RIP Robbie Robertson
August 9, 2023 2:03 PM Subscribe
Robbie Robertson, front man for The Band, has died at 80.
Additional obits from Rolling Stone and The LA Times.
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posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 2:05 PM on August 9, 2023
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 2:05 PM on August 9, 2023
The Last Waltz is up on Tubi. I think that means it's like old TV with commercial breaks.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 2:07 PM on August 9, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 2:07 PM on August 9, 2023 [6 favorites]
I wanted him to live longer than this.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 2:09 PM on August 9, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 2:09 PM on August 9, 2023 [3 favorites]
The full four hour Last Waltz is on YouTube.
posted by martinX's bellbottoms at 2:11 PM on August 9, 2023 [10 favorites]
posted by martinX's bellbottoms at 2:11 PM on August 9, 2023 [10 favorites]
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posted by snuffleupagus at 2:13 PM on August 9, 2023
posted by snuffleupagus at 2:13 PM on August 9, 2023
Somewhere Down the Crazy River was unlike anything I'd ever heard on the radio. (Martin Scorsese-directed video.)
Three years ago: “The Weight,” features Ringo Starr and Robbie Robertson, along with musicians across 5 continents, in support of Playing for Change.
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posted by Iris Gambol at 2:18 PM on August 9, 2023 [17 favorites]
Three years ago: “The Weight,” features Ringo Starr and Robbie Robertson, along with musicians across 5 continents, in support of Playing for Change.
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posted by Iris Gambol at 2:18 PM on August 9, 2023 [17 favorites]
That leaves Garth Hudson as the last member of The Band.
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posted by TedW at 2:26 PM on August 9, 2023 [4 favorites]
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posted by TedW at 2:26 PM on August 9, 2023 [4 favorites]
Oh dear. We're losing a lot this year. I'm glad he was here to share what he had with us. He can't be forgotten as long as his music is being heard.
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posted by hippybear at 2:31 PM on August 9, 2023
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posted by hippybear at 2:31 PM on August 9, 2023
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posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 2:31 PM on August 9, 2023
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 2:31 PM on August 9, 2023
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posted by The_Auditor at 2:41 PM on August 9, 2023
posted by The_Auditor at 2:41 PM on August 9, 2023
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posted by The Great Big Mulp at 2:48 PM on August 9, 2023
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 2:48 PM on August 9, 2023
The Band was a huge musical influence on me, ironically starting with an interview with Eric Clapton explaining why he exited the jammy jam stage and did his 70s stuff (quality varies, yes he’s terrible). He heard Music From Big Pink and realized the song’s the thing. Which got me to buy that and reassess my own guitar playing in the context of “what does this band need” instead of “how can I prove I’m a technically good player”. What a great bunch of songs these guys wrote and played.
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posted by caviar2d2 at 2:50 PM on August 9, 2023 [7 favorites]
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posted by caviar2d2 at 2:50 PM on August 9, 2023 [7 favorites]
Damn.
I love his music and I also love his speaking voice. Here's a deep cut for you: A track from "Weird Nightmares", a Charles Mingus tribute album, where Robbie reads from Mingus' journals, about a time when he meets Bobby Fischer at Bellevue: Canon (Part 2)
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posted by gwint at 2:51 PM on August 9, 2023 [5 favorites]
I love his music and I also love his speaking voice. Here's a deep cut for you: A track from "Weird Nightmares", a Charles Mingus tribute album, where Robbie reads from Mingus' journals, about a time when he meets Bobby Fischer at Bellevue: Canon (Part 2)
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posted by gwint at 2:51 PM on August 9, 2023 [5 favorites]
In a statement released today, the film-maker [Martin Scorcese] paid tribute. “Robbie Robertson was one of my closest friends, a constant in my life and my work,” he said. “I could always go to him as a confidante. A collaborator. An advisor. I tried to be the same for him. Long before we ever met, his music played a central role in my life — me and millions and millions of other people all over this world. The Band’s music, and Robbie’s own later solo music, seemed to come from the deepest place at the heart of this continent, its traditions and tragedies and joys. It goes without saying that he was a giant, that his effect on the art form was profound and lasting. There’s never enough time with anyone you love. And I loved Robbie.”The Guardian
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posted by mazola at 2:53 PM on August 9, 2023 [10 favorites]
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posted by Silvery Fish at 2:53 PM on August 9, 2023
posted by Silvery Fish at 2:53 PM on August 9, 2023
Oh no. I am such a fan. I played the solo albums to death and his songs were on pretty much every mixtape I ever made. I agree, there’s nothing quite like Somewhere Down the Crazy River—and so many of his works were like that. Just a giant talent.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 2:59 PM on August 9, 2023
posted by kitten kaboodle at 2:59 PM on August 9, 2023
Robertson was probably my least favorite member of The Band but that's still pretty high praise. I always felt he got a bigger share of the credit than he deserved and that the others were somewhat slighted by comparison.
