MovieChat Forums > The Last Waltz (1978) Discussion > Whose voice was that at 1.48 h?

Whose voice was that at 1.48 h?

posted 16 years ago by Milkyway123
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At the end of the concert, all the artists share the stage and sing to Bob Dylan's: "I Shall Be Released". Ca 1.48 h in, there is someone "stealing" the song. His voice detracts from the unison they've had up to that point. A very strong soul voice/sound. Who is that? What was the story behind that? Cause I noticed that the other performers seemed genuinely surprised and even possibly annoyed. Everyone was looking at this artist's direction the entire time . Even when the camera zooms out and you see the whole stage, this mysterious performer is nowhere to be seen.

Who was it?

-Here is the part he sings:
They say ev'ry man needs protection,
They say ev'ry man must fall.
Yet I swear I see my reflection
Some place so high above this wall.

[–] Boogie_Knight 16 years ago

The late great and gone tragically too soon gone Richard Manuel. He was the same guy singing lead for "The Shape I'm In". He certainly turned out the best vocal interpretations of "I Shall Be Released" on Big Pink and the live performance on Festival Express. He wasn't stealing anything...the song is as much his as Dylans, in fact he sang the first released recorded version on Big Pink.

He is not to be seen because he is sitting at his piano and effectively invisible with all of the people crowded on the stage. There were a series of misdirections and a camera was not in place to film him, which would have been a difficult angle. Any looks of suprise are not annoyance....people are confused that he is not being filmed and are trying to get out of the way so he can be filmed. I'm not sure if Scorsese's people were trying to cue people out of the way but that is also possible.