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The Last Waltz of the Band
In Vol. 2 of this new series, CMS SOURCEBOOKS IN AMERICAN MUSIC, Neil Minturn acknowledges the phenomenon of rock and roll with a serious investigation of Martin Scorsese's documentary film The Last Waltz. This celebrated rockumentary artfully captures for posterity the final public performance of The Band, a partnership of one American and four Canadians that produced an impressive body of popular song in the rock idiom between 1961 and 1976 . Joining its members for their farewell was a variety of guests who-like the music of The Band itself-reflected the rich array of vernacular traditions that have nourished rock and roll since its emergence. Minturn approaches the substance of the performances and the film itself in terms of intimacy and tradition. He presents the San Francisco concert as a summation of an extraordinary musical journey and prefaces his scene-by-scene analysis with a cogent introduction to documentary film-making. Selected performances are discussed in detail.
224 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2005
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August 21, 2013
This academic look at Martin Scorsese's documentary "The Last Waltz" certainly has a great deal of interesting material for anyone who is a fan of The Band and this film, but I found some aspects unsatisfying. While much of the music theory that was discussed was just over my head since I am not a musician (it seemed to be thorough, and I did find some of it interesting), I found the portions about documentary film to be interesting and informative. I was expecting more discussion of the actual performances which are featured in the film, so this was a disappointment, but there are some interesting articles included and a useful bibliography.
Given the highly academic nature of this book series, there were some errors that were troubling (no members of The Band, or The Hawks, as they were known in the early 60s, were with Bob Dylan at Newport as is implied multiple times; this is not a fact that would be difficult to research) and some details about the film that another viewing should have made clear (I may be overly picky, but how does one not realize that the voice who says "Good evening" at the start of the concert belongs to Levon Helm?).
Despite its shortcomings, my interest in this film made this book worth reading, and I'm sure I'll refer to it again.
Given the highly academic nature of this book series, there were some errors that were troubling (no members of The Band, or The Hawks, as they were known in the early 60s, were with Bob Dylan at Newport as is implied multiple times; this is not a fact that would be difficult to research) and some details about the film that another viewing should have made clear (I may be overly picky, but how does one not realize that the voice who says "Good evening" at the start of the concert belongs to Levon Helm?).
Despite its shortcomings, my interest in this film made this book worth reading, and I'm sure I'll refer to it again.
Displaying 1 of 1 review