1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,480 Speaker 1: This episode contains content that may be disturbing to some listeners. 2 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:05,760 Speaker 1: Please check the show notes for more information. 3 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:22,959 Speaker 2: Disgraceland is a production of Double Elvis. This is a 4 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:26,960 Speaker 2: Thanksgiving story, but it's also a story about rock and roll, 5 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:32,440 Speaker 2: about living fast and trying to die young, about cocaine 6 00:00:32,920 --> 00:00:37,240 Speaker 2: and suicide, about leaving blood on the cutting room floor. 7 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:42,800 Speaker 2: It's about purpose and gratitude and serving Thanksgiving dinner to 8 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:45,800 Speaker 2: five thousand rock and roll fans, and about one of 9 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:48,760 Speaker 2: the greatest rock and roll bands of all time, the 10 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:52,760 Speaker 2: band captured on film by one of the greatest filmmakers 11 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:57,160 Speaker 2: of all time, Martin Scorsese. This is also a story 12 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:02,200 Speaker 2: about The Last Waltz, a movie that obviously features great music. 13 00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:05,120 Speaker 2: Unlike that music I played for you at the top 14 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:08,959 Speaker 2: of the show that wasn't great music. That was a 15 00:01:08,959 --> 00:01:14,240 Speaker 2: preset loop from my melotron called Matilda's Hustle MK one. 16 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:18,000 Speaker 2: I played you that loop because I can't afford the 17 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:22,240 Speaker 2: rights to Tonight's the Night Gonna Be Alright by Rod Stewart. 18 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:26,040 Speaker 2: And why would I play you that specific slice of 19 00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:30,679 Speaker 2: Rod the bad Geez? Could I afford it? Because that 20 00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:34,160 Speaker 2: was the number one song in America on Thanksgiving Day 21 00:01:34,319 --> 00:01:37,440 Speaker 2: nineteen seventy six, and that was the day that the 22 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:40,880 Speaker 2: band staged their farewell concert at the Winterland Ballroom in 23 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:44,400 Speaker 2: San Francisco, a show that was captured by director Martin 24 00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:47,800 Speaker 2: Scorsese and turned into one of the greatest concert films 25 00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:51,040 Speaker 2: of all time, all of it coming at a great 26 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:52,480 Speaker 2: price to those involved. 27 00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:55,640 Speaker 1: On this episode. 28 00:01:56,080 --> 00:02:03,160 Speaker 2: Cocaine, Chaos, Living, Fast, Dying, Young, Speedboats, Turkey, Martin Scorsese, 29 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:08,280 Speaker 2: the Band in the Last Walls. I'm Jake Brennan. 30 00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:24,880 Speaker 1: And this this disgraceland. 31 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:46,400 Speaker 2: Film opens on interior of house in the Hollywood Hills, 32 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:51,200 Speaker 2: just off Mulholland Drive. We follow a POV tracking shot 33 00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:54,120 Speaker 2: into the living room. It's like a cave in there. 34 00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:58,120 Speaker 2: The windows are blacked out, the walls are covered with 35 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:04,760 Speaker 2: soundproof panels. We see people on couches and chairs, musicians, filmmakers, 36 00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:09,000 Speaker 2: hangers on. As we pass by them. The low hum 37 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:11,560 Speaker 2: of the central air unit is drowned out by the 38 00:03:11,639 --> 00:03:14,760 Speaker 2: rhythmic clatter of a film projector coming from down the hall. 39 00:03:15,720 --> 00:03:20,120 Speaker 2: Camera enters the bedroom and stops. An old movie flickers 40 00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:21,000 Speaker 2: on the bedroom wall. 41 00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:22,640 Speaker 1: It's Lane. 42 00:03:23,480 --> 00:03:25,919 Speaker 2: A thirty three year old man watches as the movie 43 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:28,840 Speaker 2: comes to an end. He has a neat beard and 44 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:31,560 Speaker 2: big eyebrows, and is dressed in a T shirt tucked 45 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:34,680 Speaker 2: into jeans, held up by a belt with a thick buckle. 46 00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:38,760 Speaker 2: He talks like a guy wired on cocaine because he 47 00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:43,760 Speaker 2: is a guy wired on cocaine. This man is Martin Scorsese, 48 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:48,480 Speaker 2: the great American filmmaker, recently honored with the highest award 49 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:51,480 Speaker 2: at the Canned Film Festival, the Palm d'ur for a 50 00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:57,240 Speaker 2: Shocking movie Taxi Driver. But Martin Scorsese isn't resting on 51 00:03:57,280 --> 00:03:57,920 Speaker 2: his laurels. 52 00:03:58,520 --> 00:03:59,600 Speaker 1: He doesn't have time for that. 53 00:04:00,760 --> 00:04:04,960 Speaker 2: He is reminded every day about time, about life and 54 00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:07,360 Speaker 2: mortality simply by breathing. 55 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:11,320 Speaker 1: Afflicted with asthma since he was three years old. 56 00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:14,640 Speaker 2: Growing up in New York's Lower East Side, surrounded by 57 00:04:14,640 --> 00:04:17,560 Speaker 2: men of the cloth and men of the gun, Marty 58 00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:21,240 Speaker 2: here is a frail observer who knows that Heaven and 59 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:25,640 Speaker 2: Hell are both well just a shot away. 60 00:04:27,920 --> 00:04:28,200 Speaker 1: Now. 61 00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:31,120 Speaker 2: In the summer of nineteen seventy six, to be exact, 62 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:34,320 Speaker 2: Marty lived well above the smog line in la on 63 00:04:34,440 --> 00:04:39,400 Speaker 2: doctor's orders, suffering from not one but two afflictions, well 64 00:04:39,640 --> 00:04:42,279 Speaker 2: three if you count the cocaine habit, and four if 65 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:45,560 Speaker 2: you count the need for absolute chaos in his personal life. 66 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:47,159 Speaker 1: But more on that later. 67 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:54,120 Speaker 2: I'm talking about the affliction of movies, watching them, making them. 68 00:04:54,320 --> 00:04:58,920 Speaker 2: Marty truly had an obsession. He also had an obsession 69 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:02,000 Speaker 2: with work, and he was thankful for the work. He 70 00:05:02,120 --> 00:05:05,960 Speaker 2: was defined by the work, by movies, by obsession. He 71 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:09,960 Speaker 2: was driven by compulsion. A compulsion not just. 72 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:12,080 Speaker 1: To keep making movies as he was doing. 