Life Is A Carnival: The Band Celebrates 40 Years of “The Last Waltz” With New Reissues

September 28, 2016 By Joe Marchese — 10 Comments
BUY 6-LP SET FROM AMAZON.COM

Forty years ago on Thanksgiving Day 1976, The Band took the stage at San Francisco’s Winterland for their final performance.  Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Neil Diamond, Van Morrison, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Muddy Waters and others joined Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Garth Hudson and Richard Manuel for the concert event known as The Last Waltz.  Director Martin Scorsese’s film of the evening was released in April 1978, setting a high bar for concert movies.

On November 11, Rhino will mark this landmark anniversary of The Last Waltz with four new editions, including the first time the film has been paired with the soundtrack.

  • 40th Anniversary Edition (2-CD) – Original soundtrack with newly remastered audio from the original master tapes on two CDs.
  • 40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (4-CD/1-BD) – Complete audio from the concert, including rehearsals and outtakes, plus The Last Waltz film on Blu-ray.
  • 40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition Vinyl (6-LP) – Complete audio from the concert, including rehearsals and outtakes, pressed on 180-gram vinyl for the first time and presented in a lift-top box.
  • 40th Anniversary Collector’s Edition (4-CD/2-Blu-ray) – Limited to 2,500 copies and due on December 9, this version includes: Complete audio from the concert; The Last Waltz film on Blu-ray; Second Blu-ray disc including a rarely seen interview from the 1990s with Martin Scorsese and Robbie Robertson, photo gallery, and 5.1 audio mix of the original album; 300-page book, bound in red faux-leather with a full replication of Scorsese’s shooting script; rare and previously unseen photos, set sketches, three foldout storyboards, and a foreword by Scorsese and an essay by screenwriter Mardik Martin.

Available as a 4-CD/Blu-ray set and – for the first time – on vinyl as a 6-LP set, the 40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of the original soundtrack has 54 tracks, including the entire concert, as well as rehearsals and outtakes.  This set reprises the track listing from Rhino’s 2002 box set which premiered 24 tracks including “Shadows and Light” and “Furry Sings the Blues” with Joni Mitchell, “Four Strong Winds” with Neil Young, “Hazel” with Bob Dylan, rehearsals with Van Morrison and Dr. John, and more.

The CD version also includes newly-penned liner notes revered music journalists David Fricke and Ben Fong-Torres along with a classic essay from 1977 written by iconic author Emmett Grogan.  (Fricke penned the lengthy notes for the 2002 box set, as well.)

The Last Waltz‘s 40th anniversary sets come at a busy time for Robbie Robertson. On November 15, his new memoir Testimony arrives in stores, joined by a companion anthology of the same name released on November 11 by UMe.   (Watch for more details on that soon!)

You can peruse the track listing to the upcoming Deluxe Edition at the links below!  The 2-CD, 4-CD and 6-LP iterations are due on November 11, with the limited edition set following on December 11.  All pre-order links are not yet active, so watch this space!

The Last Waltz: 40th Anniversary (Rhino, 2016)

2-CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

6-LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

4-CD/1-BD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

4-CD/2-BD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada TBD

Track Listing for 4-CD/1-BD edition below:

CD 1

  1. “Theme From The Last Waltz” – with orchestra
  2. “Up On Cripple Creek”
  3. “The Shape I’m In”
  4. “It Makes No Difference”
  5. “Who Do You Love” – with Ronnie Hawkins
  6. “Life Is A Carnival”
  7. “Such A Night” – with Dr. John
  8. “The Weight”
  9. “Down South In New Orleans” – with Bobby Charles
  10. “This Wheel’s On Fire”
  11. “Mystery Train” – with Paul Butterfield
  12. “Caldonia” – with Muddy Waters
  13. “Mannish Boy” – with Muddy Waters
  14. “Stagefright”

CD 2

  1. “Rag Mama Rag”
  2. “All Our Past Times” – with Eric Clapton
  3. “Further On Up The Road” – with Eric Clapton
  4. “Ophelia”
  5. “Helpless” – with Neil Young
  6. “Four Strong Winds” – with Neil Young
  7. “Coyote” – with Joni Mitchell
  8. “Shadows And Light” – with Joni Mitchell
  9. “Furry Sings The Blues” – with Joni Mitchell
  10. “Acadian Driftwood”
  11. “Dry Your Eyes” – with Neil Diamond
  12. “The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show”
  13. “Tura Lura Lura (That’s An Irish Lullaby)” – with Van Morrison
  14. “Caravan” – with Van Morrison

CD 3

  1. “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”
  2. “The Genetic Method/Chest Fever”
  3. “Baby Let Me Follow You Down” – with Bob Dylan
  4. “Hazel” – with Bob Dylan
  5. “I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Live We Never Have Met)” – with Bob Dylan
  6. “Forever Young” – with Bob Dylan
  7. “Baby Let Me Follow You Down” (Reprise) – with Bob Dylan
  8. “I Shall Be Released”
  9. Jam #1
  10. Jam #2
  11. “Don’t Do It”
  12. “Greensleeves” (From Movie Soundtrack)

