Jeff’s Playlist: ‘The Last Waltz Soundtrack’

I pre­sent­ed The Last Waltz Movie Thanksgiving 2024. This year I’m pre­sent­ing the sound­track, which has much more music. A great lis­ten for a hol­i­day week­end. Sit back and enjoy over two hours of good music. 

All songs were writ­ten by Robbie Robertson, except where not­ed. Also, all cred­its are from Wikipedia, and all record­ed music is from YouTube.

Disc one

No.      Title    Writer(s)         Guest performer(s)   Length

1.         “Theme from The Last Waltz”                   The Orchestra 3:52
2.         “Up on Cripple Creek”                                5:31
3.         “The Shape I’m In”                          4:10
4.         “It Makes No Difference”                            6:51
5.         “Who Do You Love?”          Ellas McDaniel         Ronnie Hawkins 4:51
6.         “Life Is a Carnival”   Rick Danko, Levon Helm, Robbie Robertson 4:25
7.         “Such a Night[a]”      Mac Rebennack       Dr. John         4:41
8.         “The Weight[b]”                               4:50
9.         “Down South in New Orleans”       Jack Anglin, Jim Anglin, Johnnie Wright Bobby Charles, Dr. John 3:11
10.       “This Wheel’s on Fire”         Rick Danko, Bob Dylan       3:54
11.       “Mystery Train”         Junior Parker, Sam Phillips Paul Butterfield 5:03
12.       “Caldonia”     Louis Jordan Muddy Waters, Pinetop Perkins, Bob Margolin 6:08
13.       “Mannish Boy”          Mel London, Ellas McDaniel, McKinley Morganfield Muddy Waters 6:40
14.       “Stage Fright”                                  4:31

Disc two

No.      Title    Writer(s)         Guest performer(s)   Length

1.         “Rag Mama Rag”                            4:34
2.         “All Our Past Times”            Eric Clapton, Rick Danko    Eric Clapton 5:01
3.         “Further on Up the Road”   Don Robey, Joe Medwick Eric Clapton 5:30
4.         “Ophelia”                              3:45
5.         “Helpless” (Mitchell uncred­it­ed on track list­ing)  Neil Young Neil Young, Joni Mitchell 5:53
6.         “Four Strong Winds”            Ian Tyson      Neil Young 4:37
7.         “Coyote”        Joni Mitchell  Joni Mitchell  5:28
8.         “Shadows and Light”           Joni Mitchell  Joni Mitchell 5:45
9.         “Furry Sings the Blues”       Joni Mitchell  Joni Mitchell, Neil Young 5:09
10.       “Acadian Driftwood” (Mitchell and Young uncred­it­ed on track list­ing) Joni Mitchell, Neil Young 7:07
11.       “Dry Your Eyes”       Neil Diamond, Robbie Robertson Neil Diamond 4:16
12.       “The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show[b]”                            3:39
13.       “Tura Lura Lural (That’s an Irish Lullaby)”           James Royce Shannon Van Morrison 4:10
14.       “Caravan”      Van Morrison Van Morrison 6:12

Disc three

No.      Title    Writer(s)         Guest performer(s)   Length

1.         “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”             4:35
2.         “The Genetic Method/Chest Fever” (incom­plete) Garth Hudson/Robbie Robertson 2:41
3.         “Baby, Let Me Follow You Down” Reverend Gary Davis Bob Dylan 2:55
4.         “Hazel”           Bob Dylan     Bob Dylan     3:41
5.         “I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)” Bob Dylan Bob Dylan 3:29
6.         “Forever Young”       Bob Dylan     Bob Dylan     5:51
7.         “Baby, Let Me Follow You Down (reprise)”          Gary Davis Bob Dylan 2:58
8.         “I Shall Be Released” (finale)         Bob Dylan     Bob Dylan, Paul Butterfield, Eric Clapton; Neil Diamond, Dr. John, Ronnie Hawkins, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Ringo Starr, Ronnie Wood, Pinetop Perkins 4:49
9.         “Jam #1” (Danko, Helm, Hudson and Robertson from the Band) Neil Young, Ronnie Wood, Eric Clapton, Dr. John, Paul Butterfield, Ringo Starr 5:32
10.       “Jam #2” (Helm and Hudson from the Band)        Neil Young, Ronnie Wood, Eric Clapton, Dr. John, Paul Butterfield, Ringo Starr, Stephen Stills, Carl Radle 9:10
11.       “Don’t Do It”   B. Holland‑L. Dozier‑E. Holland      6:19
12.       “Greensleeves”        tra­di­tion­al                  1:37