73 00:05:11,880 --> 00:05:15,000 Speaker 2: Now working on his follow up to Taxi Driver, a 74 00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:16,240 Speaker 2: musical with Robert. 75 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:18,560 Speaker 1: De Niro and Liza Minelli called New York. 76 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:21,320 Speaker 2: New York, but a compulsion to work so hard that 77 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:24,440 Speaker 2: it would push his life right to the edge. It 78 00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:27,200 Speaker 2: was this compulsion that led him to say yes to 79 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:32,120 Speaker 2: directing The Last Waltz, the Farewell concert film for the band, 80 00:05:32,320 --> 00:05:36,960 Speaker 2: and to do so simultaneously while making New York New York. 81 00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:40,640 Speaker 2: He wasn't supposed to say yes to the band. His 82 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:44,440 Speaker 2: contract with United Artists prohibited him from taking on another 83 00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:48,080 Speaker 2: movie until New York New York was finished. But he 84 00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:50,560 Speaker 2: couldn't turn down the opportunity to burn the candle at 85 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:54,520 Speaker 2: both ends, to work himself to death. And I'm not 86 00:05:54,560 --> 00:05:58,440 Speaker 2: even being hyperbolic. Here, Martin Scorsese himself said about his 87 00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:01,000 Speaker 2: lifestyle at the time, and I quote, I wanted to 88 00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:03,279 Speaker 2: push all the way to the very very. 89 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:05,960 Speaker 1: End and see if I could die. 90 00:06:06,520 --> 00:06:09,680 Speaker 2: But there was something else too. Marty couldn't turn down 91 00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:14,400 Speaker 2: the opportunity to work with the band for two reasons. One, 92 00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:18,360 Speaker 2: Martin Scorsese was rock and roll to his core. One 93 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:21,359 Speaker 2: of his earliest professional credits came as an editor on 94 00:06:21,400 --> 00:06:24,640 Speaker 2: the Woodstock documentary, and his use of music in his 95 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:28,640 Speaker 2: nineteen seventy three film Mean Streets, like that slow motion 96 00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:31,240 Speaker 2: scene in which de Niro walks into a bar while 97 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:35,360 Speaker 2: the Rolling Stones Jumping Jack flash plays there's nothing short 98 00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:40,680 Speaker 2: of masterful. And the second reason this was the band 99 00:06:40,839 --> 00:06:44,080 Speaker 2: we're talking about, one of Marty's favorite rock and roll 100 00:06:44,120 --> 00:06:47,200 Speaker 2: groups and also one of the most consequential groups in 101 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:53,720 Speaker 2: American music over the previous decade. It's impossible to really 102 00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:57,240 Speaker 2: overstate just how revolutionary the band were when their debut album, 103 00:06:57,320 --> 00:07:00,560 Speaker 2: Music from Big Pink dropped in the summer of nineteen 104 00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:04,560 Speaker 2: sixty eight. That record, it sounded unlike anything else that 105 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:07,159 Speaker 2: had been released at the time, which at that time 106 00:07:07,360 --> 00:07:10,440 Speaker 2: the music of the so called counterculture. Was psychedelic and 107 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:13,760 Speaker 2: super far out. But this music, the music that the 108 00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:18,360 Speaker 2: band was making, was far in. As Richard Thompson, then 109 00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:21,680 Speaker 2: a member of Fairport Convention put in, music from Big 110 00:07:21,720 --> 00:07:28,040 Speaker 2: Pink was counter counterculture. It was organic, lived in homespun. 111 00:07:28,800 --> 00:07:33,080 Speaker 2: It made Eric Clapton quit cream. It inspired George Harrison 112 00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:35,840 Speaker 2: of the Beatles to visit Woodstock, New York, where that 113 00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:39,520 Speaker 2: unique brand of home spawned American music was coming from. 114 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:41,680 Speaker 1: But that American music. 115 00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:46,880 Speaker 2: Was in fact being made by four Canadians Robbie Robertson 116 00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:50,520 Speaker 2: on guitar, Rick Danko on bass, and Richard Manuel and 117 00:07:50,560 --> 00:07:54,720 Speaker 2: Garth Hudson on keys, along with just one American, Levon 118 00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:59,720 Speaker 2: Helm on drums. And those guys. The band had been 119 00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:04,400 Speaker 2: band for years, touring ever since they were teenagers, first 120 00:08:04,440 --> 00:08:07,360 Speaker 2: as The Hawks, the backing group for a rockabilly artist 121 00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:11,040 Speaker 2: Ronnie Hawkins, and later with Bob Dylan, and then briefly 122 00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:14,960 Speaker 2: as the Crackers, and now simply as the band for 123 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:19,240 Speaker 2: the first time performing their own songs, most of which. 124 00:08:19,160 --> 00:08:23,920 Speaker 1: Were written by Robbie Robertson. Robbie wasn't a singer, but he. 125 00:08:23,920 --> 00:08:27,200 Speaker 2: Didn't have to be, because perhaps the greatest thing about 126 00:08:27,240 --> 00:08:29,400 Speaker 2: the band was that they boasted three of the best 127 00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:32,480 Speaker 2: singers of their time or of any time. Rick Danko, 128 00:08:32,760 --> 00:08:36,360 Speaker 2: Richard Manuel, and Levon helm all traded vocals, each with 129 00:08:36,440 --> 00:08:40,120 Speaker 2: the voice as compelling as the last, especially Levon, who 130 00:08:40,160 --> 00:08:43,480 Speaker 2: lent his soulful, authentic Arkansas drawl the songs like the 131 00:08:43,559 --> 00:08:46,360 Speaker 2: Weight up on Cripple Creek in the night they drove 132 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:50,880 Speaker 2: Old Dixie down. And just like Martin Scorsese, the members 133 00:08:50,920 --> 00:08:54,960 Speaker 2: of the band were defined by obsession and driven by compulsion, 134 00:08:55,840 --> 00:08:59,880 Speaker 2: a compulsion to play, to tour constantly. 135 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:01,360 Speaker 1: At this point, they've. 136 00:09:01,160 --> 00:09:05,640 Speaker 2: Been doing it since nineteen fifty seven, for nineteen long years, 137 00:09:06,200 --> 00:09:11,640 Speaker 2: and the demanding lifestyle is taking its toll. Richard Manual, 138 00:09:11,720 --> 00:09:15,520 Speaker 2: for one, was struggling two suicide attempts in nineteen seventy 139 00:09:15,559 --> 00:09:18,679 Speaker 2: six alone. First he tried to set himself on fire, 140 00:09:18,960 --> 00:09:20,360 Speaker 2: and then he put a bb gun to his head 141 00:09:20,400 --> 00:09:23,400 Speaker 2: and pulled the trigger. And Richard kept on ticking, at 142 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:26,880 Speaker 2: least for now, but his days were numbered and dinto 143 00:09:26,960 --> 00:09:30,400 Speaker 2: for the band, or so Robbie Robertson thought as he 144 00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:34,920 Speaker 2: watched his group's good fortune run out, just like he 145 00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:38,520 Speaker 2: was watching as Richard almost died on a speedboat outside Austin. 