Five Best Performances From The Last Waltz
A week from today, "The Band," played their final show as the original lineup in front of a soldout San Francisco crowd on Thanksgiving Day in 1976. The concert was filmed by Martin Scorsese and was packaged as the concert film, "The Last Waltz," still considered by many as the greatest concert film in history. Here is a look back five performances during the star-studded show that November night with musicians like Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Muddy Waters, and one of the greatest rock bands of the era.
5. Evangeline (featuring Emmylou Harris)
Recorded before the concert began, the song featured country and folk artist Emmylou Harris joining the group as roadies and camera crew still set up the stage and ballroom. The song featured members of the group playing different instruments that they did not usually play in concert, such as keyboardist Richard Manuel on the drums, drummer Levon Helm on the mandolin, and bassist Rick Danko on the fiddle to create one of the most beautiful classic country songs of the genre.
4. I Shall Be Released (featuring Bob Dylan and Company)
The closing song of [the film] (https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-news/why-the-bands-the-last-waltz-is-the-greatest-concert-movie-of-all-time-104637/) brought on the man that helped put the group on the map. When Dylan toured in 1966, he took a then-unknown group called "The Hawks" to be his backing group. The group featured all but one member and the group would be introduced as "Bob Dylan and the Band," giving them their name. The final song is an emotional rendition of "I Shall be Released," recorded on The Band's first album that shot them into stardom. Dylan, the songwriter, takes the lead vocals and is backed by the rest of the group and the featured musicians from the evening.
3. It Makes No Difference
One of The Band's most emotional songs and a beautiful love song about lost love, "It Makes No Difference" is manned by beautiful musicianship from the group and the vocals of bassist Rick Danko. Garth Hudson also brings his own soul with a wailing saxophone solo at the end of the song, paired with Robbie Robertson's guitar solo. Overall, this is the only song on the list without a featured artist, but anymore cooks in this kitchen would only detract from the tune.
2. Helpless (featuring Neil Young and Joni Mitchell)
The two folk singers combine their soft falsetto voices to this classic song written by [Neil Young] (https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/470800-singer-neil-young-says-that-americas-presidents-havent-done). As Young takes the lead vocals and is backed by the rest of The Band, Mitchell sits off stage and sings in a microphone almost as a ghost putting herself in the song. The pair combined for another tune, "Acadian Driftwood," that barely missed out on the list, however, these two singers played such a prominent role in the film, it would be a disservice to keep them off the list.
1. Caravan (featuring Van Morrison)
Van Morrison just rocked the party with this adaptation of his hit song, "Caravan." Where the studio version of the song is a little more quiet and on a slightly slower tempo, the entire band acts as a high energy backing band which kicks the tempo into high gear and allows the Irishman to belt out the highlight of the show. The song featured Morrison's distinct Irish accent, jazz scatting, and a final, James Brown-like closing with Morrison reaching another level of energy before leaving the stage to the words of Robbie Robertson, "There goes Van the Man!"
