Conference marvin::uk_music

	Buy the album 'The Last Waltz'  .... all the stuff from the film
	on a double album - should satisfy your craving :-)

	woof bark meow

    I saw this a few years ago on TV and thought it was brilliant. I
    went out and bought the triple album. Whats impressive is the close
    attention to detail both in the actual arrangements and the sound
    quality and balance. This is presumably because a 'real' film was
    being made of the event.
    
    Richard

    RE: 0
    	Try 'Before the flood' this features The Band & Dylan and real
    good.
    	
    RE: Robbie Robertson
    	In tha last waltz does'nt EC go into overdrive and blow RR off
    the stage?
    	- Paul -

	I must declare an interest here as I have thought that The Band are one
of the all time greats of rock music right from when I heard their first album
in 1968. I also suspect that I am one of the few people in this file (or this
country) who has seen them live, at the Royal Albert Hall in 1972 (or 1971) and
actually bumped into Garth Hudson getting out of a Rolls Royce (Garth not me)
in the Kings Road the day after the gig. 

	All of their albums are worthwhile but I would endorse 'The Last Waltz' 
as an excellent greatest hits and the performance by the guests especially 
Muddy Waters and Bob Dylan make it well worth buying.

	As far as I can remember their albums are:

Music From Big Pink
The Band
Stagefright
Rock of Ages (Live Album)
Northern Lights Southern Cross
Islands
Before The Flood (with Bob Dylan)
Basement Tapes (with Bob Dylan)
Last Waltz

There have also been solo albums from Rick Dank and Robbie Robertson. RR's was 
to my mind one of the best albums from last year.

As you may remember from the movie they originally were the Hawks and backed 
Ronnie Hawkins then worked with Dylan when he first played electric in 1965/66. 
I have an excellent bootleg of Dylan/Band at the Albert Hall in 1966 and 
interestingly the arrangements and sound are very similar to those on Last 
Waltz (Including I Don't Believe You & Baby Let Me Follow You Down). From the 
evidence of this boot one can see why they caused such a stir then, it wasn't 
simply that Dylan was playing electric but the whole band was roaring along 
with the heaviest rock music that anyone had ever heard at the time.

After their initial gig as Dylan's backup band and his enforced absence from 
the scene after a motorcycle accident they went on to record the Basement 
Tapes with Dylan. These became widely available as bootlegs and along with 
their first album Music From Big Pink were tremendously influential on popular 
music as they got away from the weirder excesses of psychedelic/hard rock era 
music to a simpler country flavoured style. The first two albums are classics 
that must rank near the top of anyones list of best rock albums.

They teamed up with Dylan again for a world tour that resulted in the Before 
the Flood album. A couple more albums were released and then they decided to 
call it a day and crowned their career with the Last Waltz.

Rather sadly a couple of years ago The Band sans Robbie Robertson got back on 
the road again and Richard Manuel hung himself in a motel room after one of 
their gigs.

Rick Danko has his own band in which he plays guitar not bass and they are 
working currently. 

As I mentioned earlier Robbie Robertson has produced a very fine solo album
with the help of such people as Peter Gabriel and U2. I read in the Observer
the other week that Robbie Robertson is organising a concert based on this that
will be filmed by Martin Scorcese so I suppose we can look forward to Last
Waltz II. 

Nigel

ps My memory is fallible so some of the above my be inaccurate.

I just remembered another album 'Cahoots' which includes an appearance by Van 
Morrison duetting with Richard Manuel on '4% Pantomime'. So the full album list 
is:-

Music From Big Pink
The Band
Stagefright
Cahoots
Rock of Ages (Live Album)
Northern Lights Southern Cross
Islands
Before The Flood (with Bob Dylan)
Basement Tapes (with Bob Dylan)
Last Waltz

The Band backed Dylan at the Isle of Wight festival in 1969 so the tracks on 
Dylan's 'Self Portrait' include them.

Nigel

    Don't forget 'Moondog Matinee' the album of covers!!!
    
    Mike O'

    "Self-Portrait" by Bob Dylan was an album primarily consisting of
    covers, although there were the odd original. As far as I know
    his backing musicians were mostly Nashville session guys and
    that The Band was not part of this album.

re .6
An interesting Freudian slip on my part omitting 'Moondog Matinee' from the 
discography, this was always the album by the Band that I didn't really like. 
Very good in its own way (covers of 50's R&R) but not really what I expect from 
the Band.

re .7
Dylan's 'Self Portrait' *does* contain some tracks recorded at the Isle of
Wight festival, four I think that include 'Like A Rolling Stone', 'She Belongs
To Me' & 'Minstrel Boy'. To my ears the playing sounds a bit ragged. 

Nigel

    Dylans 'Planet Waves' lp also features the Band.
    Slated critically, but I like it.....
    
    Bob