Fact #91798
When:
Short story:
The Band release their lavish boxed set, The Last Waltz, a sound document of their final star-studded show together at Winterland, San Francisco, California, USA, featuring superstar guests including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Muddy Waters, Neil Diamond, Emmylou Harris and many others.Full article:
THE LAST WALTZ by THE BAND
by Johnny Black
The final live gig by the definitive line up of The Band set new standards for how a much-loved rock group should say goodbye. Not only did they have the good grace to bow out while they were still at the top, they invited their mates along for the party and had the home movie shot by Martin Scorsese.
This marketing man’s dream happened on 25 November 1976, at Winterland, San Francisco, with guest shots from Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Emmylou Harris, Muddy Waters, Stephen Stills, Dr John, Eric Clapton, Ronnie Hawkins, Van Morrison, Neil Diamond and Ringo Starr.
Everything about the event was over the top. There was a 38 piece orchestra, three teams of ballroom dancers, and a food bill that came to $42,000, not including the 400lb of fresh salmon specially flown in by Dylan. There was even an all-white room, decorated with sheepskin rugs, Groucho Marx noses and a glass-topped table complete with razor blades.
Despite much behind-the-scenes grief – drummer Levon Helm didn’t want to do the concert, Bob Dylan made everyone jump through hoops, music director John Simon claims he never got paid - The Last Waltz remains a landmark not just for its consistently superb music, but for Warners’ brilliantly manipulative marketing. Sold on the back of one event, we got the triple album, the movie, the home video, the double-CD reissue, the DVD and the boxed set four CD re-issue. As their countryman Leonard Cohen almost said, ‘Hey, that’s the way to say goodbye’.
(Source : Johnny Black, first published in the book Albums by Backbeat Books, 2005)
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by Johnny Black
The final live gig by the definitive line up of The Band set new standards for how a much-loved rock group should say goodbye. Not only did they have the good grace to bow out while they were still at the top, they invited their mates along for the party and had the home movie shot by Martin Scorsese.
This marketing man’s dream happened on 25 November 1976, at Winterland, San Francisco, with guest shots from Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Emmylou Harris, Muddy Waters, Stephen Stills, Dr John, Eric Clapton, Ronnie Hawkins, Van Morrison, Neil Diamond and Ringo Starr.
Everything about the event was over the top. There was a 38 piece orchestra, three teams of ballroom dancers, and a food bill that came to $42,000, not including the 400lb of fresh salmon specially flown in by Dylan. There was even an all-white room, decorated with sheepskin rugs, Groucho Marx noses and a glass-topped table complete with razor blades.
Despite much behind-the-scenes grief – drummer Levon Helm didn’t want to do the concert, Bob Dylan made everyone jump through hoops, music director John Simon claims he never got paid - The Last Waltz remains a landmark not just for its consistently superb music, but for Warners’ brilliantly manipulative marketing. Sold on the back of one event, we got the triple album, the movie, the home video, the double-CD reissue, the DVD and the boxed set four CD re-issue. As their countryman Leonard Cohen almost said, ‘Hey, that’s the way to say goodbye’.
(Source : Johnny Black, first published in the book Albums by Backbeat Books, 2005)