Disc four: “The Last Waltz Suite“

No.      Title    Guest performer(s)   Length

1.         “The Well”                3:32
2.         “Evangeline” Emmylou Harris        3:10
3.         “Out of the Blue”                 3:20
4.         “The Weight” (Mavis Staples and Pops Staples take lead vocals respec­tive­ly on the sec­ond and third vers­es) The Staples 4:35
5.         “The Last Waltz Refrain”               1:32
6.         “Theme from The Last Waltz”                   3:26

Disc four: Concert rehearsal

No.      Title    Writer(s)         Guest performer(s)   Length

7.         “King Harvest (Has Surely Come)”                                  3:52
8.         “Tura Lura Lural (That’s an Irish Lullaby)”           James Royce Shannon Van Morrison 3:52
9.         “Caravan”      Van Morrison Van Morrison 6:30
10.       “Such a Night”          Mac Rebennack       Dr. John         5:24
11.       “Rag Mama Rag”                            3:52

Disc four: Studio ideas

No.      Title    Length

12.       “Mad Waltz” (ear­ly ver­sion of “The Well”)            5:30
13.       “The Last Waltz Refrain” (ear­ly instru­men­tal ver­sion) 0:50
14.       “The Last Waltz Theme” (sketch track)    3:34
 
Features addi­tion­al mate­r­i­al
Previously unre­leased

Box set per­son­nel

The Band

Rick Danko – bass, fid­dle, vocals
Levon Helm – drums, man­dolin, vocals
Garth Hudson – organ, piano, accor­dion, syn­the­siz­ers, clavinet, horns
Richard Manuel – piano, drums, organ, clavinet, dobro, vocals
Robbie Robertson – gui­tars, piano, vocals

Horns

Rich Cooper – trum­pet, flugel­horn
James Gordon – flute, tenor sax­o­phone, clar­inet
Jerry Hey – trum­pet, flugel­horn
Howard Johnson – tuba, bari­tone sax­o­phone, flugel­horn, bass clar­inet
Charlie Keagle – clar­inet, flute, alto, tenor and sopra­no sax­o­phones
Tom Malone – trom­bone, eupho­ni­um, alto flute, bass trom­bone
Larry Packer – elec­tric vio­lin
Horns arranged by Henry Glover, Garth Hudson, Howard Johnson, Tom Malone, John Simon and Allen Toussaint

Guests

Paul Butterfield – har­mon­i­ca, vocals
Bobby Charles – vocals
Eric Clapton – gui­tar, vocals
Neil Diamond – gui­tar, vocals
Dr. John – piano, gui­tar, con­gas, vocals
Bob Dylan – gui­tar, vocals
Emmylou Harris – gui­tar, vocals stu­dio por­tion
Ronnie Hawkins – vocals
Bob Margolin – gui­tar
Joni Mitchell – gui­tar, vocals
Van Morrison – vocals
Pinetop Perkins – piano, vocals
Carl Radle – bass
Dennis St. John – drums
John Simon – piano
Cleotha Staples – har­mo­ny vocal stu­dio por­tion
Mavis Staples – vocals stu­dio por­tion
Roebuck “Pops” Staples – gui­tar, vocals stu­dio por­tion
Yvonne Staples – har­mo­ny vocal stu­dio por­tion
Ringo Starr – drums
Stephen Stills – gui­tar
Muddy Waters – vocals
Ronnie Wood – gui­tar
Neil Young – gui­tar, har­mon­i­ca, vocals

Technical per­son­nel

Robbie Robertson – pro­duc­er
John Simon and Rob Fraboni – co-pro­duc­ers
Ed Anderson – record­ing and mix­ing engi­neer
Terry Becker, Neil Brody, Tim Kramer, Elliot Mazer and Wayne Neuendorf – record­ing engi­neers
Baker Bigsby, Tony Bustos and Jeremy Zatkin – mix­ing engi­neers
Bill Graham – con­cert pro­duc­tion
John Simon – string arrange­ments

Released       April 7, 1978
Recorded       November 25, 1976
Venue             Winterland Arena, San Francisco
Length            129:06
Label              Warner Bros.
Producer        Robbie Robertson

Click below to hear the soundtrack.