The Band - The Last Waltz (1978) 3LP Boxset - €40,00

posted by ad-vinylrecords

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.

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.

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. 

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.

Side A

A1.  Theme from The Last Waltz - 3:28

A2.  Up On Cripple Creek - 4:44

A3.  Who Do You Love  (Vocals: Ronnie Hawkins) - 4:16

A4.  Helpless - 5:47

A5.  Stage Fright - 4:25

Side B

B1.  Coyote - 5:50

B2.  Dry Your Eyes  (Vocals: Neil Diamond) - 3:57

B3.  It Makes No Difference - 6:48

B4.  Such A Night  (Vocals: Dr.John) - 4:00

Side C

C1.  The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down - 4:34

C2.  Mystery Train - 4:59

C3.  Mannish Boy  (Vocals: Muddy Waters) - 6:54

C4.  Further On Up the Road  (Vocals: Eric Clapton) - 5:08

Side D

D1.  The Shape I’m In - 4:06

D2.  Down South in New Orleans  (Vocals: Dr.John, Bobby Charles) - 3:06

D3.  Ophelia - 3:53

D4.  Tura Lura Lural (That’s An Irish Lullaby)  (Vocals: Van Morrison) - 4:15

D5.  Caravan  (Vocals: Van Morrison) - 6:02

Side E

E1.  Life Is A Carnival - 4:32

E2.  Baby, Let Me Follow You Down - 3:00

E3.  I Don’t Believe You - 3:23

E4.  Forever Young - 4:42

E5.  Baby, Let Me Follow You Down (reprise)  (Vocals: Bob Dylan) - 2:46

E6.  I Shall Be Released  (Vocals: Bob Dylan) - 6:22

Side F

F1.  The Well - 3:27

F2.  Evangeline  (Vocals: Emmylou Harris) - 3:17

F3.  Out of the Blue - 3:03

F4.  The Weight - 4:38

F5.  The Last Waltz Refrain - 1:28

F6.  Theme from The Last Waltz - 3:22

The Band

• Rick Danko – bass guitar, fiddle, vocals
• Levon Helm – drums, mandolin, vocals
• Garth Hudson – organ, piano, accordion, synthesizer, clavinet, saxophones
• Richard Manuel – piano, drums, organ, clavinet, Dobro, vocals
• Robbie Robertson – guitars, piano, vocals

The Horn Section

• Rich Cooper – trumpet, flugelhorn
• James Gordon – flute, tenor saxophone, clarinet
• Jerry Hey – trumpet, flugelhorn
• Howard Johnson – tuba, baritone saxophone, flugelhorn, bass clarinet
• Charlie Keagle – clarinet; flute; alto, tenor and soprano saxophones
• Tom Malone – trombone, euphonium, alto flute, bass trombone
• Larry Packer – electric violin
• Horns arranged by Henry Glover, Garth Hudson, Howard Johnson, Tom Malone, John Simon and Allen Toussaint

Guest personnel

• Paul Butterfield – harmonica, vocals
• Bobby Charles – vocals
• Eric Clapton – guitar, vocals
• Neil Diamond – guitar, vocals
• Dr. John – piano, guitar, congas, vocals
• Bob Dylan – guitar, vocals
• Emmylou Harris – guitar, vocals studio portion
• Ronnie Hawkins – vocals
• Bob Margolin – guitar
• Joni Mitchell – guitar, vocals
• Van Morrison – vocals
• Pinetop Perkins – piano, vocals
• Carl Radle – bass
• Dennis St. John – drums
• John Simon – piano
• Cleotha Staples – harmony vocal studio portion
• Mavis Staples – vocals studio portion
• Roebuck "Pops" Staples – guitar, vocals studio portion
• Yvonne Staples – harmony vocal studio portion
• Ringo Starr – drums
• Stephen Stills – guitar
• Muddy Waters – vocals
• Ronnie Wood – guitar
• Neil Young – guitar, harmonica, vocals

Production personnel

• Robbie Robertson – producer
• John Simon – producer, string arrangements
• Rob Fraboni – producer
• Ed Anderson – recording and mixing engineer
• Terry Becker, Neil Brody, Tim Kramer, Elliot Mazer and Wayne Neuendorf – recording engineers
• Baker Bigsby, Tony Bustos and Jeremy Zatkin – mixing engineers
• Bill Graham – concert production

Companies, etc.

• Pressed By – Capitol Records Pressing Plant, Jacksonville
• Mastered At – Allen Zentz Mastering
• Mixed At – Shangri-La, Malibu, CA
• Copyright © – Warner Bros. Records Inc.
• Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Warner Bros. Records Inc.
• Recorded At – Winterland
• Recorded At – MGM Studios
• Recorded At – Shangri-La, Malibu, CA
• Recorded At – The Village Recorder

Notes

Release: 1978

Format:  3LP Boxset, Vinyl

Genre:  Country Rock

Label:  Warner Bros.

Catalog#  WB 66076

Vinyl:  Goed (VG)

Cover:  Goed (VG)

Prijs: €40,00