146 00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:43,120 Speaker 2: That summer of nineteen seventy six, the band would booked 147 00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:46,760 Speaker 2: to perform a music festival at Steiner Ranch. The roads 148 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:49,520 Speaker 2: to the festival were blocked and the only way in 149 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:52,720 Speaker 2: was by water. So the five guys piled into a 150 00:09:52,760 --> 00:09:55,680 Speaker 2: speedboat which was now haul and asked of the Colorado 151 00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:59,000 Speaker 2: River to their destination, and the Texas heat bore down 152 00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:02,640 Speaker 2: in the win and rippled through their hair. Richard stood 153 00:10:02,679 --> 00:10:04,320 Speaker 2: up from where he was seated in the back to 154 00:10:04,320 --> 00:10:07,280 Speaker 2: move up front, and as he did this, the boat. 155 00:10:07,040 --> 00:10:08,839 Speaker 1: Hit a wave and leapt from the water. 156 00:10:09,559 --> 00:10:12,240 Speaker 2: Richard felt his legs wobble and tried to steady himself, 157 00:10:12,520 --> 00:10:14,160 Speaker 2: but it happened too fast. 158 00:10:14,120 --> 00:10:17,200 Speaker 1: And the boat came back down hard and Richard was 159 00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:18,280 Speaker 1: thrown backwards. 160 00:10:18,480 --> 00:10:24,320 Speaker 2: His head swung violently and something snapped. The doctor told 161 00:10:24,400 --> 00:10:28,760 Speaker 2: Richard his neck was fractured. He prescribed bedrest, but Richard, 162 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:31,520 Speaker 2: only knowing a life on the road, a life that 163 00:10:31,640 --> 00:10:35,319 Speaker 2: never slowed, instead self medicated with a bottle. 164 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:35,840 Speaker 1: Of Grand Marnier. 165 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:41,839 Speaker 2: Robbie meanwhile read into Richard's accident like a fortune teller 166 00:10:41,880 --> 00:10:45,600 Speaker 2: reading a decataro cards. The band needed to hang up 167 00:10:45,640 --> 00:10:48,320 Speaker 2: their rock and roll shoes. So Robbie hatched a plan. 168 00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:53,480 Speaker 2: One final show at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, 169 00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:58,360 Speaker 2: the location of the band's very first show as the band. 170 00:10:58,840 --> 00:11:01,400 Speaker 2: They would invite a bunch of their their friends, their 171 00:11:01,440 --> 00:11:04,679 Speaker 2: influences even to join them on stage and cameo appearances, 172 00:11:05,320 --> 00:11:08,880 Speaker 2: and to top it all off, Martin Scorsese, the rock 173 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:13,160 Speaker 2: star director who was going to capture it all on film. 174 00:11:13,600 --> 00:11:17,120 Speaker 2: Levon Helm, however, objected to the whole thing. He didn't 175 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:20,679 Speaker 2: want to hang out anything. In Levon's eyes, the band 176 00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:23,079 Speaker 2: was at the top of their game, but there was 177 00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:24,599 Speaker 2: no arguing with Robbie. 178 00:11:25,040 --> 00:11:28,760 Speaker 1: He was the primary songwriter. If he was done, the 179 00:11:28,760 --> 00:11:29,600 Speaker 1: band was done. 180 00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:34,320 Speaker 2: So the plan was set. So the tickets went on 181 00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:36,800 Speaker 2: sale for the Last Waltz, which would be the last 182 00:11:36,840 --> 00:11:40,520 Speaker 2: concert that the band would ever give, on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, 183 00:11:40,600 --> 00:11:45,360 Speaker 2: November twenty fifth, nineteen seventy six. Robbie Robertson thought it 184 00:11:45,400 --> 00:11:48,080 Speaker 2: would be a great parting gift to the fans, and 185 00:11:48,160 --> 00:11:51,920 Speaker 2: levon Helm prayed it was all a cosmic joke, and 186 00:11:52,040 --> 00:12:24,600 Speaker 2: Martin Scorsese hoped it would kill him. The Last Waltz 187 00:12:24,640 --> 00:12:27,800 Speaker 2: is widely acknowledged as one of, if not the greatest 188 00:12:27,880 --> 00:12:31,360 Speaker 2: concert film of all time, and for good reason. I mean, 189 00:12:31,679 --> 00:12:34,600 Speaker 2: come on, from the moment the band come blasting out 190 00:12:34,600 --> 00:12:37,679 Speaker 2: of the gate with that funky cover of Marvin Gaye, 191 00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:40,640 Speaker 2: don't do it. You know you're in the hands of 192 00:12:40,679 --> 00:12:44,520 Speaker 2: one of the greatest groups to ever do it, documented 193 00:12:44,760 --> 00:12:48,319 Speaker 2: by one of our most visionary directors, who in that 194 00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:52,720 Speaker 2: moment is bringing super rich visual vocabulary to a film 195 00:12:52,760 --> 00:12:57,240 Speaker 2: genre that had never been treated with such care. But 196 00:12:57,320 --> 00:13:01,240 Speaker 2: the Last Waltz, it was some monumental under taking. It's 197 00:13:01,360 --> 00:13:05,240 Speaker 2: kind of a miracle that had ever happened. Nothing of 198 00:13:05,280 --> 00:13:08,520 Speaker 2: this scale or scope had ever been attempted before in 199 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:13,880 Speaker 2: live concert filmmaking. Seeing as it was Thanksgiving, the legendary 200 00:13:13,880 --> 00:13:17,520 Speaker 2: concert promoter Bill Graham, who ran the venue, the Winterland Ballroom, 201 00:13:17,720 --> 00:13:21,679 Speaker 2: decided to serve all five thousand concert goers a full 202 00:13:21,800 --> 00:13:26,760 Speaker 2: Thanksgiving dinner. That's four thousand pounds of turkey, two thousand 203 00:13:26,840 --> 00:13:30,440 Speaker 2: pounds of candied yams, eight hundred pounds of pies, and 204 00:13:30,640 --> 00:13:34,360 Speaker 2: ninety gallons of gravy. And there were the logistics of 205 00:13:34,400 --> 00:13:36,800 Speaker 2: the dinner, which took place at tables on the floor 206 00:13:36,800 --> 00:13:38,880 Speaker 2: of the ballroom. And then there were the logistics of 207 00:13:38,960 --> 00:13:42,599 Speaker 2: cleaning the dinner and the tables to make way for yes, waltzing, 208 00:13:43,040 --> 00:13:48,160 Speaker 2: ballroom dancing, and then the concert itself. Doors opened at 209 00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:51,840 Speaker 2: five pm, dinner was served at seven, the music started 210 00:13:51,880 --> 00:13:54,400 Speaker 2: around nine, and the whole thing didn't end until after 211 00:13:54,440 --> 00:13:55,160 Speaker 2: two in the morning. 212 00:13:55,440 --> 00:13:56,720 Speaker 1: But I'm getting ahead of myself. 