Martin Scorsese Will Direct Robbie Robertson Tribute Concert Film
· Ultimate Classic RockMartin Scorsese will direct the filming of Thursday night's Life Is a Carnival: A Musical Celebration of Robbie Robertson.
The concert is taking place at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, and is scheduled to feature Trey Anastasio, Ryan Bingham, Mike Campbell, Eric Church, Eric Clapton, Elvis Costello, Warren Haynes, Bruce Hornsby, Jim James, Jamey Johnson, Noah Kahan, Daniel Lanois, Taj Mahal, Van Morrison, Margo Price, Robert Randolph, Nathaniel Rateliff, Allison Russell, Mavis Staples, Benmont Tench, Don Was, Bobby Weir and Lucinda Williams.
Scorsese was already listed as a producer of the concert, though further details on what format the film will take have not been announced. Several of the aforementioned musicians will take the show on the road for the Life Is a Carnival: Last Waltz Tour '24, which begins Oct. 19.
Martin Scorsese and Robbie Robertson's Relationship
Scorsese and Robertson's working relationship and friendship went back decades. Scorsese directed the 1976 concert film The Last Waltz, marking the last performance of the Band's five-man lineup. In the years that followed, Robertson often scored music for Scorsese's films, including but not limited to The King of Comedy (1982), Gangs of New York (2002) and most recently Killers of the Flower Moon (2023).
"I mean, we're in awe ourselves that our brotherhood has outlasted everything,” Robertson said in an interview with Variety not long before he passed away in August of 2023. "I am so proud of our friendship and our work. It's been just a gift in life."
READ MORE: Why Robbie Robertson Never Reunited With the Band
"Robbie Robertson was one of my closest friends, a constant in my life and my work. I could always go to him as a confidante. A collaborator. An advisor. I tried to be the same for him," Scorsese said in a statement following Robertson's death. "It goes without saying that he was a giant, that his effect on the art form was profound and lasting. There's never enough time with anyone you love. And I loved Robbie."
Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese directed one of his best-known works, Taxi Driver with Robert De Niro, the same year The Last Waltz was filmed. Moving forward, he continued to explore themes of machismo, crime and redemption through films like 1980's Raging Bull, 1990's Goodfellas and 2002's Gangs of New York, but Scorsese also kept in contact with some of the musicians he filmed for The Last Waltz, among others. In 2005, he directed the documentary No Direction Home: Bob Dylan, which focused on Dylan's early career. In 2008, he directed Shine a Light with the Rolling Stones, a live concert film shot at the Beacon Theatre in New York City. Scorsese also directed 2011's George Harrison: Living in the Material World and 2019's Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story, and also produced 2019's Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and the Band. They're part of a career including more than 20 feature-length narrative films and more than 15 feature-length documentaries.
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan's career boasted numerous highlights (and some lowlights) following The Last Waltz. Slow Train Coming, the first of a series of albums that would come to be referred to as Dylan's "Christian trilogy" for their evangelical subject matter, arrived in 1979. Infidels provided a welcome return to more secular songwriting in 1983, but much of the rest of the '80s were challenging for Dylan, whose work fell short of many fans expectations. Dylan released two albums of folk covers in the early '90s, Good as I Been to You and World Gone Wrong, but Dylan's real return to form arrived in 1997 with Time Out of Mind, an album many heralded as a comeback. The 21st century brought more well-received studio albums, including three albums of American Songbook standards as well as several Bootleg Series box sets. The Bob Dylan Center opened in 2022 in Tulsa, Okla., dedicated to preserving and exhibiting Dylan's archive.
Neil Young
In 1979, Neil Young released both Rust Never Sleeps and Live Rust, which were well received, but it would be an entire decade before his career hit smooth sailing again. The '80s included more experimental projects like Re-ac-tor (1981) and Trans, but nothing seemed to grab listeners until 1989 when Freedom (and "Rockin' in the Free World" especially) earned major attention on the charts. Young continued recording and releasing albums at an astounding pace – more than 40 – while serving as a steady ally to climate activists. He regularly spoke out in favor of more sustainable environmental practices, while his 2022 album World Record focused particularly on the "state of Earth" and "its uncertain future."
Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton participated in a few projects immediately following the release of The Last Waltz, but his life took a slightly different trajectory when he entered rehab for alcoholism at the beginning of 1982. Clapton returned to the studio but didn't find his stride again until the end of the decade, after a return trip to rehab, when 1989's Journeyman went up the charts. The '90s weren't easy either: Clapton lost a young son, an event he expressed his grief over in "Tears in Heaven." The song (and the celebrated album Unplugged) received multiple Grammy nominations and is regularly cited as one of his best works. Clapton became the only person to have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times: once as a solo artist, and as a member of the Yardbirds and Cream. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Clapton was harshly criticized for his anti-vaccination stance.
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell's foray into jazz fusion continued into the late '70s, to the chagrin of some fans and critics. The next decade saw Mitchell struggling to find a sound that suited her, experimenting with modern instruments and recording techniques on albums like 1982's Wild Things Run Fast, 1985's Dog Eat Dog and 1988's Chalk Mark in a Rainstorm, the latter most of which featured guest appearances by Tom Petty, Billy Idol, Peter Gabriel and Willie Nelson. In 1994, Mitchell made a return to something more mellow with Turbulent Indigo, which won a Grammy for best pop album. Mitchell's career tapered off in the 2000s before she suffered a crippling brain aneurysm. After re-learning how to walk, she made a triumphant return to the live stage in 2022 with a performance at the Newport Folk Festival – more than 50 years since her first appearance there.
