RIP Robbie Robertson, your songwriting has nourished many generations and more to come. RIP to Robbie, Levon Helm, Richard Manuel, Rick Danko, and Roebuck 'Pops' Staples.
Please don;t include Staples. He wasn't part of The Band. He was the token Black group who white groups were forced to perform with to be politically correct. "THE BAND" resented having to have black musicians perform with them when they did "The Night They Drove Ole Dixie Down", the great pro confederacy song, Pops Statpes can kiss my A**
Jesus Christ.... I LOVE Rick Danko, His verse is the greatest of anyone's. Not based on vocal ability alone. His bass playing, groove, and vocal articulation is flawless! Can't be touched. Not to mention, dude's TRULY Feeling it! Look at those moves. I believe a little bit of cocaine also added a little "Umph" to Danko's sheer Radness.
@@lumpyheadcarini7553 %100 makes me teary eyed. I'm a year older than you and I've owned The Last Waltz on VHS and DVD. This is the first time I've heard that little whisper at the end.
I agree. I knew him. He played guitar on one of my songs for my 2nd album called ‘Heroin Tango’ Robbie Played electric guitar so different than anyone ever that sounded like a Beautiful Spacey Whale’s Love Song That put The Heroin into my song it was about a female hero a slow waltz broken hearted love song & Robbie’s guitar was breathtakingly beautiful so different than anyone has heard. I miss him. He used to tell me he’d written a song about me. I think it’s ‘Somewhere Down The Crazy River’ I feel bad he was sick for so long. He was one of the greats. 💔❤️🔥🎸
Anyone who can listen/watch this clip and hear Mavis Staples whisper "beautiful" at the end without smiling or getting goosebumps needs a heart transplant.
Right at the end of the song Mavis whispers “Beautiful”, and so it was. This is absolutely the best version of this song ever, without a doubt, every moment.
I'd never noticed her saying beautiful at the end. What a nice confirmation of how justifiably good she must've felt about the great performance they'd just accomplished together. Thanks for pointing it out
They were the best. Just straightforward, clean, real. I'm 81 now and so many good memories have come back because of The Band and their music. Thank you, y'all.
I love The Band and always have. When you mention Clean, I assume your were talking about music? They were all doing drugs, some more heavy stuff than others. Levon, Richard and Rick all got into it, leavaing Robbie with all the responsibility
Chris Pellow It's not just the voice. I sing opera--I've sung with the best vocal musicians in the world. Mavis does things with the voice I've never heard. All the way from grunt to shriek she lights up the song. I have to listen over and over again to hear her almost sub-vocal descant. Genius. What an artist! Wow, just wow.
+Chris Pellow I must agree with all that is stated, Ms. Staples , her father and sisters just make a class song even better. The Band at its close and zenith with this tune. It's hard to explain but I cannot listen to this song without tears coming to my eyes. It is a song with meaning and feeling but why it touches me is why we are human. Thanks Robbie and all of the Band. Like Mavis says at the END of the song- " Beautiful"...Yes my dear Sister it is.
Some 45 years later ,I still get goosebumps and shivers at the brilliance of the performance of this song ! It should be used in music college's for inspiration and motivation for all budding music students . It's the Crème da la Crème .
@@jordanjames3937 look at the absolute joyful smile from Levon as Mavis starts her verse of the song at around 1:13 ! It's the same ecstasy Robbie emanates while Levon sang the lyric 'If the money's no good ,' during The Band 's incomparable version of The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down ,at The Last Waltz ! Complete and utter respect and admiration for his/her outstanding talents ......Magical .
There is a slightly different version here on RU-vid where the mix is a little better, Pops and the Staples are a little louder ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Z2eTW8qZBtk.html
@@Gregor9043 Felt some sadness watching this performance in 2020. Rick looks wired and Levon junked up ... though I know they've both got decades of music making ahead of them.
Pops Staples. Yes. He gets up to bat and delivers. Natural and effortless, his voice embodies the maternal/paternal caring and tenderness that underlines the lyric.
Notice!? No inner ear monitors, these folks, everyone could sing, harmonize, hit the note, The Band an amazing group of cats, lyricist's, arrangers, The Staple singers, huge talents, the soul the passion and Queen Mavis, this is untouchable, This is ICONIC, a word waaay too overused and tossed about these days
Thank god we have the internet so all of us here on earth can still enjoy masterpiece’s of music like this even though most members in this video have passed on.
I'd give an eye tooth to have the built in rhythm of the lady clapping near the end of the song,, her clapping gives me the shivers every time ... every time!
This movie was my "Screener" on the women I was dating as it seems to highlight the Road Challenges and Touring was something that seemed destined for me. Not so sure this was Effective, as Touring never became my focus. Great Performance and Movie, but Sadly we have Lost most of THE BAND.
The entire last waltz album is a masterpiece. For all of us musicians out there, it's from all those people on stage with the band that that teach us what music is all about
Lol. Rick Danko. He wasn't as good of a lead singer but he was a great harmony singer. Kind of brought a needed ingredient to The Band with his harmonizing. It's almost like a trademark of The Band.
This slays me every time. The camera coming around Mr. Staple and showing all four of them, obviously they are related, it’s perfection. I’d like to know whose idea it was to ask The Staple Singers to do this. RIP Robbie.