213 00:13:58,360 --> 00:14:01,320 Speaker 2: Even more of a cluster than the cater dinner was 214 00:14:01,360 --> 00:14:05,240 Speaker 2: the film production. Martin Scorsese decided to shoot the movie 215 00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:08,360 Speaker 2: not in sixteen millimeter, which was the norm for rock 216 00:14:08,400 --> 00:14:12,040 Speaker 2: docs like Monterey Pop and Gimme Shelter, instead opting to 217 00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:15,680 Speaker 2: shoot it in thirty five millimeter. If you're unfamiliar with 218 00:14:15,720 --> 00:14:18,560 Speaker 2: the film stocks, thirty five millimeter was for a long 219 00:14:18,640 --> 00:14:22,240 Speaker 2: time the industry standard. It's more versatile than sixteen millimeter, 220 00:14:22,320 --> 00:14:24,840 Speaker 2: and it gives you better image quality. But that said, 221 00:14:24,880 --> 00:14:28,080 Speaker 2: typically a documentary filmmaker wouldn't spare the extra money or 222 00:14:28,080 --> 00:14:30,760 Speaker 2: the headache involved to shoot on thirty five To shoot 223 00:14:30,760 --> 00:14:34,760 Speaker 2: a concert, the documentary budgets weren't that big. Besides, you 224 00:14:34,840 --> 00:14:38,760 Speaker 2: got a raw, grainier image with sixteen. But Martin Scorsese, 225 00:14:38,880 --> 00:14:43,240 Speaker 2: of course, was not your typical filmmaker. The problem with 226 00:14:43,320 --> 00:14:46,000 Speaker 2: thirty five millimeter film was that it was more flamable 227 00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:49,960 Speaker 2: than sixteen millimeter, and the cameras required for this caliber 228 00:14:50,040 --> 00:14:54,160 Speaker 2: of a shoot were these huge panavision cameras. They weren't 229 00:14:54,240 --> 00:14:57,000 Speaker 2: designed to run constantly, which they would need to do 230 00:14:57,080 --> 00:15:00,360 Speaker 2: to capture a concert in real time one take only 231 00:15:00,640 --> 00:15:04,520 Speaker 2: no safety net, and this led to a real concern 232 00:15:04,920 --> 00:15:09,400 Speaker 2: that the cameras would explode into flames. So just imagine 233 00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:13,320 Speaker 2: five thousand people running for the exits as winter Land burned. 234 00:15:14,200 --> 00:15:19,440 Speaker 2: And then there was Winterland's floor. It had too much give, 235 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:22,320 Speaker 2: which is to say, it was a bit spongy when 236 00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:25,120 Speaker 2: the house was full, as it would be on this evening. 237 00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:28,280 Speaker 2: Amartin Scorsese and his cameraman had to drill holes in 238 00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:31,560 Speaker 2: the floor to install stabilizing poles so that they could 239 00:15:31,640 --> 00:15:35,120 Speaker 2: perfectly render the images that Marty had so meticulously storyboarded 240 00:15:35,160 --> 00:15:39,120 Speaker 2: ahead of time. Bill Graham, for one, was less than 241 00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:42,520 Speaker 2: thrilled with this plant. But here's the thing. It was 242 00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:44,440 Speaker 2: a risk, and Bill Graham was a. 243 00:15:44,400 --> 00:15:45,720 Speaker 1: Guy who trafficked in risk. 244 00:15:46,080 --> 00:15:49,280 Speaker 2: He understood that the bigger the risk, the bigger the payoff. 245 00:15:50,280 --> 00:15:53,760 Speaker 2: And the payoff for this particular risk, well it's right 246 00:15:53,800 --> 00:15:57,640 Speaker 2: there in the movie after the dinner, after the dancing, 247 00:15:58,040 --> 00:16:01,880 Speaker 2: and after the band's hour long open set. You're standing 248 00:16:01,920 --> 00:16:04,840 Speaker 2: there in the crowd and you can hardly believe your eyes. 249 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:07,960 Speaker 2: You thought you were just gonna see the band tonight, 250 00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:11,440 Speaker 2: but all of a sudden, all these heavyweight guest stars 251 00:16:11,480 --> 00:16:15,960 Speaker 2: begin to appear. Each won a bigger surprise than the last. 252 00:16:16,720 --> 00:16:20,920 Speaker 2: You had no idea, and now you are s Don't 253 00:16:21,560 --> 00:16:25,400 Speaker 2: just look at all these icons Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, 254 00:16:25,720 --> 00:16:30,360 Speaker 2: Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, Muddy Waters, Paul Butterfield, Doctor John 255 00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:36,760 Speaker 2: Bob Dylan and Neil Diamond. Okay, hold up, I love 256 00:16:36,840 --> 00:16:40,520 Speaker 2: Neil Diamond full stop. Okay, not full stop. But when 257 00:16:40,520 --> 00:16:42,920 Speaker 2: he showed up at rehearsal earlier in the week, the 258 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:45,800 Speaker 2: band's drummer, Leavon Helm, the one who didn't want to 259 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:47,480 Speaker 2: do the whole last Waltz thing in the first place, 260 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:50,560 Speaker 2: was like, what the fuck is Neil Diamond doing here? 261 00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:53,200 Speaker 2: And what the hell does Neil Diamond have to do 262 00:16:53,280 --> 00:16:57,560 Speaker 2: with the band? He asked Robbie robertson these questions, and 263 00:16:57,680 --> 00:17:01,240 Speaker 2: Robbie's response was that all the musicians involved represented a 264 00:17:01,240 --> 00:17:03,560 Speaker 2: part of the musical hole that made up the band. 265 00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:07,960 Speaker 2: For example, Muddy Waters and Eric Clapton were the blues, 266 00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:09,679 Speaker 2: Doctor John was New. 267 00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:10,280 Speaker 1: Orleans R and B. 268 00:17:10,440 --> 00:17:12,919 Speaker 2: And you know, Neil Diamond was there to rep the 269 00:17:12,920 --> 00:17:17,880 Speaker 2: great tradition of tin pan alley pop. Levon called bullshit. 270 00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:22,200 Speaker 2: He knew the real reason Robbie invited Neil because Robbie 271 00:17:22,359 --> 00:17:25,760 Speaker 2: just produced Neil's new album. It was Robbie looking out 272 00:17:25,800 --> 00:17:29,679 Speaker 2: for Robbie, or so Levon thought. Levon also thought that 273 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:33,040 Speaker 2: Neil Diamond was one guest too many. At this rate, 274 00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:36,480 Speaker 2: the concert would never end. This sentiment was shared by 275 00:17:36,520 --> 00:17:39,720 Speaker 2: the studio United Artists, which sent one of its lackeys 276 00:17:39,720 --> 00:17:42,439 Speaker 2: to talk to the band about making some changes, and 277 00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:45,840 Speaker 2: the lackey got to leave. On first, Levon. Lackie said, 278 00:17:46,280 --> 00:17:47,439 Speaker 2: there's too many damn guest. 279 00:17:47,280 --> 00:17:49,040 Speaker 1: Stars in this day. We got to cut somebody. 280 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:53,879 Speaker 2: Levon assumed Neil Diamond was the logical choice, but the 281 00:17:53,920 --> 00:17:55,440 Speaker 2: studio had other ideas. 282 00:17:56,200 --> 00:17:56,520 Speaker 1: Levon. 283 00:17:56,760 --> 00:17:59,240 Speaker 2: The lackey said, we were hoping you could go talk 284 00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:01,879 Speaker 2: to Muddy Walk and tell him that he's no longer 285 00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:06,199 Speaker 2: a part of the show. Levon literally could not believe 286 00:18:06,240 --> 00:18:09,879 Speaker 2: what he was hearing. Time was tight, and given the options, 287 00:18:10,200 --> 00:18:14,680 Speaker 2: they wanted to cut Muddy Waters over Neil Diamond, the 288 00:18:14,720 --> 00:18:18,240 Speaker 2: father of modern Chicago Blues, the UCI Coucie man himself. 