The Last Waltz

On Thanksgiving, November 25, 1976, The Band performed their final concert after touring for 16 years. They are most notably known for such hits as "The Weight," "Chest Fever," "Up On Cripple Creek" and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," and perhaps to a lesser extent as Bob Dylan's backup group when he made his controversial transition from folk to rock during his 1965 and 1966 tours.

I was 13 when their first album, Music from Big Pink, came out in 1968. I remember my cousin John, three years my elder and a big Bob Dylan fan, raving about it. He was my earliest music mentor introducing me to The Beatles, Donovan, Bob Dylan, Arlo Guthrie and many others. I didn't care for Bob Dylan at the time, so when John explained to me that The Band had been Bob Dylan's backup band, they didn't hold much interest for me. It wasn't until they got some airplay on the radio that I took notice of them, and even then it was only a mild interest.

In my 30s, I began to build a CD collection, and I remembered liking several of The Band's songs, and I purchased the three CD boxed set Across the Great Divide. It was overkill considering the little I knew of The Band, and only the first CD of the set held my interest, it having on it the songs I was familiar with. Still, I had The Band in my collection, and I listened to them with a certain frequency.

The thing that got me interested in wanting to see the The Last Waltz was that it was directed by Martin Scorsese. I had become a Scorsese fan after seeing Taxi Driver in 1976. I was so taken with the film that I promptly gathered up my younger brother and sister and took them to see it. His gritty yet mood evoking depiction of a dirty, scummy New York City made a lasting impression on me, and then after Raging Bull, Goodfellas, Casino, Gangs of New York and just recently The Departed, I began to take an interest in his other films, namely The Last Waltz. I wanted to see how a director of his caliber might make a rock concert documentary, and having heard its accolades I set out to see it.

After the MGM opening screen, white letters on a black background say THIS FILM SHOULD BE PLAYED LOUD! Being a fan of loud rock music, I was already impressed. Then came the concert itself interspersed with Scorsese interviewing members of the group. This is where I got fuzzy. For some reason, with the exception of Robbie Robertson, I didn't recognize many of the interviewees as being the same band members I was seeing in the concert. For example, Levon Helm offstage seems like the most laid-back southern guy one might ever meet compared to the high energy drummer and vocalist I saw on stage. I didn't make the connection.

To tell the truth, I wasn't familiar with any of the band members except for Robbie Robertson, and that was only because his name had stuck in my mind over the years. Robertson is the most visible band member in the movie both on and off stage, and he tends to steal the show.

It was a great film, though, and I enjoyed seeing my favorite "Band" songs performed and took pleasure in hearing many of the guest artists, which included Eric Clapton, Joni Mitchell and Emmylou Harris, just to name a few. But it left me wanting to know more about this fantastic rock band whose concert I just experienced, so off it was to the Internet.

It is by no means necessary to familiarize oneself with The Band to enjoy The Last Waltz, nor even be familiar with them at all -- the film is that good -- but I found after I got a little "Band" history under my belt, my second viewing was much more enjoyable. Besides knowing a little bit more about The Band and its members, I paid much more attention to the faces on stage and off, and this time they clicked. The interviews made a lot more sense, and the film had a much more intimate feel to it.

The first performance in the film is of The Band doing their final song in an encore performance of Marvin Gaye's "Don't Do It." Then we find ourselves at the beginning of the concert with The Band opening with "Up On Cripple Creek" followed by "The Shape I'm In." Why the film is edited like that, I don't know. It is a director's prerogative, and as many films begin at the end and then proceed to tell the story leading up to that point, perhaps by starting with the group's last song in the concert, Scorsese is making an analogy to what the film is about: The Band's last performance. But then the film is much more than that. It is a celebration of an era in rock history: a time when The Beatles bowed out, and the next generation of rock performers filled the gap.

Ronnie Hawkins is the first guest performer, his being The Band's band leader when they were the Ontario based group Ronnie Hawkins and The Hawks from 1959 to 1963. He sings "Who Do You Love?" Then Dr. John performs his trademark song "Such a Night" and is followed by Neil Young doing his song "Helpless." The Band then performs "Stage Fright" followed by a wonderful performance of "The Weight" by The Band and The Staples. Perhaps The Band's most well-known song "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" comes next.

Neil Diamond then performs his "Dry Your Eyes." I was surprised to see him included in the concert. In my mind, his performance is incongruous to the rest of the show, and it would have flowed much better without him.

The original mood of the concert is redeemed by Joni Mitchell -- one of the grand dames of the 60s California folk music scene -- who performs her beautiful song "Coyote." It is interesting to note that she, as well as four out of the five members of The Band, is Canadian, all hailing from the Toronto area.

