This is my 5th and probably "last" ("waltz") contribution to MMQE's 'ROCKTOBER MusicFest' at 'Jingle Jangle Jungle'. Click HERE for more!
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In Part 4, I wrote this: To me, a good (or great) live album is when many (or most) of the songs performed live are superior to their studio-recorded counterparts. (And I included an example: Van Morrison saving the night by reviving the audience at 'The Last Waltz' with his outstanding rendition of his terrific song 'Caravan'.)
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And this is why I think 'The Last Waltz' by The Band is a great live album. Although, truth be known (as is often the case with many so-called "live" albums), there were some studio overdubs added later. And not only that, but in the film and on the album, there were a couple of performances with guest artists (Emmylou Harris & The Staples Singers) that were filmed on sound stages after the concert and inserted into the movie. If you didn't know better, you would probably think those two segments were actually part of the real final concert on [link> Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976.
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If you don't already know, THE BAND was a Canadian-American roots rock group including...
Rick Danko (bass guitar, vocals, fiddle),
Garth Hudson (keyboards, accordion, saxophone),
Richard Manuel (keyboards, drums, vocals),
Robbie Robertson (guitar, vocals),
and Levon Helm (drums, vocals, mandolin, guitar).
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To say that, toward the end, there were personality problems within The Band is putting it very lightly:
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Moondog Matinee is the fifth studio album by Canadian/American rock group the Band, released in 1973. It consists entirely of cover material reflecting the group's love of R&B and blues music, with one exception in their interpretation of the theme from the film The Third Man.
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In a 2002 interview, Levon Helm described the reasoning for recording an album of covers: "That was all we could do at the time. We couldn't get along—we all knew that fairness was a bunch of shit. We all knew we were getting screwed, so we couldn't sit down and create no more music. 'Up on Cripple Creek' and all that stuff was over—all that collaboration was over, and that type of song was all we could do."
.Nevertheless - and despite the fact that Levon Helm hated it - I think The Band's last "real" recording, 'The Last Waltz', is an absolute must-own album! In my opinion, if you don't have 'The Last Waltz' in your music collection, your music collection is a poseur!
;^)
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Below, I am going to feature 3 songs (independent videos) from the movie 'The Last Waltz' that I am pretty wild about. And I will follow that up with a playlist for those of you who might want to hear some more of my favorite songs from The Band's last concert.
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First of all, if I had to name just one song by The Band as my very favorite, it would be 'The Weight'. And in 'The Last Waltz', The Band recorded a version with The Staples Singers. Hokey-Smoke! Mavis and Pops Staples added so much to the song in terms of power and style, that THIS is my favorite version of my favorite song by The Band:
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THE WEIGHT - The Band ('The Last Waltz')
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCSzL5-SPHM
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The last guest musician invited onstage that night was the most famous and most highly esteemed - Bob Dylan. I absolutely LOVE Dylan's song 'Forever Young', and Bob & The Band performed what I consider the very best version of it.
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There are two wonderful little moments you need to watch for in this live concert video. The first is immediately after Dylan (in the white hat) sings the first verse of the song and then (@ the 45-second mark) he looks at someone to his left (possibly drummer Levon Helm) and he shrugs and makes some odd expression. That expression ALWAYS makes me chuckle! I'm not sure what he was trying to convey with that shrug and expression, but to me it says: Well, there it is. They can accept it or not. Whatever.
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The second thing I always enjoying watching for in this footage is when Dylan & The Band segue into 'Baby, Let Me Follow You Down'. If you pay close attention, you'll see that toward the end of 'Forever Young', Dylan and guitarist Robbie Robertson exchange a few words. Evidently, Dylan had told Robertson what song he wanted to segue into. But this was all impromptu, so the rest of The Band members did NOT know what was coming next, and they were waitin' 'n' watchin', looking for a clue.
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If you really study the faces of drummer Levon Helm and bassist Rick Danko from 4:25 to 4:33, you can see they are intently watching in order to get an idea what song is coming next. And Danko has this great grin on his face, because he knows that Dylan and Robertson are about to launch into a different song and he's enjoying the mysterious moment of anticipation. And after Dylan and Robertson hit the first four notes of 'Baby, Let Me Follow You Down', Danko has GOT IT(!), and he joyously launches into the rhythm on his bass guitar. This is such a grand moment, where we get to see A-list and E-Ticket musicians spontaneously creating art.
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FOREVER YOUNG / BABY, LET ME FOLLOW YOU DOWN -
The Band & Bob Dylan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yt1DAMecaWA
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Now, in this last video, we have bassist Rick Danko singing the song 'It Makes No Difference' and, frankly, I don't think I should even need to provide commentary for this. If you can't feel the passion and the aching love that he is conveying in this cut-your-heart-out & serve-it-on-a-platter song, then I seriously doubt there's any hope for you at all.
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I love this comment that someone wrote at the YouTube site: "Just when it can't possibly get any better... Garth steps up and sends it!"