289 00:18:18,240 --> 00:18:20,639 Speaker 2: He spells it m A and Levon looked a lackey 290 00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:23,239 Speaker 2: in the eye and said, sure thing, Boss, I'll go 291 00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:25,200 Speaker 2: talk to Money, and not only will I talk to 292 00:18:25,280 --> 00:18:27,040 Speaker 2: him but I'll take him back to New York with 293 00:18:27,160 --> 00:18:29,920 Speaker 2: me and will do the Last Waltz just the two 294 00:18:29,960 --> 00:18:32,280 Speaker 2: of us. How about that I get the hell out 295 00:18:32,320 --> 00:18:34,120 Speaker 2: of my sight before I have a couple of Arkansas 296 00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:39,320 Speaker 2: boys stomp you to death. Thanks to levon Helm, Muddy 297 00:18:39,320 --> 00:18:43,480 Speaker 2: Waters wasn't going anywhere. He stayed, and he delivered one 298 00:18:43,480 --> 00:18:47,040 Speaker 2: of the Last Waltz's most riveting performances. And this was 299 00:18:47,040 --> 00:18:50,240 Speaker 2: good news for the audience that night and for the 300 00:18:50,280 --> 00:18:54,639 Speaker 2: millions who eventually saw the movie, but especially for Martin Scorsese, 301 00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:58,200 Speaker 2: because if levon Helm had actually left, if he fucked 302 00:18:58,240 --> 00:19:01,720 Speaker 2: with the plan, there would be no concert, and if 303 00:19:01,720 --> 00:19:04,919 Speaker 2: there was no concert, there would be no movie. And 304 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:08,119 Speaker 2: if there was no movie, Martin Scorsese would not be 305 00:19:08,160 --> 00:19:12,560 Speaker 2: able to make the Last Waltz while also simultaneously making 306 00:19:12,680 --> 00:19:16,160 Speaker 2: New York New York, and thus could not work himself 307 00:19:16,200 --> 00:19:19,400 Speaker 2: to death, or at least to a near death experience, 308 00:19:19,600 --> 00:19:23,840 Speaker 2: as was his desire. Now, in the grand. 309 00:19:23,520 --> 00:19:26,120 Speaker 1: Scheme of things, it only really mattered. 310 00:19:26,040 --> 00:19:29,480 Speaker 2: If Bob Dylan left, because Bob Dylan was the only 311 00:19:29,520 --> 00:19:32,240 Speaker 2: reason Warner Brothers agreed to finance this whole thing. 312 00:19:32,920 --> 00:19:34,520 Speaker 1: And yeah, I know, I said. 313 00:19:34,320 --> 00:19:36,440 Speaker 2: Earlier that the United Artists was a company putting out 314 00:19:36,440 --> 00:19:38,800 Speaker 2: the movie, which is true, But Warner Brothers was slated 315 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:43,240 Speaker 2: to release the companion three LP soundtrack album, So you 316 00:19:43,240 --> 00:19:46,359 Speaker 2: won't be surprised to hear that Martin Scorsese's heart already 317 00:19:46,400 --> 00:19:49,520 Speaker 2: beating a mile a minute thanks to the cocaine just 318 00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:51,879 Speaker 2: about lodged up in his throat when he was told 319 00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:54,439 Speaker 2: that Bob Dylan had changed his mind and no longer 320 00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:59,719 Speaker 2: wanted to perform. This announce McCaine during intermission, fifteen minutes 321 00:19:59,760 --> 00:20:03,719 Speaker 2: before before he was supposed to appear on stage. At 322 00:20:03,760 --> 00:20:05,679 Speaker 2: the time, Dylan was in the middle of making his 323 00:20:05,760 --> 00:20:09,800 Speaker 2: own movie, Rinaldo and Clara, featuring footage from his recent 324 00:20:09,920 --> 00:20:13,080 Speaker 2: Rolling Thunder review tour, and he'd come to the decision 325 00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:17,320 Speaker 2: that participating in Martin Scorsese's film was a conflict of interest. 326 00:20:17,560 --> 00:20:20,679 Speaker 2: When he came to this decision fifteen minutes before he 327 00:20:20,760 --> 00:20:24,320 Speaker 2: was supposed to go on stage. Marty could feel his 328 00:20:24,359 --> 00:20:28,440 Speaker 2: heart pounding in his head. Now this would be his ruin. 329 00:20:29,119 --> 00:20:31,560 Speaker 2: That palm door wouldn't mean shit the next time he 330 00:20:31,600 --> 00:20:34,840 Speaker 2: wanted financing for a movie if Bob Dylan walked. 331 00:20:34,560 --> 00:20:35,879 Speaker 1: And Warners pulled the pluck. 332 00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:40,679 Speaker 2: Bill Graham meanwhile, looked at the situation the way he 333 00:20:40,720 --> 00:20:43,440 Speaker 2: looked at all those holes that were drolled into Winterland's 334 00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:48,320 Speaker 2: beautiful old floors. He saw the risk. Furthermore, he knew 335 00:20:48,359 --> 00:20:50,440 Speaker 2: that Bob Dylan was a kindred spirit to the boys 336 00:20:50,440 --> 00:20:52,359 Speaker 2: in the band and to Martin Scorsese. 337 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:55,400 Speaker 1: He was obsessed with his job. He had a. 338 00:20:55,359 --> 00:20:58,880 Speaker 2: Compulsion to perform, and Bill Graham knew he could change 339 00:20:58,920 --> 00:21:01,880 Speaker 2: Dylan's mind. He just had to take that next risk. 340 00:21:02,960 --> 00:21:05,120 Speaker 2: He went to talk to Dylan alone in the dressing room, 341 00:21:05,200 --> 00:21:09,240 Speaker 2: like a hostage negotiator, and after a few minutes he emerged. 342 00:21:09,760 --> 00:21:13,280 Speaker 2: Bill Graham and Bob Dylan had reached a compromise. Dylan 343 00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:15,640 Speaker 2: would appear in the movie after all, but they could 344 00:21:15,680 --> 00:21:17,760 Speaker 2: only film the last two songs of his set. 345 00:21:18,560 --> 00:21:19,679 Speaker 1: Marty and the band agreed. 346 00:21:20,440 --> 00:21:24,480 Speaker 2: Everything was good again, that is until immediately after the 347 00:21:24,520 --> 00:21:28,800 Speaker 2: show is over, when Bob Dylan did the unthinkable. He 348 00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:31,879 Speaker 2: stole the last Waltz audio tapes. 349 00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:38,879 Speaker 1: We'll be right back after this. We're We're where. 350 00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:48,080 Speaker 2: The story of the stolen Last Waltz tapes is so 351 00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:51,640 Speaker 2: unbelievable that it's easy to write it off as apocryphone, 352 00:21:52,040 --> 00:21:55,040 Speaker 2: Like Bob Dylan is going to beat Bob Dylan. Sure, 353 00:21:55,080 --> 00:21:57,479 Speaker 2: but is he really going to steal the audio tapes 354 00:21:57,560 --> 00:22:00,000 Speaker 2: that his longtime buddies in the band needed for their 355 00:22:00,119 --> 00:22:04,240 Speaker 2: farewell concert film and soundtrack. According to what seems to 356 00:22:04,240 --> 00:22:08,080 Speaker 2: be the best source for this particular story, it did happen. 357 00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:13,080 Speaker 2: The tapes were stolen, only Dylan himself didn't take them. 358 00:22:13,359 --> 00:22:14,120 Speaker 1: His lawyer did. 359 00:22:15,040 --> 00:22:18,600 Speaker 2: And levon Helm's memoir This Wheel's on Fire, he writes 360 00:22:18,640 --> 00:22:21,159 Speaker 2: that just as the Last Waltz concert was coming to 361 00:22:21,240 --> 00:22:24,639 Speaker 2: a close, around two twenty am on Friday morning, November 362 00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:28,359 Speaker 2: twenty sixth, nineteen seventy six, Dylan's lawyer walked out of 363 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:31,040 Speaker 2: the Winterland, made a b line for the mobile recording 364 00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:34,080 Speaker 2: truck parked outside, and took the audio tape reels that 365 00:22:34,119 --> 00:22:37,960 Speaker 2: featured Bob Dylan. He did this as a negotiating tactic, 366 00:22:38,359 --> 00:22:41,359 Speaker 2: most likely to drive home the handshake compromise that was 367 00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:44,960 Speaker 2: reached earlier in the evening that Martin Scorsese had promised 368 00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:47,880 Speaker 2: to limit Dylan's appearance in the film to only two songs. 369 00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:51,800 Speaker 2: Or maybe it was to secure a bigger windfall for Dylan. 370 00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:56,119 Speaker 2: Either way, the tapes were safely. 371 00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:56,840 Speaker 1: Returned soon after. 