Im Film ist die Sequenz natürlich auch deshalb so grandios, weil – zufällig bzw. zum Glück – nur eine Kamera lief (die anderen wechselten gerade die Rollen, aber es waren eh nur drei oder vier). Die hält während des ganzes Songs frontal auf Muddy Waters. Ganz grosses Kino!
Und es war Levon Helm, der Muddy Waters‘ Anwesenheit durchsetzte (so wie Robertson auf Ronnie Hawkins bestand).
Recently, I read Levon Helm’s inside story of The Last Waltz in his autobiography, “This Wheel’s On Fire” (recommended!). I was shocked to find that because of time and budget constraints and Band politics, Muddy was nearly bumped from the show. Levon fought bitterly behind the scenes and prevailed to not only keep Muddy in but to indulge him with me and Pinetop too. We were treated as honored guests at The Last Waltz and I enjoyed the once-in-a-lifetime jam afterwards, but Levon never told us about making a stand for us. He just made us welcome. Ultimately, this gracious, classy, and tough gentleman was responsible for my good time there.
https://www.bobmargolin.com/the-original-last-waltz
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"Don't play what the public want. You play what you want and let the public pick up on what you doin' -- even if it take them fifteen, twenty years." (Thelonious Monk) | Meine Sendungen auf Radio StoneFM: gypsy goes jazz, #164: Neuheiten aus dem Archiv, 10.6., 22:00 | Slow Drive to South Africa, #8: tba | No Problem Saloon, #30: tba