MovieChat Forums > The Last Waltz (1978) Discussion > Unknown Performer

Unknown Performer

posted 11 years ago by Bill_The_Intrepid
2 replies | jump to latest

Ok. So, today I finished watching the Complete Last Waltz footage on YouTube and there were a few things I noticed during the jam.

1. It was always believed that Richard Manuel sat out of the jam and that everybody else in The Band played. Not true. Richard can be seen at the very beginning playing piano while Dr. John plays organ and Garth Hudson plays synthesizer. Also, Carl Radle appears to be playing bass the entire time. No sign of Rick Danko.

2. Towards the end of the second jam, Dr. John leaves the piano and goes back to playing the organ with...not Garth. Some blonde musician with a big head of hair. I can't for the life of me figure out who it is. It's not Ronnie Barron who used to play keyboards with Dr. John. It's not John Simon of course. Who could it be?

It's funny when Stephen Stills plays air guitar before his actual axe arrives.

[–] Ritual_Spirit 11 years ago

I had a quick look at the footage on YouTube, it looks like it could be Dick Sims. He was Eric Clapton's keyboard player at the time, and with Carl Radle (Clapton's bassist) also on stage it would make sense.

[–] Bill_The_Intrepid 11 years ago

That does make sense. The guy looks clean shaven in the video but of course the camera was pretty far away from the stage. Oh well, I'll go with Dick.