One of the best rock & roll movies ever made is Martin Scorsese’s 1978 movie The Last Waltz, which covered the final concert of The Band. This was a great movie chronicling the last show of a great band, interspersed with interviews with the members and some of the other people involved. The concert itself brought in an incredible list of cameo appearances, not the least of which was Bob Dylan, who was instrumental in The Band getting going.
The Band consisted of some great performers: Canadians Rick Danko (bass, guitar, vocals), Garth Hudson (organ, keyboards, accordion, sax), Richard Manuel (piano, drums, vocals), Robbie Robertson (guitar, piano), and American Levon Helm (drums, mandolin, guitar, bass, drums). They got together in 1958, calling themselves the Hawks, playing backup for a rockabilly performer named Ronnie Hawkins.
Their break came when they got a chance to back Bob Dylan on his 1966 tour, when he was criticized by die-hard folk fans for bringing an electric band onstage. Dylan didn’t care; he did things his own way.
In 1968, the band left Dylan’s employ, adopted the name The Band, and released their first album, Music From Big Pink. It was all up from there. In 1969, they released their eponymous album The Band, which, according to no less than Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, is called “the second-most influential album in the history of rock and roll.”
The Band had their own sound, combining rock with folk, country, and blues. But it didn’t last; the famous farewell concert actually took place in 1976, two years before Martin Scorsese’s film was released.
The Band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, raising the question, “What took so long?”
Here are my six favorites from The Band, in this must-see film.
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down: This is probably my favorite song from the film, and my favorite song by The Band in general. It’s a classic lament: The story of Virgil Caine, a Civil War Confederate soldier who left his farm to join the army. He wasn’t a plantation owner; he wasn’t a wealthy man, just a regular farmer. The song makes no mention of slavery or any of the issues of secession or states’ rights. It’s just the sad tale of a man who fought for his land and lost, and regardless of what side he was on, regardless of the right-and-wrong aspects of that great American conflict, Caine’s lament tugs at the heart of any old soldier. The song includes implied statements about the Union Army’s stragglers taking provisions from Southern farmers, along with the collapse of the Confederate currency and the hard times that followed:
Back with my wife in Tennessee
When one day she called to me
"Say Virgil, quick, come see
There goes the Robert E. Lee"
Now I don't mind choppin' wood
And I don't care if my money's no good
You take what you need and you leave the rest
But they should never have taken the very best
It may be an odd tune for a mostly Canadian band, but Arkansas native Levon Helm’s vocals make it work.
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Up On Cripple Creek: Now this one’s a lot more fun. Written by Robbie Robertson, this is the tale of a mountain man and his occasional sweetheart, Bessie. One of my favorite lines is his description of how it makes him happy when Bessie “…dips her donut in my tea.” Levon Helm’s yodeling is really what makes the live version work.
Baby Let Me Follow You Down: This song is best remembered from Bob Dylan’s 1962 debut acoustic album and added an electric version to his1966 tour with The Band backing him, but it’s a tune whose origins are lost in the mists of time, at least until it was revived by a guy named Eric von Schidt in the 1950s. Dylan was buddies with Schmidt, and turned in his own performance, then took the stage with The Band again in The Last Waltz to turn in this great performance.Stagefright: I like this one, because of the implications. Who among us hasn’t been nervous when trying something new, only to find, once the act is over, that they didn’t want to go back and do it all over again? Be it a speech, a performance, or life, we’re always ready to do it again, as the lyrics say:Ophelia: Again featuring Levon Helm’s vocals, this is a fun song of a girl named Ophelia who left town, but it’s unclear what her relationship was with the protagonist, other than he wants her to come back. Robbie Robertson wrote the song, and later said:See the man with the stage fright
Just standin' up there to give it all his might
He got caught in the spotlight
But when we get to the end
He wants to start all over again
I always like the mystery factor. I may be writing a song, and the music may imply a certain lyric, or vice versa. It's not that deliberate, or an intellectual exercise. It just comes out naturally.
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Bonus: I Shall Be Released: This song features, again, the reunion of The Band with Bob Dylan, who helped launch their career. It’s a sight to see, too. It was a fitting finale.
If you were around in the late ‘70s, you’ve probably heard some of these, or you may even have seen the movie. And if you have any added songs by The Band, let us know – as always, the comments are all yours.
