"   Rick Danko 4:25
Total length:
 22:40
Side two
No. Title Singer/guest performer Length
1. "Coyote"   Joni Mitchell 5:50
2. "Dry Your Eyes"   Neil Diamond 3:57
3. "It Makes No Difference"   Rick Danko 6:48
4. "Such a Night"   Dr. John 4:00
Total length:
 20:35
Side three
No. Title Singer/guest performer Length
1. "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down"   Levon Helm 4:34
2. "Mystery Train"   Paul Butterfield, Levon Helm 4:59
3. "Mannish Boy"   Muddy Waters 6:54
4. "Further on Up the Road"   Eric Clapton 5:08
Total length:
 21:35
Side four
No. Title Singer/guest performer Length
1. "The Shape I'm In"   Richard Manuel 4:06
2. "Down South in New Orleans"   Bobby Charles, Dr. John 3:06
3. "Ophelia"   Levon Helm 3:53
4. "Tura Lura Lural (That's an Irish Lullaby)"   Van Morrison, Richard Manuel 4:15
5. "Caravan"   Van Morrison 6:02
Total length:
 21:22
Side five
No. Title Singer/guest performer Length
1. "Life Is a Carnival"   Levon Helm, Rick Danko 4:32
2. "Baby, Let Me Follow You Down"   Bob Dylan 3:00
3. "I Don't Believe You"   Bob Dylan 3:23
4. "Forever Young"   Bob Dylan 4:42
5. "Baby, Let Me Follow You Down (Reprise)"   Bob Dylan 2:46
6. "I Shall Be Released"   Bob Dylan, Richard Manuel 6:22
Total length:
 24:45
Side six
No. Title Singer/guest performer Length
1. "The Well"   Richard Manuel 3:27
2. "Evangeline"   Rick Danko, Emmylou Harris, Levon Helm 3:17
3. "Out of the Blue"   Robbie Robertson 3:03
4. "The Weight"   Levon Helm, Mavis Staples, Pops Staples, Rick Danko 4:38
5. "The Last Waltz Refrain"   Richard Manuel, Robbie Robertson 1:28
6. "Theme from The Last Waltz"     3:22
Total length:
 19:25 (130:22)

Personnel

The Band

The horn section

Guest personnel

Production personnel

Charts

2002 box set

The Last Waltz
File:The Last Waltz (The Band album - 2002 cover art).jpg
Soundtrack album & box set by the Band
Released April 16, 2002
Recorded November 25, 1976
(Winterland Arena, San Francisco)
Late 1976 – mid-1977
(Studio overdubs)
Genre Rock
Length 246:18
Label Warner Bros./Rhino
Producer Robbie Robertson
the Band chronology
Greatest Hits
(2000)		 The Last Waltz
(2002)		 A Musical History
(2005)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 4/5 stars[21]

The Last Waltz is a 2002 four-disc box set re-release of the 1978 album The Last Waltz documenting the concert The Last Waltz, the last concert by the Band with its classic line up. A full forty tracks are taken from the show in addition to rehearsal outtakes. Twenty-four tracks are previously unreleased.

Among the tracks added are a version of Louis Jordan's "Caldonia" featuring Muddy Waters and Pinetop Perkins trading off the vocal, a reworked version of "Rag Mama Rag", Neil Young and Joni Mitchell joining the Band on "Acadian Driftwood", "The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show", excerpts from a pair of instrumental jams involving several of the concert's guest performers, and the concert closer "Don't Do It". In addition, several edits made on the original 1978 set have been done away with; certain songs (such as "Forever Young" with Bob Dylan) are now presented in their unedited versions.

Songs still missing from the concert are a version of "Georgia on My Mind", the full versions of the two jams presented, the full version of "Chest Fever", and the concert takes of "King Harvest (Has Surely Come)" and "Evangeline". While the album still has overdubbing, re-sequencing, and editing, it does give a more accurate representation of the event itself than the earlier album or film do, according to collectors who have made comparisons with bootleg recordings of the concert.[22]

On November 11, 2016, this set was reissued as part of a 40th Anniversary edition that includes the 1978 Scorsese film on a separate Blu-ray disc. Enclosed in a 10" by 11.5" booklet, the set contains numerous photographs from the event as well as essays by David Fricke and Ben Fong-Torres. A previously published article entitled "A Behind-the-Scenes Report" by Emmett Grogan is also included, as well as a reproduction of the article on the event by Joel Selvin printed in the San Francisco Chronicle on November 27, 1976. It is not indicated whether or not new mastering was done to the audio discs over and above that from the 2002 reissue.

Box set track listing

All songs were written by Robbie Robertson, except where noted.