Van Morrison
Van Morrison returned to his usual style to close out the '70s with Into the Music, after experimenting with pop on 1978's Wavelength. The '80s included a number of more spiritually inspired projects, though none of them had quite the impact of his previous albums. In 2002, he released Down the Road, his highest-charting album in the U.S. since 1972's Saint Dominic's Preview, and he kept much of the momentum going on 2005's Magic Time and 2006's Pay the Devil. Keep It Simple then became his very first U.S. Top 10 album in 2010. In all, Morrison has released more than 40 albums, though his public perception soured when he revealed anti-vaccination sympathies during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Stephen Stills
Stephen Stills was out performing dates with the newly reunited Crosby, Stills and Nash around the time finishing touches were being put on The Last Waltz film. Their third album, 1982's Daylight Again, was a great success that featured guest appearances by Timothy B. Schmit and Art Garfunkel. Stills also toured solo and released several of his own albums, including 1984's Right by You, 1991's Stills Alone and 2005's Man Alive! He became the first person to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame twice on the same evening for his work with CSN and Buffalo Springfield. Everybody Knows was a 2017 collaboration with Judy Collins, his former romantic partner and the subject of "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes."
Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond collapsed on stage the year after The Last Waltz was released, and was rushed to the hospital where doctors discovered and removed a tumor on his spine. It hardly slowed Diamond down. In 1980, he starred in a 1980 remake of The Jazz Singer alongside Laurence Olivier and Lucie Arnaz. The film itself was not well received, but it spawned three hit singles: "Love on the Rocks," "Hello Again" and "America." Diamond released five albums in the '80s and six in the '90s, before his commercial success dwindled. Still, he continued drawing large crowds up through the 2000s before announcing his decision to officially retire from touring after a diagnosis of Parkinson's. His song "Sweet Caroline" has been included in the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry, while being praised as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris headed toward a more traditional country sound after The Last Waltz. Her 1979 album, Blue Kentucky Girl won a Grammy for best female country vocal performance. She also released a Christmas album that year, Light of the Stable, which featured Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and Neil Young. Harris won another Grammy for the 1980 song she recorded with Roy Orbison, "That Lovin' You Feelin' Again." Later, she collaborated with Vince Gill, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Marty Stuart and Bonnie Raitt on 1989's Bluebird. She worked with Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler on 2006's All the Roadrunning, which debuted at No. 17 on the Billboard charts, then received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.
Ringo Starr
Even if Ringo Starr had never worked again after The Last Waltz, he'd still have gone down in rock history as a legendary figure. He continued, of course, releasing two more albums in the '70s, two more in the '80s and three in the '90s. In 1989, Starr launched his All-Starr Band, a revolving supergroup whose lineup has included countless stars ranging from Peter Frampton to Levon Helm, John Entwistle to Greg Lake and a lot in between. He reconvened with Beatles bandmates Paul McCartney and George Harrison in 1994 for the Anthology project, and with the help of Jeff Lynne completed two songs using old John Lennon tapes, "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love." In all, Starr has released some 20 studio albums along with various EPs.
Mavis Staples
Mavis Staples eventually emerged as the only surviving member of the Staples Singers, who appeared on stage at The Last Waltz to sing backing vocals for "The Weight." She was initially somewhat sporadic with her solo career, releasing Oh What a Feeling in 1979, Time Waits for No One in 1989, The Voice in 1993 and Spirituals & Gospels: A Tribute to Mahalia Jackson in 1996. After the Staples singers were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, however, Staples began releasing albums steadily through the 2000s, in addition to guesting with the likes of Prince, Bonnie Raitt, Van Morrison, Arcade Fire and Jeff Tweedy of Wilco. In 2003, she and Bob Dylan recorded "Gonna Change My Way of Thinking" for the tribute album Gotta Serve Somebody: The Gospel Songs of Bob Dylan. Staples also opened for Dylan on his 2016 U.S. tour.
Ronnie Wood
Ronnie Wood became a member of the Rolling Stones the same year he appeared on stage at The Last Waltz. But Wood still lent his talents elsewhere, working as a session musician on Bob Dylan's Shot of Love (1981), Ringo Starr's Stop and Smell the Roses (1981) and Aretha Franklin's Aretha (1986), among others. He also continued his painting career, regularly displaying artwork around the world. Wood has released more than half a dozen studio albums of his own, including I Feel Like Playing from 2010.
RIP
A number of musicians who appeared in The Last Waltz have since passed – including four of the five members of the Band, Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Levon Helm and Richard Manuel. Also among the deceased is their former leader Ronnie Hawkins, drummer Jim Gordon, Paul Butterfield, Dr. John, Carl Radle, Bobby Charles, Muddy Waters and Pops, Cleotha and Yvonne Staples – as well as Bill Graham, the show's master of ceremonies.
Winterland Ballroom
The Winterland Ballroom was the site of hundreds of concerts in San Francisco, serving as the backdrop for some of rock's most historic moments. The venue closed just a few years after The Last Waltz show took place, but not before playing host to a sprawling New Year's Eve 1978/New Year's Day 1979 show featuring an eight-hour performance by the Grateful Dead, New Riders of the Purple Sage and the Blues Brothers. The building was demolished In 1985 to make room for apartments.