372 00:22:57,320 --> 00:22:59,640 Speaker 2: But just because they were, and just because the show 373 00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:03,159 Speaker 2: was a great success and Bob Dylan was relatively happy 374 00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:06,399 Speaker 2: and Warner Brothers kept the checks coming, that didn't mean 375 00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:09,720 Speaker 2: Martin Scorsese was over the hump. He hadn't even reached 376 00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:14,320 Speaker 2: the hump yet. Back at his La home, Marty went 377 00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:18,880 Speaker 2: into post production mode. Only now things were different. His wife, 378 00:23:19,080 --> 00:23:22,639 Speaker 2: the writer Julia Cameron, pregnant with their first child together 379 00:23:22,880 --> 00:23:26,480 Speaker 2: his second overall, moved out. She'd had it with Marty's 380 00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:31,480 Speaker 2: chaotic lifestyle, his obsessions, the working around the clock, watching movies, 381 00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:35,160 Speaker 2: making movies, doing endless lines of cocaine, spewing endless lines 382 00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:38,600 Speaker 2: of commentary about the French New Wave and Italian neorealism, 383 00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:41,320 Speaker 2: allowing his personal life to go to shit just so 384 00:23:41,359 --> 00:23:46,000 Speaker 2: he could prove some point about what What was the point. Actually, 385 00:23:46,640 --> 00:23:50,240 Speaker 2: it didn't matter, because the last straw for Julia was 386 00:23:50,280 --> 00:23:53,040 Speaker 2: the affair. Marty had been carrying on with e Liza Minelli, 387 00:23:53,560 --> 00:23:56,480 Speaker 2: who is starring in the other movie he was currently making, 388 00:23:56,800 --> 00:24:00,400 Speaker 2: New York, New York. Marty didn't even seem to care 389 00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:04,320 Speaker 2: that Liza, who was also married, also had her own 390 00:24:04,440 --> 00:24:08,480 Speaker 2: side piece, the dancer Mikhail Barishnikov. It was all part 391 00:24:08,480 --> 00:24:12,040 Speaker 2: of the chaos, all of it pushing Martin Scorsese in 392 00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:19,240 Speaker 2: the direction he desired toward a great, big end. But 393 00:24:19,320 --> 00:24:21,720 Speaker 2: before that end came rushing at him like one of 394 00:24:21,720 --> 00:24:24,679 Speaker 2: his manic Dolly shots. He had to assemble the final 395 00:24:24,720 --> 00:24:29,119 Speaker 2: cut for the last waltz. He did so with Robbie Robertson. 396 00:24:28,600 --> 00:24:29,320 Speaker 1: By his side. 397 00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:33,479 Speaker 2: And I mean that literally, because when Julia moved out, Robbie, 398 00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:36,360 Speaker 2: who'd been kicked out of his house by his wife. 399 00:24:36,119 --> 00:24:36,640 Speaker 1: Moved in. 400 00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:40,359 Speaker 2: The two were the perfect pair, Martin Scorsese, the rock 401 00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:43,480 Speaker 2: and roll filmmaker, and Robbie Robertson, a rock and roller 402 00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:47,800 Speaker 2: who fancied himself an undiscovered Hollywood star. Robbie brought over 403 00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:50,760 Speaker 2: a pair of giant studio speakers and they listened to 404 00:24:50,800 --> 00:24:54,000 Speaker 2: Van Morrison's Aster A Week's at maximum volume. When they 405 00:24:54,040 --> 00:24:57,639 Speaker 2: weren't watching the old movies. They parted. They enjoyed the 406 00:24:57,680 --> 00:25:02,840 Speaker 2: company of the NonStop rotation of character is passing through weirdos, freaks, 407 00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:06,440 Speaker 2: artists rack on tours like the Great Stephen Prince, whom 408 00:25:06,440 --> 00:25:09,240 Speaker 2: Marty's good friend, who played Easy Andy the gun dealer 409 00:25:09,280 --> 00:25:12,320 Speaker 2: and taxi driver, and whom already made an excellent short 410 00:25:12,320 --> 00:25:14,120 Speaker 2: film about called American Boy. 411 00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:15,200 Speaker 1: But I digress. 412 00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:21,760 Speaker 2: And they also did cocaine, lots of cocaine, which, for 413 00:25:21,960 --> 00:25:24,679 Speaker 2: someone like Martin Scorsese, with his asthma and with his 414 00:25:24,720 --> 00:25:28,080 Speaker 2: asthma meds, with his other prescription meds, with his careless 415 00:25:28,080 --> 00:25:31,520 Speaker 2: way of living, was a pretty bad idea. But bad 416 00:25:31,520 --> 00:25:33,440 Speaker 2: ideas were what appealed. 417 00:25:33,119 --> 00:25:35,919 Speaker 1: To Martin Scorsese Cirk in nineteen seventy six. In nineteen 418 00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:36,800 Speaker 1: seventy seven, he. 419 00:25:36,720 --> 00:25:40,320 Speaker 2: Didn't hide this, unlike the big cooke rock hanging from 420 00:25:40,359 --> 00:25:44,119 Speaker 2: Neil Young's nose that was clearly visible in the last 421 00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:47,320 Speaker 2: Waltz footage, which Martin Scorsese was. 422 00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:48,720 Speaker 1: Forced to hide. 423 00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:51,600 Speaker 2: Neil Young's manager got winded this footage and demanded Marty 424 00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:56,080 Speaker 2: do something about it or else. Now, Martin Scorsese as 425 00:25:56,119 --> 00:25:59,560 Speaker 2: a director isn't known for special effects, but he had 426 00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:03,240 Speaker 2: his team creative bespoke special effect just for this problem. 427 00:26:03,520 --> 00:26:06,879 Speaker 2: They called it the Traveling Booger Matt. I swear to 428 00:26:06,920 --> 00:26:09,080 Speaker 2: God that's what they called it, which essentially acted as 429 00:26:09,119 --> 00:26:13,040 Speaker 2: a concealer that floated over Neil's nose. The Traveling Booger. 430 00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:16,040 Speaker 1: Matt was expensive, so expensive. 431 00:26:15,680 --> 00:26:18,320 Speaker 2: That Robbie Robertson later joked it was the most expensive 432 00:26:18,359 --> 00:26:22,840 Speaker 2: cocaine he had ever bought. When it came to Martin 433 00:26:22,840 --> 00:26:27,760 Speaker 2: Scorsese's personal life, he wasn't interested in creative solutions like these. 434 00:26:28,520 --> 00:26:31,840 Speaker 2: The bigger the problem, the better. With his wife gone 435 00:26:31,880 --> 00:26:35,200 Speaker 2: and his affair with Liza Minelli winding down, Marty started 436 00:26:35,200 --> 00:26:38,760 Speaker 2: a relationship with an assistant. She was suicidal and it 437 00:26:38,880 --> 00:26:43,320 Speaker 2: scared Marty, but in some dark, perverse way, it excited 438 00:26:43,400 --> 00:26:46,480 Speaker 2: him too. He wondered if she would actually do it. 439 00:26:47,240 --> 00:26:50,080 Speaker 1: Na She wouldn't, dare She. 440 00:26:50,119 --> 00:26:52,000 Speaker 2: Was just getting off on the drama of it all, 441 00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:54,879 Speaker 2: as was he, and they argued to bunch it. 442 00:26:55,280 --> 00:26:58,439 Speaker 1: She left him one night, just like Julia, and just 443 00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:02,040 Speaker 1: like Liza. He couldn't let her go, not tonight. 444 00:27:02,720 --> 00:27:05,639 Speaker 2: If she left, the chaos left with her, and the 445 00:27:05,720 --> 00:27:09,200 Speaker 2: crazy left too. He wanted to wrap himself up in crazy. 