Paul Butterfield, Muddy Waters and Eric Clapton each perform a song with The Band in a trio of blues songs. Then The Band and Emmylou Harris do an all acoustic -- with the exception of Robertson's electric guitar -- country/bluegrass version of "Evangeline." I really enjoyed this performance having gone to many a bluegrass festival in my late teens and early twenties. Those times hold a dear place in my heart.

Both "The Weight" and "Evangeline" are performed on a sound stage separate from the concert itself. Besides providing superior sound quality, a sound stage gives the director a greater freedom in lighting and camera angles, which was particularly useful in portraying The Staples, they being a four piece act consisting of "Pops" Staple and his three daughters. It also helped capture the delicate sounds of the violin and mandolin as played by The Band's Rick Danko and Levon Helm who normally play bass and drums respectively. The two also provide first-rate vocals and harmonies complementing Harris's hauntingly beautiful voice.

Back to the concert, Garth Hudson, organist extraordinaire for The Band, begins his majestic intro for "Chest Fever," which disappointingly is cut short for an interview with he and Robertson. This is one of my few complaints with the film. "Chest Fever" is one of my favorite "Band" songs, and I was really looking forward to seeing it performed in its entirety.

"Ophelia" is performed by The Band followed by Van Morrison singing "Caravan." I'm not a big Van Morrison fan so I wasn't impressed, but as I seem to be in the minority regarding Morrison I'm sure most viewers will enjoy his performance. Then comes the highlight of the concert. Enter right stage: Bob Dylan.

Looking very much as he did in the movie Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973) -- straight brimmed hat, strings of curly hair and wispy beard and mustache -- in which he had a small part and wrote several songs for, Bob Dylan performs "Forever Young" and "Baby Let Me Follow You down." Even I enjoyed Dylan's performances having fallen in love with his country music styled album Nashville Skyline when it was released in 1969.

In a huge finale, all the previous guests joined by Ron Wood and Ringo Starr join Bob Dylan and The Band in performing "I Shall Be Released," which was written by Dylan but first recorded by The Band. It was positively an apropos ending for the concert.

One thing that amazes me about the filming of The Last Waltz is the intricacy that Martin Scorsese took in storyboarding and scripting the film around the song list The Band followed in concert. Originally planned to be filmed in 16mm, Scorsese opted for the larger studio type 35mm cameras. Though heavier and unwieldy than a 16mm, the 35mm camera provides a much sharper image with which to work. And while the film Woodstock has a strictly documentary feel, The Last Waltz is more cinematographic in nature. No less than seven cameras were employed both handheld and on dollies and booms, and stage and lighting were designed by Boris Levin, production designer of such musical films as West Side Story and The Sound of Music. Each song was meticulously studied for maximum effect in lighting and camera angles.

My chief complaint with the movie is that it tends to showcase Robbie Robertson much to the exclusion of the other members of "The Band." He is shown on stage front and center playing guitar and harmonizing with every song while in fact -- besides Garth Hudson -- he was the most non-vocal member of the group, musically speaking. And he dominates the interviews, which is somewhat understandable his being the most articulate of the five members, but it leaves the impression that he was the leader of The Band. Though he was the chief songwriter, by his own admission each song was a collaborative effort with each member of the group helping to interpret the songs he wrote. I fault the film's director for this and not Robertson himself, though he does tend to come off as somewhat a prima donna. But again, this might be the director's fault.

With The Band's final hurrah as the centerpiece and all their guest artists contributing to the mix and finally Martin Scorsese's brilliant directing, there is no doubt in my mind why The Last Waltz is heralded as the greatest rock documentary ever made. Even with its faults, it is a masterpiece. And as I wonder how this wonderful rock group escaped my scrutiny in their heyday, I feel the need to delve deeper into the musical enigma known as The Band, as well as to know more about the movie. If you should feel the same, I can suggest the following web pages that have a wealth of information on the concert and the group respectively: The Last Waltz and The Band.

DVD Details

English 5.1 Surround/English 2.0 Stereo
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Special Features

Audio Commentaries
The Filmmaker and the Musician
[Martin Scorsese and Robbie Robertson]

Archival Outtakes
Jam 2
"This is the only archival footage available from
The Last Waltz.
Towards the end of the evening, Paul Butterfield, Eric Clapton, Dr. John, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, Carl Radle, Robbie Robertson, Ringo Starr, Stephen Stills, Ronnie Wood and Neil Young took the stage for some informal jamming."

Featurette: Revisiting The Last Waltz

Photo Gallery

Trailers