The Last Waltz

The Band - The Last Waltz

The Last Waltz
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CD Details

Artist: The Band
Brand: BAND
Edition: Music CD
Format: Box set, Live, Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 2002-04-23
Music Label: Rhino / Wea
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
  1. Theme From The Last Waltz (w/ Orchestra)
  2. Up On Cripple Creek
  3. The Shape I'm In
  4. It Makes No Difference
  5. Who Do You Love (w/ Ronnie Hawkins)
  6. Life Is A Carnival
  7. Such A Night (w/ Dr. John)
  8. The Weight
  9. Down South In New Orleans (w/ Bobby Charles)
  10. This Wheel's On Fire
  11. Mystery Train (w/ Paul Butterfield)
  12. Caldonia (w/ Muddy Waters)
  13. Mannish Boy (w/ Muddy Waters)
  14. Stagefright
Music CD 2
  1. Rag Mama Rag
  2. All Our Past Times (w/ Eric Clapton)
  3. Further On Up The Road (w/ Eric Clapton)
  4. Ophelia
  5. Helpless (w/ Neil Young)
  6. Four Strong Winds (w/ Neil Young)
  7. Coyote (w/ Joni Mitchell)
  8. Shadows And Light (w/ Joni Mitchell)
  9. Furry Sings The Blues (w/ Joni Mitchell)
  10. Acadian Driftwood
  11. Dry Your Eyes (w/ Neil Diamond)
  12. The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show
  13. Tura Lura Lural (That's An Irish Lullaby) (w/ Van Morrison)
  14. Caravan (w/ Van Morrison)
Music CD 3
  1. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
  2. The Genetic Method/Chest Fever (Excerpt From Movie Soundtrack)
  3. Baby Let Me Follow You Down (w/ Bob Dylan)
  4. Hazel (w/ Bob Dylan)
  5. I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met) (w/ Bob Dylan)
  6. Forever Young (w/ Bob Dylan)
  7. Baby Let Me Follow You Down (Reprise) (w/ Bob Dylan)
  8. I Shall Be Released (Finale)
  9. Jam #1
  10. Jam #2
  11. Don't Do It
  12. Greensleeves (From Movie Soundtrack)
Music CD 4
  1. The Well
  2. Evangeline (w/ Emmylou Harris)
  3. Out Of The Blue
  4. The Weight (w/ The Staples)
  5. The Last Waltz Refrain
  6. Theme From The Last Waltz
  7. King Harvest (Has Surely Come)
  8. Tura Lura Lural (That's An Irish Lullaby) (w/ Van Morrison)
  9. Caravan (w/ Van Morrison)
  10. Such A Night (w/ Dr. John)
  11. Rag Mama Rag
  12. Mad Waltz (Sketch Track For "The Well")
  13. The Last Waltz Refrain (Instrumental Version)
  14. The Last Waltz Theme (Sketch)

Music reviews of The Last Waltz

Music Review: wow.
Rating: 5 Stars

To the extent "The Last Waltz" is praised, the focus tends to be more on the guest performances, and why not? They are universally (well, nearly universally; Joni Mitchell's set is pretty painful to get through) phenomenal. Of especial surprise was how much I enjoyed Neil Diamond (widely criticized for being included among the guest list), who turns in a great anthemic performance that--maybe surprisingly--fits with the spirit of the night, and Bob Dylan, who may be a great poet but--this astonishing performance aside--has always had an unbearably grating singing voice. Here, his voice has just the right timbre (in fact, this is the ONLY vocal performance of Dylan's I like), and he delivers on his whole set, but especially on "Forever Young."

Other standouts are, the aforementioned Joni aside, well, everyone! My favorites are a supremely soulful--and then supremely charged--Van Morrison (best version of "Caravan" hands down, and his Irish lullaby breaks my heart); the inimitable Muddy Waters; Paul Butterfield wailing his guts out; an appropriately sleazy Dr. John; Neil Young with a little help from a "rock" of a friend. Now, granted, having the concert video in my memory improves my listening experience, as I can picture many of these great moments (although what I would give if Marty had captured "Tura Lura Lura" into the film!). And, yes, they're still heavily overdubbed, and that's a little deflating to know that these are ideal versions of a concert that actually received mixed reviews at the time. But so what? We can still pretend.

Now, here's where I'm going to say something a little controversial: I think "The Last Waltz" box features the best concert work we have by The Band. I know there's still a good amount of the concert that's unreleased, and maybe that's a good thing, as word is some of it is pretty dreadful (although, based on the "Georgia" bootleg I've heard from the show, there's at least some further music from the concert deserving a remaster and official release). But what we have here works. To be honest, "Rock of Ages" and "Before the Flood" both underwhelmed me. A lot of the arrangements and performances seemed too busy ("Caledonia Mission" on ROA), too bizarre (think "When You Awake" on BTF), too Dylanesque (his typical discordant vocal work on both), or too clunkily funereal ("I Shall Be Released" on ROA), etc. This is not to say they're bad albums necessarily, but they're certainly overrated. But here everything The Band does is spot on. Again, maybe the issue is just that the compilers were a bit more fussy in what to leave off, as opposed to, e.g., the expanded re-issue of ROA, which added some really unnecessary tracks.

Even the fourth disc of rehearsal tracks is worthwhile as an album to play and enjoy, and not merely as a dieharder's curiosity disc, which we'd listen to once and perhaps find "interesting" but not actually enjoyable. Rehearsal versions of Van's two songs are especially good and display a wholly different sort of energy from the live ones.

The Band continued to show moments of brilliance in their post-Robbie reincarnation (e.g., "Where I Should Always Be" on "High on the Hog"), but they were generally few and far between. These four discs show them at the absolute top of their game, and it makes one wonder--as four of the five did...--why the hell they hung it up.

Description of The Last Waltz

More than twice the content of the original soundtrack release! Over 4 hours of music (on 4 CDs), featuring performances by The Band, Muddy Waters, Van Morrison, Dr. John, Ringo Starr, Paul Butterfield, Stephen Stills and Ron Wood. Includes the complete original 1978 album plus 24 previously unreleased tracks (23 exclusively available here!). Contains an 8o-page book with a forward by Robbie Robertson, new liner notes by famed rock journalist David Frike and rare photos. Digitally remixed and remastered by Robbie Robertson. Housed in a cloth-bound digi-book. 2002.
Even taking into account inflation, it's ironic in this era of $250 concert tickets that critics harped when the Band charged $25 for their legendary November 1976 farewell show at San Francisco's Winterland. That price not only included Thanksgiving dinner, but also numerous guest superstars who'd influenced, worked with, and/or shared the Canadian roots of Robbie Robertson and crew. What transpired was a grand celebration of North American musical forms. There are numerous definitive performances here--from Van Morrison's goose-bump-inducing "Caravan" and solo rendition of the beautiful Irish standard "Tura Lura Lural" (Celtic music inspired those Appalachians in the first place) to Bob Dylan and "the Hawks" delivering a pop-metallic "Baby, Let Me Follow You Down," first captured on the Royal Albert Hall Concert tapes. But because this new fleshed-out version--produced and compiled by Robertson--includes surprises (late blues legend Muddy Waters's endearing take on Louis Jordan's "Caledonia"; current blues legend Dylan's "Hazel"), treasures ("This Wheels on Fire," Neil Young's "Four Strong Winds"), and two jam sessions that just don't add much, the new box set simply matches and enhances--but doesn't top--the original three-LP version of this wonderful slice of rock & roll history. --Bill Holdship

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