Disc one
No. Title Guest performer(s) Length
1. "Theme from The Last Waltz[lower-alpha 1]"   The Orchestra 3:52
2. "Up on Cripple Creek[lower-alpha 1]"     5:31
3. "The Shape I'm In"     4:10
4. "It Makes No Difference"     6:51
5. "Who Do You Love?[lower-alpha 1]"   Ronnie Hawkins 4:51
6. "Life Is a Carnival"     4:25
7. "Such a Night[lower-alpha 1]"   Dr. John 4:41
8. "The Weight[lower-alpha 2]"     4:50
9. "Down South in New Orleans"   Bobby Charles, Dr. John 3:11
10. "This Wheel's on Fire[lower-alpha 2]"     3:54
11. "Mystery Train"   Paul Butterfield 5:03
12. "Caldonia[lower-alpha 2]"   Muddy Waters, Pinetop Perkins, Bob Margolin 6:08
13. "Mannish Boy"   Muddy Waters 6:40
14. "Stage Fright"     4:31
Disc two
No. Title Guest performer(s) Length
1. "Rag Mama Rag[lower-alpha 2]"     4:34
2. "All Our Past Times[lower-alpha 2]"   Eric Clapton 5:01
3. "Further on Up the Road[lower-alpha 1]"   Eric Clapton 5:30
4. "Ophelia"     3:45
5. "Helpless" (Mitchell uncredited on track listing) Neil Young, Joni Mitchell 5:53
6. "Four Strong Winds[lower-alpha 2]"   Neil Young 4:37
7. "Coyote"   Joni Mitchell 5:28
8. "Shadows and Light[lower-alpha 2]"   Joni Mitchell 5:45
9. "Furry Sings the Blues[lower-alpha 2]"   Joni Mitchell, Neil Young 5:09
10. "Acadian Driftwood[lower-alpha 2]" (Mitchell and Young uncredited on track listing) Joni Mitchell, Neil Young 7:07
11. "Dry Your Eyes[lower-alpha 1]"   Neil Diamond 4:16
12. "The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show[lower-alpha 2]"     3:39
13. "Tura Lura Lural (That's an Irish Lullaby)"   Van Morrison 4:10
14. "Caravan[lower-alpha 1]"   Van Morrison 6:12
Disc three
No. Title Guest performer(s) Length
1. "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down[lower-alpha 1]"     4:35
2. "The Genetic Method/Chest Fever[lower-alpha 2]" (incomplete)   2:41
3. "Baby, Let Me Follow You Down"   Bob Dylan 2:55
4. "Hazel[lower-alpha 2]"   Bob Dylan 3:41
5. "I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)"   Bob Dylan 3:29
6. "Forever Young[lower-alpha 1]"   Bob Dylan 5:51
7. "Baby, Let Me Follow You Down (reprise)[lower-alpha 1]"   Bob Dylan 2:58
8. "I Shall Be Released[lower-alpha 1]" (finale) Bob Dylan, Paul Butterfield, Eric Clapton; Neil Diamond, Dr. John, Ronnie Hawkins, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Ringo Starr, Ronnie Wood, Pinetop Perkins 4:49
9. "Jam #1[lower-alpha 2]" (Danko, Helm, Hudson and Robertson from the Band) Neil Young, Ronnie Wood, Eric Clapton, Dr. John, Paul Butterfield, Ringo Starr 5:32
10. "Jam #2[lower-alpha 2]" (Helm and Hudson from the Band) Neil Young, Ronnie Wood, Eric Clapton, Dr. John, Paul Butterfield, Ringo Starr, Stephen Stills, Carl Radle 9:10
11. "Don't Do It[lower-alpha 2]"     6:19
12. "Greensleeves[lower-alpha 2]"     1:37
Disc four: "The Last Waltz Suite"
No. Title Guest performer(s) Length
1. "The Well"     3:32
2. "Evangeline"   Emmylou Harris 3:10
3. "Out of the Blue[lower-alpha 1]"     3:20
4. "The Weight" (Mavis Staples and Pops Staples take lead vocals respectively on the second and third verses) The Staples 4:35
5. "The Last Waltz Refrain"     1:32
6. "Theme from The Last Waltz"     3:26
Disc four: Concert rehearsal
No. Title Guest performer(s) Length
7. "King Harvest (Has Surely Come)[lower-alpha 2]"     3:52
8. "Tura Lura Lural (That's an Irish Lullaby)[lower-alpha 2]"   Van Morrison 3:52
9. "Caravan[lower-alpha 2]"   Van Morrison 6:30
10. "Such a Night[lower-alpha 2]"   Dr. John 5:24
11. "Rag Mama Rag[lower-alpha 2]"     3:52
Disc four: Studio ideas
No. Title Guest performer(s) Length
12. "Mad Waltz[lower-alpha 2]" (early version of "The Well")   5:30
13. "The Last Waltz Refrain[lower-alpha 2]" (early instrumental version)   0:50
14. "The Last Waltz Theme[lower-alpha 2]" (sketch track)   3:34
  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 Features additional material
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 Previously unreleased

Box set personnel

The Band

Horns

Guests

Technical personnel

References

  1. ↑ Deming, Mark. The Last Waltz Review at AllMusic
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ The Last Waltz, original vinyl issue, sleeve notes.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – The Band – The Last Waltz" (in German). Hung Medien.
  10. ↑ "Ultratop.be – The Band – The Last Waltz" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  11. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – The Band – The Last Waltz" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  12. ↑ "Lescharts.com – The Band – The Last Waltz". Hung Medien.
  13. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – The Band – The Last Waltz" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – The Band – The Last Waltz". Hung Medien.
  16. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – The Band – The Last Waltz". Hung Medien.
  17. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – The Band – The Last Waltz". Hung Medien.
  18. ↑ "The Band – Chart history" Billboard 200 for The Band.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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