On Thanksgiving Day 1976, The Band took the stage for the very last time at the Winterland Theatre in San Francisco. The concert, aptly billed as The Last Waltz, has become one of the most revered performances of all time. For the show, Rick Danko, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, and Robbie Robertson were joined by an all-star group of musicians, including Eric Clapton, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Ronnie Hawkins, Dr. John, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Muddy Waters and Neil Young, among others. The evening was captured on film by director Martin Scorsese and released theatrically in April 1978 to critical acclaim. The Last Waltz is still considered by many to be the greatest concert film ever made.

The 40th anniversary of The Last Waltz has rolled around (those big ones keep doing that...) and the occasion is to be marked with three new 40th Anniversary Edition releases. Set to hit shelves on November 11 and including the pairing of the audio and video for the first time, the formats range from the standard remastered offering, to Deluxe, to all the bells and whistles:

• 2CD – Original soundtrack with newly remastered audio from the original master tapes on two CDs.
• Deluxe Edition 4CD/Blu-Ray – Complete audio from the concert, including rehearsals and outtakes, plus The Last Waltz film on Blu-ray.
• Deluxe Edition Vinyl 6LP – Complete audio from the concert, including rehearsals and outtakes, pressed on 180-gram vinyl for the first time and presented in an ornate lift-top box.

The 40th Anniversary Deluxe Editions (the 4-CD/Blu-Ray set and the 6-LP set) of the original soundtrack have 54 tracks, including the entire concert, as well as rehearsals and outtakes. Among the rarities are performances not featured in the film, such as "Furry Sings The Blues" with Joni Mitchell and "All Our Past Times" with Eric Clapton, plus rehearsals for "Caravan" with Van Morrison, "Such A Night" with Dr. John, and "King Harvest (Has Surely Come)" a song that was not performed in concert. The 2CD version doesn't miss out entirely on some new features - there are newly-penned liner notes by revered music journalists David Fricke and Ben Fong-Torres along with a classic essay from 1977 written by iconic author Emmett Grogan.

Robertson will be busy during The Last Waltz 40th anniversary. Also this month, he will release Testimony, a new memoir in which he finally tells his own fascinating story of the band that changed music history, his extraordinary personal journey, and his creative friendships with some of the greatest artists of the last half-century.

THE LAST WALTZ 40TH ANNIVERSARY DELUXE EDITION TRACKLISTING

Disc One

1. Theme From The Last Waltz – with orchestra
2. Up On Cripple Creek
3. The Shape I’m In
4. It Makes No Difference
5. Who Do You Love – with Ronnie Hawkins
6. Life Is A Carnival
7. Such A Night – with Dr. John
8. The Weight
9. Down South In New Orleans – with Bobby Charles
10. This Wheel’s On Fire
11. Mystery Train – with Paul Butterfield
12. Caldonia – with Muddy Waters
13. Mannish Boy – with Muddy Waters
14. Stagefright

Disc Two

1. Rag Mama Rag
2. All Our Past Times – with Eric Clapton
3. Further On Up The Road – with Eric Clapton
4. Ophelia
5. Helpless – with Neil Young
6. Four Strong Winds – with Neil Young
7. Coyote – with Joni Mitchell
8. Shadows And Light – with Joni Mitchell
9. Furry Sings The Blues – with Joni Mitchell
10. Acadian Driftwood
11. Dry Your Eyes – with Neil Diamond
12. The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show
13. Tura Lura Lura (That’s An Irish Lullaby) – with Van Morrison
14. Caravan – with Van Morrison

Disc Three

1. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
2. The Genetic Method/Chest Fever
3. Baby Let Me Follow You Down – with Bob Dylan
4. Hazel – with Bob Dylan
5. I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Live We Never Have Met) – with Bob Dylan
6. Forever Young – with Bob Dylan
7. Baby Let Me Follow You Down (Reprise) – with Bob Dylan
8. I Shall Be Released
9. Jam #1
10. Jam #2
11. Don’t Do It
12. Greensleeves (From Movie Soundtrack)

Disc Four

The Last Waltz Suite

1. The Well
2. Evangeline – with Emmylou Harris
3. Out Of The Blue
4. The Weight – with The Staples
5. The Last Waltz Refrain

Concert Rehearsal

1. King Harvest (Has Surely Come)
2. Tura Lura Lura (That’s An Irish Lullaby)
3. Caravan
4. Such A Night
5. Rag Mama Rag
6. Mad Waltz – Sketch track for “The Well”
7. The Last Waltz – Instrumental
8. The Last Waltz – Sketch

Disc Five: Blu Ray

Track Listing (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)

1. Theme From The Last Waltz – with orchestra
2. Up On Cripple Creek
3. The Shape I’m In
4. It Makes No Difference
5. Who Do You Love – with Ronnie Hawkins
6. Life Is A Carnival
7. Such A Night – with Dr. John
8. Down South In New Orleans – with Bobby Charles
9. Mystery Train – with Paul Butterfield
10. Mannish Boy – with Muddy Waters
11. Stagefright
12. Further On Up The Road – with Eric Clapton
13. Ophelia
14. Helpless – with Neil Young
15. Coyote – with Joni Mitchell
16. Dry Your Eyes – with Neil Diamond
17. Tura Lura Lura (That’s An Irish Lullaby) – with Van Morrison
18. Caravan – with Van Morrison
19. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
20. Baby Let Me Follow You Down – with Bob Dylan
21. I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Live We Never Have Met) – with Bob Dylan
22. Forever Young – with Bob Dylan
23. Baby Let Me Follow You Down (Reprise)
24. I Shall Be Released – Finale
25. The Well
26. Evangeline – with Emmylou Harris
27. Out Of The Blue
28. The Weight – with The Staples
29. The Last Waltz Refrain
30. Theme From The Last Waltz

Find out more about these new releases here.

- RB