Die Staple Singers

& der Last Waltz

In den Comments zum gestrigen Video von The Weight stellte Busch-man die Frage, ob der Clip aus The Last Waltz sei. Wie ich dann so richtig schrob, er wurde nachgefilmt. Dazu habe ich mir noch einmal die Levon Helm Biographie This Wheel's On Fire raugesucht und ein paar Passagen nachgelesen. Zu dem damaligen Zeitpunkt war für Levon aus Robbie nur noch Robertson geworden und aus Freundschaft wurde Hass. Weil Levon sich abgezogen fühlte, was ich auch nachvollziehen kann. Zur prä-LW-Explosion wäre es fast zwei Tage vor dem legendären Gig gekommen, als man Levon bat, Muddy Waters wieder auszuladen, weil man zu viele Gäste hätte. Neil Diamond (für den RR kurz zuvor ein Album produzierte) aber sollte bleiben... letztendlich blieb Muddy auch...

Anyway, hier die Passage zu den Staples aus dem Buch, O-Ton Band-Drummer Levon Helm:

They'd shot 160,000 feet of film, but problems began to mount as soon as they started to screen the material. The sound track was poorly recorded and had to be overdubbed and remixed for the movie and the album. Then it was decided that the whole thing was too lily-white and missing something crucial, so the Staple Singers were recruited to join us on an MGM soundstage in Culver City to record another version of The Weight. The San Francisco version had come too late in the show, and my performance was, to say the least, less than magical.

It was great to hear Mavis Staples singing the verses of The Weight on stage. The Staples had been original inspiration for The Band's vocal blend, so it was more than appropriate to hear Mavis and her father blending their voices with ours. Mavis Staples was so awe-inspiring that after the first take I left the drums and approached her. "Hey, Mavis," I begged, "you've got to lighten up a little. I mean, don't go blowing us off the stage." She laughed. Her voice and presence were as powerful as Aretha's, maybe more so.

Later, during a break, Richard Manuel asked Pop Staples if he knew why the French people went to Canada and the black people went to America. Pop said no, he didn't. Richard told him it was because Canada and America had a bet and Canada lost.

Richard, der alte Schlickefänger! Nach zwei Flaschen Grand Manier und ein paar Gramm Koks in großer Form. Dann hätten wir das auch geklärt. (R-man)