CD 4

The Last Waltz Suite

  1. “The Well”
  2. “Evangeline” – with Emmylou Harris
  3. “Out Of The Blue”
  4. “The Weight” – with The Staples
  5. “The Last Waltz Refrain”
  6. Theme from “The Last Waltz” (*)

Concert Rehearsal

  1. “King Harvest (Has Surely Come)”
  2. “Tura Lura Lura (That’s An Irish Lullaby)”
  3. “Caravan”
  4. “Such A Night”
  5. “Rag Mama Rag”
  6. “Mad Waltz” – Sketch track for “The Well”

Stereo Ideas

  1. “The Last Waltz” – Instrumental
  2. “The Last Waltz – Sketch

Disc 5 – Blu-ray (Film available in 5.1 Surround Sound Mix)

  1. “Theme From The Last Waltz” – with orchestra
  2. “Up On Cripple Creek”
  3. “The Shape I’m In”
  4. “It Makes No Difference”
  5. “Who Do You Love” – with Ronnie Hawkins
  6. “Life Is A Carnival”
  7. “Such A Night” – with Dr. John
  8. “Down South In New Orleans” – with Bobby Charles
  9. “Mystery Train” – with Paul Butterfield
  10. “Mannish Boy” – with Muddy Waters
  11. “Stagefright”
  12. “Further On Up The Road” – with Eric Clapton
  13. “Ophelia”
  14. “Helpless” – with Neil Young
  15. “Coyote” – with Joni Mitchell
  16. “Dry Your Eyes” – with Neil Diamond
  17. “Tura Lura Lura (That’s An Irish Lullaby)” – with Van Morrison
  18. “Caravan” – with Van Morrison
  19. “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”
  20. “Baby Let Me Follow You Down” – with Bob Dylan
  21. “I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Live We Never Have Met)” – with Bob Dylan
  22. “Forever Young” – with Bob Dylan
  23. “Baby Let Me Follow You Down” (Reprise)
  24. “I Shall Be Released” – Finale
  25. “The Well”
  26. “Evangeline” – with Emmylou Harris
  27. “Out Of The Blue”
  28. “The Weight” – with The Staples
  29. “The Last Waltz Refrain”
  30. “Theme From The Last Waltz”

(*) Note that the press release indicates 54 tracks – the identical number of tracks to the 4-CD box set issued in 2002 – but lists only 53.  “Theme from The Last Waltz” (CD 4, Track 6) was omitted, most likely in error. We will confirm.

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Joe Marchese
Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song and beyond, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with labels including Real Gone Music and Cherry Red Records, has released newly-curated collections produced and annotated by Joe from iconic artists such as Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross and The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, The Spinners, Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Meat Loaf, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Liza Minnelli, Darlene Love, Al Stewart, Michael Nesmith, and many others.

Joe has written liner notes, produced, or contributed to over 200 reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them America, JD Souther, Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, BJ Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, Petula Clark, Robert Goulet, and Andy Williams.

Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray.

Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.

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10 thoughts on “Life Is A Carnival: The Band Celebrates 40 Years of “The Last Waltz” With New Reissues”

  2. Joseph Frey

    Hello,

    will the film have a dedicated stereo track or just a 5.1 track. I really dislike the stereo mix down on the original Blue Ray that I have. Joe

    Reply
    1. Avatar photo
      Joe Marchese

      No additional information about the Blu-ray has been released yet, but it’s a good possibility that it will be the same disc as used on MGM’s previous Blu-ray release.

      Reply
  4. Rob

    Will this be the originals played during the actual concert, or the overdubbed, re-recorded items that we have been hearing for years? Hoping for the originals!

    Reply
      1. Shaun

        And, in other words, NOT the complete concert then either. The previous box set was not complete (“Georgia on My Mind” was one of a number of songs never released from the show), and this one isn’t either.

        A shame. What’s stopping them from releasing the full show (assuming it was all recorded, and the tapes all still exist)?

        Nothing new here unless you’re either a vinyl person, or you want that extra blu-ray (which is probably just the same interviews VH-1 shows pretty much every time they play the movie) and the booklet. I don’t care about any of that, but the complete show would’ve been something to celebrate.

        Reply
        1. Shaun

          Just looked it up… “Georgia,” along with “King Harvest,” “Chest Fever,” and “Evangeline,” (at the actual concert, not the later performance with Emmylou Harris) along with some additional poems, still remain unreleased.

          Reply
    2. Shaun

      Just curious… How much overdubbing has been there been to The Last Waltz (and which songs)?

      While there’s often at least some on most live albums, I wasn’t aware of any specific instances on TLW.

      Reply
  5. David Olstein

    Thanks, Shaun, for setting the record straight. Pretty ridiculous that after all these years, we still don’t have the complete performance.

    Reply

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