Another week, another Sunday and another six links and MBIP’s coming attractions for the week. I just read where it’s the 40th anniversary of The Band’s iconic, Last Waltz concert coming up in about a month. That’s crazy! Martin Scorsese filmed the event for a documentary titled the same as the concert which came out two years later in 1978, It’s one of my favorite documentaries and I love the stories that are told in it by the different members of The Band. It’s also a great concert film with performances by The Band, Bob Dylan, Muddy Waters, Neil Young, Emmylou Harris, Dr. John, Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell, The Staples Singers, Eric Clapton and Neil Diamond. Yes, Neil Diamond! Anyway, here’s some online links to “The Last Waltz” I found and then you can read about what’s coming up on MBIP this week! Whoop-dee-doo!
16 Loud Facts About “The Last Waltz”
Mental Floss documents a dozen facts about the concert and film including why in the world Neil Diamond was there. Actually the song he sang (written with Robbie Robertson) was a great one. Also, everyone got a turkey dinner!
The Last Waltz: A Look at Levon Helm’s Greatest Performance
Levon Helm, The Band’s drummer and sometimes lead vocalist hated the film, The Last Waltz, citing the fact that the film focused more on Robbie Robertson than anyone else. However, Levon Helm clocks in some great performances in the documentary and writer Nate Rawlings lists them in this article for Time magazine.
Remembering Neil Young’s iconic coke booger of 1976
This is a legendary story from the concert and later from the making of the film. Neil Young had been indulging in a white powder that would later cause his CSNY bandmate, David Crosby to do some jail time before the concert and they had to painstakingly edit it out of the movie as documented in this article from deathandtaxes.com.
Roger Ebert’s review of The Last Waltz on the 25th anniversary re-release of the film.
I think this line sums up the film and the mood behind it perfectly: “These are not musicians at the top of their art, but laborers on the last day of the job.” That’s why I’ve always found it so fascinating. It’s like watching kids on their last day of school, thinking about what the upcoming summer will bring.
"The Last Waltz" Interview: Watch Martin Scorsese And Robbie Robertson Discuss The Concert Film In 1978
This is an interesting interview on the CBC and I love how both Robbie Robertson and Martin Scorsese use the word, “snowballed” to describe the film, which is appropriate considering the size of Neil Young’s coke booger!
Top Ten: Most Awkward Moments in “The Last Waltz”
I totally disagree with number nine, but I love number seven! That guy always weirded me out in the film!
Last night I had a great Saturday night dinner at Chai Cuisine with my friend, Michelle and Pam and Souk (pictured above), served us a fantastic dinner! You can read all about that tomorrow on Monday...yeah, tomorrow’s Monday, hopefully this post will help make it a little less sucktastic. Tuesday we continue the “A Year In The LIfe Of A Sandwich” food tour and I actually went to a chain restaurant to try a well-known sandwich and you can find out where I went if you tune in on Tuesday. Wednesday may or may not be yet another awkward edition of, “Can I Eat My Lunch In Here,” I’m trying right now to work up the nerve to do it and I’m feeling a little sick about that right now. I have no idea what I’m going to do on Thursday or Friday and I’m feeling a lot sick about that, so I think I’ll go throw up and try and figure everything out. Have a beautiful Sunday and we’ll see you all tomorrow!
Related Posts: Sunday Links: September 25, 2016, September 18, 2016 and September 11th, 2016.