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IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE - The Band
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP7r12Rg490
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If you enjoyed those 3(+1) songs, then I highly recommend you watch / listen to the other 'Last Waltz' songs in the following playlist. My thanks to [link> MARY for inviting me to join her in this year's Rocktober MusicFest. And my thanks also to EVERY ONE OF YOU who took time to listen / comment. I appreciated your involvement and I hope I added something worthwhile to Rocktoberfest.
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'THE LAST WALTZ' (Selections) - THE BAND
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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My favorite from this album is Joni Mitchell's "Coyote." They did a great job backing her.
ReplyDeleteHa!-Ha! That's kind of ironic, JOHN. Because... I don't know whether or not you saw my Part 4 in this series, but according to Levon Helm, Joni Mitchell's set kind of killed the momentum of the concert, and Helm praised Van Morrison for coming out next and reviving the audience with a terrific performance of 'Caravan'.
DeleteYou marching to the beat of your own drum, eh? Well, good for you. Different beats for different folks.
~ D-FensDogG
'Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...'
Stephen
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for joining me in this year's RocktoberMusicFest. Your love for the music definitely shines through and I have appreciated each of your inputs.
Secondly, I want to apologize for getting behind in my comments and responses. It was a rough week, healthwise, and I spent the majority of the week slumbering (or as the Cute One says 'making motorcycle noises in your sleep'. He stopped by a few times this week to watch an old show on Amazon Prime with me, and without fail, I'd fall asleep before it was over.
Thank goodness, I had my posts pre-written for this month!
I recall seeing a Netflix documentary on Levon Helm a few years ago. That's when I learned about all of the disagreements within the band.
I do have to agree with you that The Weight is a favorite, as well as Up on Cripple Creek.
Again, thanks so much for joining in the fun!
~MaRY
MMQE ~
DeleteI'm glad to see that you're apparently feeling better now. And no worries about tardiness. It's only blogging.
But I did enjoy writing up these Rocktoberfest posts and sharing some lesser known music with others - music that has meant a lot to me over the decades.
ROCK ON, SISTER!!
~ D-FensDogG
'Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...'
Stephen,
ReplyDeleteI think I remember The Band...okay barely remember them. I do recall 'It Makes No Difference', though. This might be my favorite song in this set but I do like 'The Last Waltz' with Mavis and Pops Staples. It's funny everytime I hear Mavis Staples I'm reminded of the Christmas Vacation theme song. I love that movie! Thanks for sharing your RMF selections and for your weekend visits, my friend. Have a good week!
CATHY ~
DeleteThanks for stopping by to listen and comment.
A lot of people weren't really familiar with The Band because they didn't have any major radio hits. I think they were almost like an underground group that mostly only people who were aficionados of Roots Rock music were aware of. It wasn't until a few years after I had graduated from high school that I became aware of them.
Actually, I'm sure my Rock Poetry class teacher must have mentioned The Band, since they had such a strong connection to Bob Dylan, but they kind of flew over my head until some years later.
~ D-FensDogG
'Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...'
I never added this album to my collection even though The Band is one of my favorite groups. Actually, I don't recall it coming out as an album, but if I did hear about it I probably avoided it because it was a live album and usually I've not been overly excited about live albums.
ReplyDeleteHowever, several years back I did add the DVD to my collection and finally took the time to watch it. Yes, it was a great concert and it's an excellent film. I guess maybe it's about due time for me to watch it again.
I don't even remember that Moondog Matinee album and I was usually following new album releases pretty closely. But money was a bit tight for me back in those days when I was going to college so I was focused mainly on buying albums in the cut-out bins or those releases that I felt interested me most. For some reason I guess that album was not one of them which seems odd since I had gotten every previous Band album that had come out and loved them. Maybe I'd read a bad revue or something. I don't even recall seeing this album in any of my friends' collections.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
LEE ~
DeleteYes, I'm with you on live albums. The 7 that I have are pretty terrific, but I think it's the rare live album that's really worth owning. And it probably makes sense that 5 of my 7 fall under the category of Jazz. We tend to think of Jazz as an improvisational form of music, meaning that the studio recording is not the final word on how that piece should be played.
Speculating here: It may be that you'd heard 'Moondog Matinee' was a collection of covers, rather than Band originals, and that might not have appealed to you as much. I know that would probably have been of less interest to me; I would never have been as interested in picking up a favorite group's LP of covers as I would have been in getting a new album of new songs by them.
~ D-FensDogG
'Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...'
I ended up enjoying this as much as the Van Morrison bits. Good work.
ReplyDeleteI was only a casual listener to The Band. I was aware of only their well-known tunes; I’d headed a different direction with musical interests when they were going strong.
The Weight is a favorite of mine, but I had not heard this live version of it, and it IS special! I love it at the very end of the song when you can actually heard Mavis say "beautiful!” She's right!
This may now be my favorite version of the song… But I'll have to scrounge around my old videotapes to find a “treasure” of mine in order to compare.
You would hate it, but my long-time favorite version of The Weight was sung by the Taylor family on Tom Snyder's Tomorrow show in the late 70s. It is NOT on the internet anywhere! I keep looking, and cannot find even a reference to it. But it exists and I have it on tape. If I ever find it, I should post it.