446 00:27:09,600 --> 00:27:12,879 Speaker 2: He dressed himself in Crazy. It's all he was wearing 447 00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:15,560 Speaker 2: that night as he gave Chase. He didn't even have 448 00:27:15,640 --> 00:27:20,680 Speaker 2: time to get dressed. Just Martin Scorsese out there, buck ass, naked, 449 00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:23,960 Speaker 2: coked out of his mind, tearing ass down, Mahall and 450 00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:27,640 Speaker 2: drive in the dark, screaming, don't go, running after her, 451 00:27:28,280 --> 00:27:32,520 Speaker 2: running toward the edge, an edge that gave way to 452 00:27:32,600 --> 00:27:35,640 Speaker 2: a chasm, and then in a yss where he could 453 00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:39,240 Speaker 2: let himself go, then a long last be consumed by 454 00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:40,720 Speaker 2: the end of his own life. 455 00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:44,120 Speaker 1: Until then, at least. 456 00:27:43,880 --> 00:27:46,520 Speaker 2: He had the work to make him happy. But then 457 00:27:47,080 --> 00:27:52,720 Speaker 2: the work turned on him too. New York New York 458 00:27:52,840 --> 00:27:54,600 Speaker 2: was a flop when it was released in the summer 459 00:27:54,640 --> 00:27:58,800 Speaker 2: of nineteen seventy seven, panned by critics and ignored by audiences. 460 00:27:59,119 --> 00:28:02,959 Speaker 2: It devastated Martin Scorsese. A foul mood hung over him 461 00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:07,040 Speaker 2: for months and continued into the next year, nineteen seventy eight. 462 00:28:07,359 --> 00:28:09,840 Speaker 2: As he was watching the last Waltz of the Cinerama 463 00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:13,240 Speaker 2: Dome in Hollywood when the movie finally premiered that spring, 464 00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:17,040 Speaker 2: he was watching the credits crawl just after the band 465 00:28:17,080 --> 00:28:20,720 Speaker 2: played the film's final song, a haunting instrumental one of 466 00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:22,600 Speaker 2: three songs in the film that they shot on an 467 00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:27,040 Speaker 2: MGM soundstage after the Winterland Show. As the final seconds 468 00:28:27,040 --> 00:28:31,080 Speaker 2: played out, Marty felt he'd gotten what he wanted death, 469 00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:32,399 Speaker 2: but not in. 470 00:28:32,400 --> 00:28:35,040 Speaker 1: A physical way. It was a creative death. 471 00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:37,560 Speaker 2: He didn't know what he'd been trying to say with 472 00:28:37,640 --> 00:28:40,480 Speaker 2: this film, or if he had anything else to say 473 00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:41,680 Speaker 2: in any other film. 474 00:28:42,560 --> 00:28:43,440 Speaker 1: Maybe this was it. 475 00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:47,240 Speaker 2: And the house lights came up, and suddenly he was 476 00:28:47,280 --> 00:28:51,960 Speaker 2: over the edge, falling, arms outstretched wide until. 477 00:28:51,720 --> 00:28:53,680 Speaker 1: He landed hard. 478 00:28:54,920 --> 00:28:58,360 Speaker 2: He looked around him. He was at rock bottom, or 479 00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:01,960 Speaker 2: so he thought, because just a few months later he 480 00:29:02,120 --> 00:29:06,600 Speaker 2: hit rock bottom for real. In this time, it looked 481 00:29:06,600 --> 00:29:26,240 Speaker 2: like there was no coming back. Hey, guys, I'm going 482 00:29:26,280 --> 00:29:28,520 Speaker 2: to get to the conclusion of our story about Martin Scorsese, 483 00:29:28,680 --> 00:29:30,720 Speaker 2: the band, and the making of The Last Waltz here 484 00:29:30,800 --> 00:29:32,920 Speaker 2: in just a second, But I wanted to mention real 485 00:29:32,960 --> 00:29:35,920 Speaker 2: quick that, as is always the case, only so much 486 00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:38,800 Speaker 2: stuff we can cover in a thirty minute podcast. So 487 00:29:39,120 --> 00:29:41,840 Speaker 2: there are all these wild stories about the band secret 488 00:29:41,960 --> 00:29:44,760 Speaker 2: Pact should one of them die on the road, that 489 00:29:44,840 --> 00:29:47,000 Speaker 2: we uncovered when we were doing our research. And then 490 00:29:47,160 --> 00:29:51,120 Speaker 2: there's the near mythological recordings that the band made with 491 00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:54,000 Speaker 2: Bob Dylan in the basement of a house outside of Woodstock, 492 00:29:54,120 --> 00:29:57,760 Speaker 2: New York. That house known as Big Pink, and not 493 00:29:57,800 --> 00:30:02,320 Speaker 2: only what the real reason was for those recordings, but 494 00:30:02,440 --> 00:30:05,280 Speaker 2: also the story of how those recordings were reasoned for 495 00:30:05,360 --> 00:30:08,200 Speaker 2: the very first bootleg in rock and roll history. So 496 00:30:08,240 --> 00:30:10,240 Speaker 2: if you want to hear all about that stuff, you 497 00:30:10,240 --> 00:30:12,360 Speaker 2: can hear it in this week's brand new mini episode 498 00:30:12,400 --> 00:30:15,480 Speaker 2: of Disgraceland, which is available only to our All Access members. 499 00:30:15,560 --> 00:30:18,600 Speaker 2: Just go to disgrace lampod dot com to learn more 500 00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:20,520 Speaker 2: about that and to become a member today. 501 00:30:20,560 --> 00:30:22,800 Speaker 1: All right, back to her story. 502 00:30:24,720 --> 00:30:29,400 Speaker 2: September nineteen seventy eight, Martin Scorsese was back in New 503 00:30:29,520 --> 00:30:32,080 Speaker 2: York City, but he was thinking about Tell Your Ride. 504 00:30:32,880 --> 00:30:35,040 Speaker 2: Only a few days earlier, he'd been out west in 505 00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:37,800 Speaker 2: the small Colorado town for the fifth annual Tell Your 506 00:30:37,840 --> 00:30:41,760 Speaker 2: Ride Film Festival, along with his new girlfriend, the actress 507 00:30:42,120 --> 00:30:45,280 Speaker 2: Isabella Rosalini, and his good friend and frequent. 508 00:30:44,920 --> 00:30:46,720 Speaker 1: Collaborator Robert de Niro. 509 00:30:48,200 --> 00:30:50,800 Speaker 2: Tell Your Ride was a place where the unexpected happened. 510 00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:54,760 Speaker 2: It's where Martin Scorsese met the great German director Vim 511 00:30:54,840 --> 00:30:58,080 Speaker 2: Vendors for the first time, and quite by accident when 512 00:30:58,080 --> 00:30:59,760 Speaker 2: he's trying to fix a flat tire on the side 513 00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:04,400 Speaker 2: of the Even the drugs were unexpected. Then Tell Your Ride. 514 00:31:04,600 --> 00:31:07,760 Speaker 2: He bought some bad cocaine. He knew as soon as 515 00:31:07,760 --> 00:31:09,480 Speaker 2: it hit the back of his throat that it was shit, 516 00:31:09,960 --> 00:31:12,880 Speaker 2: and it made him sick as hell that Marty suddenly 517 00:31:12,880 --> 00:31:16,360 Speaker 2: felt strange. He began to cough. He covered his mouth 518 00:31:16,400 --> 00:31:20,600 Speaker 2: with his hand and then pulled it back. Was up blood, 519 00:31:21,080 --> 00:31:27,240 Speaker 2: and then Martin Scorsese, he blacked out. He returned to 520 00:31:27,280 --> 00:31:31,640 Speaker 2: New York, awake, alive, but still not feeling one hundred percent, 521 00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:35,400 Speaker 2: still creatively bankrupt, and still wondering if his time as 522 00:31:35,400 --> 00:31:38,600 Speaker 2: a filmmaker was up. He felt this even as The 523 00:31:38,680 --> 00:31:42,800 Speaker 2: Last Waltz received great acclaim upon its release. Some were 524 00:31:42,840 --> 00:31:45,240 Speaker 2: already giving the film it's due is the greatest concert 525 00:31:45,240 --> 00:31:48,360 Speaker 2: film of all time. But Marty wasn't thinking about The 526 00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:51,920 Speaker 2: Last Waltz or the critics or the fans. He was 527 00:31:51,960 --> 00:31:54,440 Speaker 2: thinking about that bad batch of Tell You Ride. 528 00:31:54,240 --> 00:31:57,280 Speaker 1: White, and it fucked him up real. 529 00:31:57,080 --> 00:31:59,840 Speaker 2: Good, and he felt like it was still inside him. 530 00:32:00,200 --> 00:32:02,720 Speaker 2: He was toxic, and he knew it wasn't done with 531 00:32:02,800 --> 00:32:03,560 Speaker 2: him yet. 532 00:32:04,600 --> 00:32:05,320 Speaker 1: He knew this. 533 00:32:05,240 --> 00:32:08,520 Speaker 2: When suddenly out of nowhere, all the strength and energy 534 00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:09,479 Speaker 2: left his body. 535 00:32:10,400 --> 00:32:13,200 Speaker 1: He dropped to the ground and he was bleeding again. 