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Complete, unedited "Last Waltz" Thanksgiving concert streaming at Wolfgang's Vault
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On Thanksgiving, 1976, The Band gave a farewell concert at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. They invited a few friends, including Eric Clapton, Ronnie Hawkins, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Muddy Waters, Neil Young, and their most famous boss, Bob Dylan. The event was made into a critically acclaimed film by Martin Scorsese, which was released in 1978.
According to The Band's drummer, Levon Helm, there was much over-dubbing in the studio after the concert was over. Helm did not agree with this philosophy, and he did not participate. You can now hear the complete 4-hour concert as it happened, in the original running order. Included are previously unreleased live versions of "The Last Waltz Suite" and "Evangeline." Dylan only allowed a portion of his set to be filmed, but the entire audio - previously released on the Rhino box set - is included here.
On a side note, about three years ago, Dick Clark tried to auction off a harmonica he claimed Dylan played at The Last Waltz during the song "Hazel". As you can tell by the above clip - and the official Rhino release - Dylan did not play harmonica on this or any other track that evening. I contacted someone at the New York Times at the time. This person claimed to receive a reply from Dick Clark's office:
During the Martin Scorsese filming of The Last Waltz in 1976, many songs were performed during the extended, somewhat raucous event. Some of these performances appeared in the movie while many others never made it past the cutting room. Seventeen of these "passed" songs appeared on a 2002 re-issue which includes a Bob Dylan rendition of "Hazel". When performing "Hazel," Dylan typically played a harmonica, such as on the "Planet Waves" album.
Members of the film crew who often worked with Dick Clark's staff vividly recall Bob carrying a harmonica on the set. Following The Last Waltz, the harmonica entered the Clifford Glass Collection where it was recorded as having originated from the set of the film. In 1992, Dick Clark acquired the instrument from that Collection. Dick placed the harmonica on public view at that time, indicating that the harmonica was from that filming. It has remained publicly displayed until it recently was removed from inclusion in the coming auction.
I pointed out that this was not the case, and sent audio and video proof. I was told : "We'll look into it." I never heard another thing about it.
Wolfgang's Vault has other Dylan concerts available for your listening pleasure, including 1974 concerts with The Band in New York and two shows from Los Angeles.
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