Wolfgang’s Vault releases Dylan singing Hazel, I Don’t Believe You and other rare tracks from The Last Waltz

Bob Dylan singing Hazel with The Band at Winterland 1976 (image Wolfgang’s Vault)

(Updated) – Wolfgang’s Vault is showing raw black and white rushes from “The Last Waltz”.

They 52 videos are not perfect but they are fun to watch and show you how things look and sound before they get edited and mixed.

Dylan is bang on with his performances. The Band sounds ragged but right in places.

When The Band got together with their rock and roll friends in 1976 at San Francisco’s Winterland, film director Martin Scorsese filmed the concert.

Robbie Robertson had been writing film scores for Scorsese and they became friends. It would be Scorsese’s first but not last experience filming musicians.

Martin Scorsese also produced Bob Dylan’s ‘No Direction Home’, The Rolling Stones ‘Shine A Light’, a tribute to American blues ‘The Blues’ and George Harrison’s ‘Living in the Material World.’

Hours of film never hit the screen including rare videos of Bob Dylan and The Band which are now released by Wolfgang’s Vaults.  We all know the movie as The Last Waltz.

You can watch the unedited film of the Bob Dylan rarity Hazel from the Planet Waves album. Hazel is a great Bob Dylan gem that he rarely plays.

The whole show is free. There are more than 25 scenes not included in the movie. ome of these videos were available on bootleg and foreign sites but this is the first time it’s widely available to everyone.

The film is in black and white and hasn’t been edited. It appears to be one camera shot per clip.  The video quality isn’t great but it is historic footage.

After filming, The Band and some of the other artists went into the studio to re-record the songs. Some of the playing on the black and white film is sloppy, which probably why it wasn’t left in the final cut.

The Band singing live version of Evangeline

If you’re familiar with the movie soundtrack, the differences between this version and the final release are easy to hear.

These tracks seem to confirm Levon Helm’s statement in his autobiography This Wheel’s On Fire that Robbie Robertson ruined many of the takes by trying to sing.

Wolfgang’s Vault is showing 52 takes or selections from the concert.  The movie and first release of the DVD had 25 tracks.

Also included, but not in the movie, are All Our Past Times by Eric Clapton; This Wheel’s on Fire, W.S. Walcott Medicine Show, Georgia on My Mind, The Weight (alternate take), The Last Waltz and Evangeline with The Band; Down South in New Orleans with Dr. John and Bobby Charles; Caledonia with Muddy Waters; Four Strong Winds with Neil Young; Shadows and Light, Acadian Driftwood and Furry Sings the Blues with Joni Mitchell; Tura Lura Lural with Van Morrison; and several poets not included in the movie.

Viewing is free. WVIP members get a higher quality stream which makes a difference on the sound. I wouldn’t write home about the video but it’s archival value is enormous. Most of the audio tracks are pristine except for a little hum on a few tracks.

Where to Buy

You can buy The Last Waltz in a dizzying number of formats, most of which I have including a VHS version. It is one of the greatest rock concerts of all time. As each new version came out I had to see which one was better.

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