This is my favorite version of "The Weight" ever, hands down. I mean, the Staple Singers with *THE BAND*; for what more could you ask??? "The Last Waltz remains one of the finest concert films ever put to recording simply because the concert itself was one of the best concerts ever given in rock'n'roll. God, I wish I could have been there--I was 8, alas. There's this classic moment at about 1:14 when Mavis Staples (I think it's her) starts her verse about Carmen & The Devil, and Levon looks over at her, and just closes his eyes and grins with contentment, like he's thinking, "D***, this is some good stuff!" The caramel syrup voices of the Staple Singers, especially Pervis Staples, so gentle and smooth on his "Miss Moses" verse, add a dimension of pure soul to "The Weight" that is just magic and alchemy--a truly inspired pairing of two phenomenal musical forces.
Beautiful. Glorious. Fill our hearts with country, folk, soul, blues and gospel. RIP Robbie Robertson - thank you for your great music that lives on with us. 🙏🏽❤️
Rest in Peace Pervis Staple, 85 (05.13.21). What a wonderful life you've had, you certainly brought joy to so many with your voice and music. This is one of the very best versions of The Weight I've ever heard. Thankyou Sir. Peace, love and harmony be with your Soul for Eternity. ✌❤🎶♾🌟🙏 🇨🇦💃🐈 Bless your musical Soul.
The shot moving back to Mavis at 0:56 is one of the most gorgeous camera movements I’ve ever seen. The moment is so soothing to the eye and ear all at once. Remarkable from all the artists involved, both before and behind the camera.
It's a majestic piece of film making from "the artists behind the camera" that could only be produced by someone who had really listened to the music and was in tune with it. Every verse gets a similar treatment but this one is the best. This is one of the things that made me buy my own Blueray copy of The Last Waltz - so I could watch it again at will. And here's a nice surprise - with a few years between each viewing, the effect is gorgeous every time.
Blows my mind every time! Rest in peace Levon, Robbie, Richard and Rick! You are so frigging missed! Thank you all for the magnificent music🥰🫶🏻🙏🏼 #thegreatgiginthesky
Robertson begon zijn carrière op jonge leeftijd door zich eind jaren 50 aan te sluiten bij de begeleidingsband van rockabillyzanger Ronnie Hawkins. The Band ontstond in de jaren 60 als begeleidingsband van Bob Dylan. Na een motorongeluk van Dylan in 1966, die daardoor langere tijd niet kon optreden, ging de groep in een gehuurd huis in Woodstock muziek opnemen met Dylan. Het leidde in 1968 tot het eerste album van The Band, Music from Big Pink, dat meteen een succes werd. Een jaar later volgde met het album The Band alweer het tweede album. Robertson ontwikkelde zich tot belangrijkste tekstschrijver van The Band. De karakteristieke muziek van de groep - een soort mix van country met folk, blues en rock - is nog altijd een belangrijke invloed in de muziekstijl americana. Ook werd de groep in zijn hoogtijdagen hoog aangeslagen onder muziekcritici en andere muzikanten, onder meer omdat alle bandleden uitmuntende zangers én muzikanten waren. Het leidde tot een bijzondere synergie. Zo zei Eric Clapton ooit eens fameus dat hij dolgraag lid van The Band was geworden
It’s nice information, but you forgot to quote the website, my friend… there is a strange sentence in it about Clapton that made me curious… Stay tuned, but stay sharp! 😉
Levon made no secret of the fact that he was disillusioned by The Band and The Last Waltz at this time...but he clearly never stopped loving the music. He's smiling and grooving the whole film. It's amazing.
@@JP-xd6fm It's in Levon's autobiography: he felt like Robbie Robertson had turned The Band into HIS band, and unfairly took songwriting credits away from Garth Hudson and Richard Manuel. On top of that, Levon claimed that the decision to stop touring, and the Last Waltz concert, was all Robbie's idea, and that the film was edited to make Robbie seem like the real leader of the group.
Well, as a fan I have to thanks Robbie to make the last waltz possible!, but everyone knows Levon was the leader and Garth and Manuel songwriting. Btw, The bio is called This wheel's on fire?
Yes they did. I've listened to the album version so many times that the vocalists from The Band do not sound quite right. But the Staple Singers. Nice.
This song will always be in the atmosphere...its omnipresent...RIP Robbie. Levon Helm...the greatest vocalist/drummer ever...it really doesn't get any better than this...😊
Never disappoints, one of my favorite movies. One of my favorite performances. Mavis is special. Levon performance is for the ages. Danko is wonderful. And Robbie on guitar. Pops' voice is heaven sent, and in a word "sweet". I always come back to this song and this version when I need a pick me up.
To me… The Weight is the standard off what all other folk rock/Americana genre blending music is trying to live up to. I whole heartedly believe that The Band, influenced by Dylan, is most important/influential American band of the modern era. Levon’s stories of out-there southern characters that were shaped and polished by Robbie Robertson. The Weight perfectly blends the best elements of Blues, Country, Gospel, R&B, and Jazz into this Homeresque tale of adventure and conversely a longing for home. Love for Levon Forever!!!
@@tylerfoust487 There is such an authenticity about them, that I just see all these modern so called Americana folk/indi/hipster type bands as wannabees trying to emulate the greatness of this which just seems so natural.
Someone commented on a different version of this same vid, something like: "Pops sings smooth and subdued and then Rick comes in like your drunk uncle". I just thought that was a cool description.
Everyone justifiably praises Mavis in this but Pops' subtle and soulful moment is actually brilliantly fitting and underrated. Especially with the lyrics of that verse.
Man being born in 1970 I only got to know music through father and thank goodness he had great taste. I feel so fortunate to have this in my reprttroiur.