536 00:32:13,760 --> 00:32:16,880 Speaker 1: But this time he wasn't just coughing it up. The 537 00:32:16,920 --> 00:32:18,680 Speaker 1: blood was everywhere. 538 00:32:18,920 --> 00:32:22,120 Speaker 2: He was coming out of his mouth, his nose, his eyes, 539 00:32:22,320 --> 00:32:25,920 Speaker 2: even his ass was bleeding. His good friend Stephen Prince 540 00:32:26,120 --> 00:32:30,040 Speaker 2: aka Easy Andy, rushed Marty to the hospital, where it 541 00:32:30,120 --> 00:32:34,840 Speaker 2: was discovered that his blood was completely lacking platelets, platelets 542 00:32:34,880 --> 00:32:37,720 Speaker 2: being the thing that helped stop bleeding and form blood clots. 543 00:32:38,680 --> 00:32:41,880 Speaker 2: Marty was minutes away from a brain hemorrhage, a brain bleed, 544 00:32:42,640 --> 00:32:51,120 Speaker 2: minutes away from death. Of course, Martin Scorsese did not die, 545 00:32:51,680 --> 00:32:54,560 Speaker 2: thanks in part to the quick action taken by Stephen Prince, 546 00:32:54,640 --> 00:32:57,560 Speaker 2: and thanks especially to the steady hands of the emergency 547 00:32:57,600 --> 00:33:00,320 Speaker 2: room doctors who went to work to stabilize Martin and 548 00:33:00,360 --> 00:33:03,920 Speaker 2: put him on a path to recovery. During that recovery, 549 00:33:04,360 --> 00:33:06,960 Speaker 2: Robert de Niro paid a visit to Martin Scorsese in 550 00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:10,520 Speaker 2: the hospital, very bluntly, as only the best friends do, 551 00:33:10,920 --> 00:33:13,520 Speaker 2: and in the most Robert de Niro way possible, He. 552 00:33:13,440 --> 00:33:16,320 Speaker 1: Asked, oh, what's the matter with you? 553 00:33:17,200 --> 00:33:19,760 Speaker 2: Didn't Marty want to see his kids grow up? Didn't 554 00:33:19,760 --> 00:33:22,600 Speaker 2: he want to make more movies? Was he not excited 555 00:33:22,600 --> 00:33:24,920 Speaker 2: about this new film they were about to start production 556 00:33:25,040 --> 00:33:29,160 Speaker 2: on together about the boxer Jake Lamatta, a project. 557 00:33:28,760 --> 00:33:29,720 Speaker 1: Called Raging Bull. 558 00:33:30,520 --> 00:33:33,200 Speaker 2: The nero's pep talk was like cold water to the face. 559 00:33:34,080 --> 00:33:37,760 Speaker 2: Martin Scorsese was a lifelong Catholic. He knew he should 560 00:33:37,760 --> 00:33:41,400 Speaker 2: be dead. In fact, he had purposefully flirted with death 561 00:33:41,440 --> 00:33:46,640 Speaker 2: through his reckless lifestyle. But he wasn't dead. He'd been saved. 562 00:33:47,120 --> 00:33:50,600 Speaker 2: Didn't matter why. He now had a second chance, and 563 00:33:50,680 --> 00:33:52,480 Speaker 2: it was his duty to put it to good use. 564 00:33:55,120 --> 00:33:59,959 Speaker 2: So Martin Scorsese dove headfirst into Raging Bull, another masterpiece, 565 00:34:00,680 --> 00:34:02,840 Speaker 2: one that would redeem him from the failure of New York, 566 00:34:02,960 --> 00:34:06,000 Speaker 2: New York, But not before he first returned home to 567 00:34:06,040 --> 00:34:10,440 Speaker 2: Los Angeles, where he hosted a huge Thanksgiving dinner. On 568 00:34:10,520 --> 00:34:15,000 Speaker 2: this particular Thanksgiving, Martin Scorsese was thankful that he was alive. 569 00:34:15,520 --> 00:34:18,640 Speaker 2: He was thankful that he had creative purpose again, and 570 00:34:18,680 --> 00:34:21,480 Speaker 2: he was thankful that he was surrounded by his friends 571 00:34:22,040 --> 00:34:24,880 Speaker 2: like Robbie Robertson of the band, And he knew in 572 00:34:24,960 --> 00:34:27,560 Speaker 2: many ways it was a privilege to be thankful, and 573 00:34:27,600 --> 00:34:30,200 Speaker 2: that not everyone got to give and experience thanks the 574 00:34:30,239 --> 00:34:32,560 Speaker 2: way he did. 575 00:34:32,680 --> 00:34:33,960 Speaker 1: Like Richard Manuel. 576 00:34:34,000 --> 00:34:37,920 Speaker 2: For instance, in nineteen eighty six, ten years after the 577 00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:41,800 Speaker 2: Last Waltz, Richard was still on the road. The band 578 00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:45,279 Speaker 2: minus Robbie, for whom the Last Waltz really was the end, 579 00:34:45,800 --> 00:34:49,000 Speaker 2: had reformed a few years earlier and continued to tour 580 00:34:49,040 --> 00:34:52,040 Speaker 2: in small venues, just as they had when they started. 581 00:34:51,719 --> 00:34:54,600 Speaker 1: Together all those years before. But what else were they 582 00:34:54,600 --> 00:34:54,960 Speaker 1: going to do? 583 00:34:55,480 --> 00:34:57,799 Speaker 2: This is the only life they had ever known, and 584 00:34:57,880 --> 00:35:01,120 Speaker 2: as Levon once said, that weren't in it for their health. 585 00:35:02,440 --> 00:35:05,880 Speaker 2: Following a show in winter Park, Florida, Richard thanked his 586 00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:10,000 Speaker 2: longtime bandmate Garth Hudson for twenty five years of making 587 00:35:10,040 --> 00:35:13,920 Speaker 2: great music together, then drank his last bottle of Grandmagnier 588 00:35:14,480 --> 00:35:16,920 Speaker 2: and hanged himself in the bathroom of his room. 589 00:35:16,760 --> 00:35:21,000 Speaker 1: At the Quality Inn. He was just forty two years old. 590 00:35:21,680 --> 00:35:24,399 Speaker 2: While Martin Scorsese continued to give thanks that he had 591 00:35:24,520 --> 00:35:28,000 Speaker 2: escaped the self destructive tendencies that drove him for so long, 592 00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:33,840 Speaker 2: Richard Manuel was not so lucky. And that is a disgrace. 593 00:35:35,640 --> 00:35:55,480 Speaker 2: I'm Jake Brennan, and this is disgraceland, all right. That 594 00:35:55,560 --> 00:35:58,200 Speaker 2: was a lot of fun. Thank you, guys, Happy Thanksgiving 595 00:35:58,239 --> 00:36:00,200 Speaker 2: to all of you. I am grateful for all all 596 00:36:00,200 --> 00:36:02,399 Speaker 2: of you. Hope you dug this episode. This week's question 597 00:36:02,440 --> 00:36:04,440 Speaker 2: of the week, It's an obvious one, It's an easy one. 598 00:36:04,680 --> 00:36:08,240 Speaker 2: What is the greatest concert film of all time? 599 00:36:08,680 --> 00:36:09,439 Speaker 1: And tell me why? 600 00:36:09,600 --> 00:36:11,719 Speaker 2: Six one seven nine oh six six six three eight, 601 00:36:11,760 --> 00:36:13,880 Speaker 2: Leave me a voicemail semi text and let me know. 602 00:36:13,960 --> 00:36:17,520 Speaker 2: You can also reach me at disgracelampod as well on Instagram, 603 00:36:17,719 --> 00:36:19,799 Speaker 2: x and Facebook. Leave a review for the show on 604 00:36:19,840 --> 00:36:22,960 Speaker 2: Apple Podcasts, Spotify and win some free merch. All right, 605 00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:26,840 Speaker 2: here comes some credits. Disgraceland was created by Yours Truly 606 00:36:26,880 --> 00:36:30,000 Speaker 2: and is produced in partnership with Double Elvis. Credits for 607 00:36:30,080 --> 00:36:32,440 Speaker 2: this episode can be found on the show notes page 608 00:36:32,440 --> 00:36:36,359 Speaker 2: at disgracelampod dot com. If you're listening as a Disgraceland 609 00:36:36,400 --> 00:36:38,040 Speaker 2: All Access member, thank. 610 00:36:37,880 --> 00:36:38,919 Speaker 1: You for supporting the show. 611 00:36:38,960 --> 00:36:41,680 Speaker 2: We really appreciate it. And if not, you can become 612 00:36:41,719 --> 00:36:45,120 Speaker 2: a member right now by going to disgracelampod dot com, 613 00:36:45,200 --> 00:36:48,120 Speaker 2: Rate and review the show and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, 614 00:36:48,160 --> 00:36:52,400 Speaker 2: and Facebook at disgracelamppod and on YouTube at YouTube dot com, 615 00:36:52,440 --> 00:37:01,800 Speaker 2: slash at disgracelampod rock a Rolla. He's a bad, bad man.