|
Post by Snookeroo on Jul 14, 2011 11:37:01 GMT -5
(TLW = "The Last Waltz")
Maybe Steve will have some insight into this:
I have a question that I've seen discussed on a music board for The Band. Nobody has an answer but it's interesting to wonder about.
Why was George Harrison not part of the Last Waltz concert?
The Band were good friends with George. He spent time with them in Woodstock, and some of them played on George's song that appears on the "Ringo" album. Scorsese was even a Harrison fan. The Last Waltz was held on Nov. 25, 1976. This was right around the release date for "Thirty Three & 1/3", so George was probably not too busy at that exact time. Ringo was there to drum at the end. Imagine if we had a live version of, "Sunshine Life For Me" with Ringo, The Band, and George?
Another related question might also be, why was the Band not at the Concert for Bangladesh? They may well have been on tour or something.
In both cases, were the people in question at least invited?
|
|
|
Post by beatleroadie on Jul 15, 2011 11:14:28 GMT -5
Imagine George and The Band playing Here Comes the Sun with all their rootsy harmonies all over it! Ah, that would have been brilliant.
|
|
|
Post by Steve Marinucci on Jul 15, 2011 12:01:58 GMT -5
Imagine George and The Band playing Here Comes the Sun with all their rootsy harmonies all over it! Ah, that would have been brilliant. God, yes! As for why George wasn't there, the only thing that comes to mind is that maybe it's because Ringo was there and he didn't want to put the pressure of a Beatles reunion on being there. But honestly, I don't know.
|
|
|
Post by Jason I on Jul 15, 2011 13:06:09 GMT -5
i guess the obvious answer may be the reason. Maybe he just didn't want to do it?
He'd had an absolute critical panning from his recent Dark Horse tour in '74, and he was never that keen on playing live anyway. Perhaps he just felt, knowing the concert would also be filmed, and he'd likely be one of the highest profile performers there that he just didn't need that kind of pressure.
|
|
|
Post by beatleroadie on Jul 15, 2011 15:35:25 GMT -5
Maybe so...
I wonder if The Band considered recording a song with George for one of the non-live segments of the film, like they did with the Staples (The Weight) and Emmylou Harris (Evangeline). These were recorded weeks after the live show on a soundstage at MGM Studios I believe....That would have solved the problem of George's disinterest in performing live, and including a Beatles song would have been the cap on what was already an incredible encyclopedia of modern music. Isn't it a pity...I can just hear Levon Helm taking one of the verses of Here Comes the Sun!
|
|
|
Post by Snookeroo on Jul 16, 2011 11:47:02 GMT -5
Maybe so... I wonder if The Band considered recording a song with George for one of the non-live segments of the film, like they did with the Staples (The Weight) and Emmylou Harris (Evangeline). These were recorded weeks after the live show on a soundstage at MGM Studios I believe....That would have solved the problem of George's disinterest in performing live, and including a Beatles song would have been the cap on what was already an incredible encyclopedia of modern music. Isn't it a pity...I can just hear Levon Helm taking one of the verses of Here Comes the Sun! I never thought of that. That would have been perfect. I think I'd like to have heard them do "Something". Richard Manuel could probably have sung that incredibly well. There's a song on the "Material World" album called, "That is All" that I've always thought sounded very Bandish.
|
|
|
Post by John S. Damm on Jul 16, 2011 16:53:03 GMT -5
Snooks I love a mystery and yesterday I looked through Keith Badman's diary book on the solo years. He dutifully mentions Ringo participating in TLW on November 25, 1976 but he does not list the activities that day of George(or Paul and John).
A couple days before TLW George is doing final non-studio work for the release of 33 1/3 and a couple days after TLW he sits down in England for a television interview but there is no indication why he didn't participate in TLW.
A potential lead may be found in the dvd release of The Last Waltz in the early 2000's as there was some indication in an article I found that in the "bonus material" there are interviews of Ringo Starr and George Harrison! I can't confirm that to be true and it didn't say when these interviews were made. But if George was interviewed for bonus material for a subsequent "special anniversary" dvd release, wouldn't it make sense that George would explain or at least mention why he wasn't there?
I can't see George not fielding that question if in fact he was interviewed for bonus material on a dvd special re-release. Maybe that dvd and its bonus material should be hunted down!
|
|
|
Post by brothermichael on Jul 16, 2011 20:32:53 GMT -5
I read somewhere recently -- in reply to a question about whether George had ever met Scorsese, someone posted that they had met when Martin and Robbie Robertson franticly knocked on George's door (hotel?) at the time of the Last Waltz. The mystery deepens?
|
|
|
Post by John S. Damm on Jul 16, 2011 22:55:04 GMT -5
I read somewhere recently -- in reply to a question about whether George had ever met Scorsese, someone posted that they had met when Martin and Robbie Robertson franticly knocked on George's door (hotel?) at the time of the Last Waltz. The mystery deepens? I read that too, that Scorsese first met George "during the making of TLW." I took that to mean post-concert when Scorsese was putting the film together. I did not take it to mean Scorsese first met George the night of November 25, 1976, at the concert venue. If George was consulted by Scorsese post-concert, it does add to the mystery. What was Scorsese seeking from George? Of course, George had been involved in the earlier Concert For Bangladesh so George had experience in the making of an epic concert film. Good question Snooks! It is logical that George be at TLW but apparently he wasn't, even as a spectator.
|
|