The Last Waltz (1978)

Robbie Robertson: Self - Guitar, Vocal

Photos 

Quotes 

• [Speaking about Ronnie Hawkins] 

  Himself : He called me up, and I said, "Sure I'd like a job. What does it mean? What do I do?" And he said, "Well, son, you won't make much money, but you'll get more pussy than Frank Sinatra."

• Neil Young : [walking on stage]  Hey, Rob, thanks for letting me do this.

  Robbie Robertson - Guitar : Shit! Are you kidding?

• Richard Manuel - Piano : [describing how The Band got its name]  Well, we were The Hawks.

  Robbie Robertson - Guitar : And everything was fine, we were sailing along, and all of a sudden, one day The Hawks meant something else altogether.

  Richard Manuel - Piano : And it was right in the middle of that whole psychedelia. Chocolate Subway, Marshmallow Overcoat. Those kind of names, you know?

  Robbie Robertson - Guitar : When we were working with Bob Dylan and we moved to Woodstock, everybody referred to us as the band. He called us the band, our friends called us the band, our neighbors called us the band.

  Richard Manuel - Piano : We started out with The Crackers. We tried to call ourselves The Honkies. Everybody kind of backed off from that. It was too straight. So we decided just to call ourselves The Band.

• Robbie Robertson - Guitar : We wanted it to be more than just a concert. We wanted it to be a celebration.

  Martin Scorsese - Interviewer : A celebration of a beginning or an end?

  Robbie Robertson - Guitar : Beginning of the beginning of the end of the beginning.

• Robbie Robertson - Guitar : Maybe, I don't know if the years connect or its coincidence or what it is, but, it seems like thats it! That's what The Last Waltz is. I mean, 16 years on the road, the numbers start to scare ya. I mean, I couldn't live with 20 years on the road. I don't think I could even discuss it.

• Robbie Robertson - Guitar : The Band has been together 16 years. Together, on the road. We did 8 years in bars, dives, dance halls, 8 years of concerts and stadiums, arenas. We gave our final concert, The Band's final concert, and we called it The Last Waltz.

• Robbie Robertson - Guitar : [to The Last Waltz concert audience]  You're still there, huh? We're going to do one more song and that's it.

• Robbie Robertson - Guitar : [Last lines]  The road was our school. At the end it was our sense of survival. It taught us all we know. There's not much left that we can really take from the road. We've had our share of, or, maybe it's just superstitious.

  Martin Scorsese - Interviewer : Superstitious in what way?

  Robbie Robertson - Guitar : No. You can press your luck. The road has taken a lot of great ones. Hank Williams. Buddy Holly. Otis Redding. Janis. Jimi Hendrix. Elvis. Its a goddamn impossible way of life.

  Martin Scorsese - Interviewer : It is, isn't it.

  Robbie Robertson - Guitar : No question about it.

• Robbie Robertson - Guitar : It's not like it used to be.