The version is by James Taylor and his siblings Livingston, Kate, Alex, and Hugh. They all had good voices, with James well-known and obvious. Livingston is better, but less known. However, I think I have seen more live shows by him than any other musician. He teaches music at Berklee School in Boston and still does about 80 live shows a year. Kate has put out several albums, most of which I own - though she is not the songwriter that either of her brothers is. She still does shows. Brother Alex died in 1993, but he had a low, manly voice that was really good. Brother Hugh was never a professional singer... he was an innkeeper and did demolition derby races… but he had a good voice. This is the version that I've always liked best!
But man-o-Manischewitz! This version with the Staples is great stuffs!
McBRUHTHUH SIXGUNBOY ~
DeleteI'm thrilled that you enjoyed my closing act as much as the previous ones. I figured you'd protly dig it more than you'd anticipated, but I didn't expect that you'd like it as much as the Van stuffs.
I'd be interested in hearing the version of 'The Weight' by The Taylor Family. I didn't even know there WAS a Taylor Family of musicians associated with James Taylor. Never heard of them before.
I kinda doubt I would hate the Taylor Family version - it's a great song and would be kind of hard to ruin, I think - but at the same time, I seriously doubt I'd feel that it challenged this version by The Band and The Staples, just because I love it so. The Staples added that touch of "Gospel" sound to the song; Mavis had a powerful voice and there's just so much character in Pops' voice. It'd be tough to beat this in my book.
And, yeah, right-on about Mavis and her whispered "Beautiful" at the end. That's such a cool touch!
As I mentioned to Cathy above, I didn't really get into The Band at all during my teenage years. I was probably 20 or 21 before I kind of discovered them for myself. They'd been done recording for about 5 years by then.
Funny thing: I still remember that The Band was the favorite group of the sister of one of my Brother's friends in high school. I don't know if I even knew who they were when I first learned that fact, and I was probably thinking "The Band? Which Band?" That was at a time when everyone's favorite group was Led Zeppelin or The Stones or Queen or Styx... That gal was definitely marching to the beat of her own drummer; definitely an outsider, at least musically.
~ D-FensDogG
'Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...'
I figured you'd hate that version because:
ReplyDelete1) you dislike JT a great deal, and
2) that "divide thang"
But - though I can't find The Weight - here is a link to the Taylor family singing Christmas songs on the Today Show a LONG time ago. The second one gives you a flavor of Livingston's talent, which I believe is great. They (mostly Liv) sat down that morning and wrote a rocking Christmas song that included all the names of the Today staff. It is typical of Liv's stuff: complicated and wordy, using unique phrasing and humor, with showmanship.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjGMU96q0NE
He hit the Billboard charts a few times, but only twice in the top 50 (30 and 38), though got to #8 on the AC chart once.)
Here is his highest tracking single; this may place him for you because I'll bet you've heard it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gkd7HWWY1Nc
It is an excellent song, but he has some others I like way better. Like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyFxlvIfNzA
and this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQdGm3qPruI
Not meaning to commandeer/hijack your excellent post... it is just easy to chat this way, using it like email!
BRUHTHUH GUNBOY ~
DeleteI don't dislike James Taylor a great deal. In fact, I don't dislike him at all. I once owned his Greatest Hits album because I always loved his song 'Fire And Rain', and I still do!
I probably said that I felt he was very overrated - because I do - and over time you took that to mean I dislike him a great deal. I always felt that JT had a nice, pleasant enough voice. But there are hundreds of thousands of people with nice, pleasant enough voices. So, I could never wrap my mind around all the JT adulation in the '70s.
That woman from the Today show was right - it was like God said to Himself: I'm gonna create a choir out of this family.
I really enjoyed the family singing together. And with that great baritone voice, they reminded me of... who is it? The Oak Ridge Boys? Or The Statler Brothers. One of those groups.
Actually, I did not recognize the song 'I Will Be In Love With You'. I thought it was OK, but I LOVED 'STEP BY STEP'! Man, I agree with you, and that was terrific.
I liked the last song, too, but 'Step By Step' was just excellent. And Livingston seems to have a wonderful personality, too! I'm sure I would dig him more than I do his brother, even though his brother is alright.
Thanks for the introduction, Brother. You done learnt me sumpin' here.
~ D-FensDogG
STMcC Presents BATTLE OF THE BANDS
Perhaps they did fight amongst themselves off stage, but you would not know it while they are playing. They all seem to genuinely love playing music.
ReplyDeleteThey have a bit of a rough edge to their sound. I do like it.
Those were all beautiful songs. I see what you mean about The Weight, and Follow Me was beautifully rendered. Bob Dylan's Forever Young is nicely done, but there is a girl who covers this, I can't remember her name, and I like it even better than Rod Stewart. Maybe its just the Sons of Anarchy (SOA) version I heard and liked.
Anyway - good songs. The album sounds like something I would enjoy; if it wasn't so late tonight. I'll catch it later.
Hope you had a spooky evening, lol.
WILD THING ~
DeleteYeah, you're correct: The Band had a kind of "loose" or rough-edged sound, which went perfectly with the type of music they wrote and played.
I'll have to check out that Sons Of Anarchy version of 'Forever Young' that you mentioned. You got me curious now.
~ D-FensDogG
'Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...'