In the 2002 DVD of the Last Waltz, Robertson mentions that. He describes himself as "a frustrated filmmaker" and Scorcese as a frustrated musician, among many other examples of the two of them just fawning over one another.
Based on the raw soundboard and audience tapes of the show compared to the film and official album, I reckon Rick Danko is more overdubbed than anybody (but to be fair he also seemed to have a lot of tuning issues on the night). Robbie sounds pretty much the same throughout. For all the talk about overdubbing, it really isn't as bad as, say, Levon claimed in his book (i.e. everything but the drums were redone afterwards!) Levon Helm, of course, refused to take part in any Last Waltz post production tinkering...
Well, there must be some kind of bond between them, considering (somebody correct me if I'm wrong) Robbie is still the 'musical advisor' for Marty's films today. And ya gotta admit Scorsese has had some killer soundtracks in his movies
listen to robbies fills on helpless!,if danko was overdubbed must be for technical issues robbie was for his choice of notes,in fact in the boot you hear a lot more of danko than on the movie.
Robertson's two Native American releases are some of the most incredible music of his life. Had a friend that was a HUGE Band fanatic. He contended that Dylan had a hand in the first two Band LPs than anyone ever knew. Had many a friend and relative with substance abuse problems. They can lead everyone around them down a never ending rabbit hole. I've suspected that R.R. got completely exhausted from that. I did.
why does the first album by danko sound way more like the band than anything robertson ever done? Because it was recorded either while they were still together or immediately after they broke up (and produced by Robertson), and Robertson's first solo album was recorded a decade later. that is wrong,the album was produced by danko with rob fraboni,that is why it sounds like the band,robbie only played lead on one song,he had as much imput in that album as say eric clapton! another album worth mentioning is bobby charles debut,guess who produced?yes ,ricky. other Band members contribute,no robbie,and it sounds just like The Band.
Due to an annoying ground hum problem Garth Hudson had to re-record all his keyboard tracks. According to engineer Rob Fraboni, "...it took him three months to do what he'd done in one night."
Wow...the is a bit much, don't'cha think? Little bit condescending...it's not a case of "I'm right"/"You're wrong"- maybe we're just hearing things differently. Show some respect, alright? It's not like the supposed Mayan Prophecy is gonna come to fruition because four fifths of The Band felt the need to touch up their live tapes...
Indeed, you can hear the hum a bit on the raw soundboard tape (and in some cases Garth doesn't come through at all, or is barely there in the house mix). But three months (not that I'm doubting Fraboni)?! Who did these guys think they were, Steely Dan?
Fair enough (Not that I ever said I was sane meself) Overall my point was that there isn't as much overdubbing -Garth's technical issues aside- on The Last Waltz as some folks have intimated over the years. I mean, we're not talking Kiss Alive! or The Dead's Europe '72 where the whole damn thing practically was redone in the studio after the fact. FWIW when it comes to listening to The Last Waltz, the audience recording is my go-to version...totally gives you the sense of what it was like to actually be there. Check it out, if you haven't already (it's better than the soundboard IMO, but then any good audience tape is)
FWIW when it comes to listening to The Last Waltz, the audience recording is my go-to version...totally gives you the sense of what it was like to actually be there. Check it out, if you haven't already (it's better than the soundboard IMO, but then any good audience tape is)[/quote] you are absolutely right,for good or bad it's the only way to feel you are there. in fact the thing that bothers me the most is that robbie even edited the jams on the box set! the rehearsals takes are the reason to own this.
JRR was certainly the shaker and mover of the group. He was the “vision” guy and without him The Hawks/Band never would have gone beyond journeyman status. I’ve often wondered how much of their growth was triggered/inspired by their relationship with Dylan and their exposure to the big leagues with Albert Grossman. JRR’s eyes certainly widened… was it all due to Dylan’s inspiration? Members of The Band worked with John Hammond Jr. (that may have come through Dylan) and I imagine they would have eventually been signed to a label like Vanguard or Elektra. But if you take Dylan out of the picture what would they have been like? Maybe a more Southern version of the Butterfield Blues Band or The Blues Project… a Rock Music side note. Back to our fantastical conjecture about possible publishing shenanigans; it may be that Robertson recognized the other member’s contributions and thought he treated them fairly with a handful of 50/50 splits on songs he did most of the work on. He may have felt that that made up for songs they made minor contributions to.
There is really not that much overdubbing. Rick re-did some of his bass stuff (Caravan), and Garth had to re-do his keyboard due to an Nth cycle hum on his keyboard tracks. I don't hear any of Robbie's solos being re-done, having compared the official and non-official sources. The same goes for Richard's vocals...they are authentic. I doubt it took Garth three months just for his stuff. Maybe all of the overdubs took three months. In addition, they overdubbed horns on songs that didn't have horns. For example, during The Shape I'm In and It Makes No Difference you can hear the horn section. Those are overdubs. The horn section didn't come out until the 4th song of the show (Life Is A Carnival). The Shape I'm In and It Makes No Difference were the second and third songs of the respective show. Back to the topic...there's that a Robbie vs. Levon feud, and it trickled down to the fans. In the long run, it matters not. Levon is gone, and I'm glad that Robbie reached out to Levon in his final days. With the exception of Garth (probably), all of the guys made mistakes, had issues with drugs/alcohol, etc. When Robbie and Garth are gone, none of it will matter. The music will remain...it's timeless.
It's funny. I never realized Robbie was such a divisive figure till I joined this forum. Also, I've never seen anyone suggest Robbie "ripped off" the other members of the Band who did not seem to have a personal dislike of Robbie (the OP being a perfect example). Has anyone ever seen a sentence start "I love Robbie Robertson, but it seems like he <insert nasty allegation here>. . ." ? Disclaimer: I am a fan of Robbie Robertson and enjoy his solo work too, so I'm sure I have biases of my own
I know Rick Danko agreed with or was sympathetic with Helm's accusations and there was one song [an instrumental b-side perhaps?] that Danko said he wrote and it was credited to JRR. This is all he said/she said conjecture, but as a general rule, where there's smoke there's fire.
I was at the Last Waltz and Neil Diamond did seem like the square peg at that time. Remember, this was around his Vegas -Star in Born period (Vegas was very unhip to this generation at the time) and he really didn't seem to fit in the other artists at all. I understand why he was there but he was in a blue leisure type suit. When I watch the film today, I enjoy him more than I did at the time.
Check the way you talk to people. I do not deserve a condescending tone, Ruben. Probably best that you stay hidden under that chair My hearing is just fine. I've had the soudboard and audience tapes since the early to mid 90's...before they leaked out. I know them by heart. There are a few overdubs by Robbie, but not much.
