The Last Waltz

The Last Waltz. 1978 United Artists.
The Band: Rick Danko, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, Robbie Robertson
The Guest Musicians: Paul Butterfield, Bobby Charles, Eric Clapton, Neil Diamond, Dr. John, Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Ronnie Hawkins, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Pinetop Perkins, Carl Radle, The Staple Singers, Ringo Starr, Stephen Stills, Muddy Waters, Ronnie Wood, Neil Young
Director: Martin Scorsese
Buy The Last Waltz at Amazon. Then, you may want to invest in the four CD box set later on.

Without a doubt, this is the greatest concert movie I've ever seen.

Early in 1976, Richard Manuel was seriously injured in a boating accident, and his bandmate Robbie Robertson began thinking about taking the group off the concert circuit, existing strictly as studio performers from that point on. The rest of The Band didn't agree with this decision, the concert still went down on Thanksgiving, 1976, at the Winterland Ballroom, where they made its debut as a group (after backing Bob Dylan for a long while) in 1969. Originally, The Band wanted to perform on its own, but they decided to invite Dylan and Ronnie Hawkins, and the guest list ballooned up substantially. The only real confusion backstage was the insistance of Robertson that Neil Diamond be part of the concert. Dylan did not want his performance filmed, because he was afraid that it would detract from his own movie Renaldo and Clara. After receiving assurance that this project would be released well after his own movie, Dylan agreed to be filmed, but only while performing two songs, "Baby Let Me Follow You Down" and "Forever Young".

Click here for the music performed in the movie, and at the concert that might not have made it into the final cut.

Highly, highly recommended. Great music played at a historical concert with guest stars out the wazoo.

"This film should be played loud!"