But even if he'd never produced another song to rival it, Acadian Driftwood would be enough to firmly establish him in the songwriting firmament - and it was far from the only notable song to bear his writing credit.
posted by Nerd of the North at 3:00 PM on August 9, 2023 [17 favorites]
But even if he'd never produced another song to rival it, Acadian Driftwood would be enough to firmly establish him in the songwriting firmament - and it was far from the only notable song to bear his writing credit.
posted by Nerd of the North at 3:00 PM on August 9, 2023 [17 favorites]
Robbie Robertson, his 1987 solo debut album, is unexcelled.
posted by neuron at 3:07 PM on August 9, 2023 [10 favorites]
posted by neuron at 3:07 PM on August 9, 2023 [10 favorites]
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posted by kneecapped at 3:09 PM on August 9, 2023
posted by kneecapped at 3:09 PM on August 9, 2023
If you have not listened to Bob Dylan's full "Live 1966: The 'Royal Albert Hall' Concert" (you know, the one that actually did not take place at Royal Albert Hall) you owe it to yourself. This is the Robbie Robertson I will remember, just doing things with the electric guitar that still sound wild and out of place.
posted by HunterFelt at 3:12 PM on August 9, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by HunterFelt at 3:12 PM on August 9, 2023 [7 favorites]
Boosting signal for his last wishes, "the family has asked that donations be made to the Six Nations of the Grand River to support the building of their new cultural center."
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 3:23 PM on August 9, 2023 [19 favorites]
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 3:23 PM on August 9, 2023 [19 favorites]
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posted by kensington314 at 3:32 PM on August 9, 2023
posted by kensington314 at 3:32 PM on August 9, 2023
This is just heartbreaking. Their eponymous second album is one of the high points of Western nay World Civilization. The box set Bob Dylan - 1966 Live Recordings is another.
I had wondered about his health for sometime. His face was so puffy and his speech and bearing were so oddly cadenced.
And for the record: I Can't Leave Her Behind.
See also Play it fucking loud.
And the thought comes to mind that Garth Hudson is now the last man standing.
posted by y2karl at 3:34 PM on August 9, 2023 [4 favorites]
I had wondered about his health for sometime. His face was so puffy and his speech and bearing were so oddly cadenced.
And for the record: I Can't Leave Her Behind.
See also Play it fucking loud.
And the thought comes to mind that Garth Hudson is now the last man standing.
posted by y2karl at 3:34 PM on August 9, 2023 [4 favorites]
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posted by Windopaene at 3:48 PM on August 9, 2023
posted by Windopaene at 3:48 PM on August 9, 2023
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posted by JoeXIII007 at 3:49 PM on August 9, 2023
posted by JoeXIII007 at 3:49 PM on August 9, 2023
Baby don't you do it. Don't do it. Don't you break my heart.
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posted by hearthpig at 3:58 PM on August 9, 2023 [2 favorites]
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posted by hearthpig at 3:58 PM on August 9, 2023 [2 favorites]
Well crap, I hadn't realized he was that old. I've been listening to Contact from the Underworld of Redboy and need to get the other solo work. I also didn't know he was working with Scorsese on films. Great talent and a great guitar inspiration for me.
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posted by jabo at 4:05 PM on August 9, 2023
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posted by jabo at 4:05 PM on August 9, 2023
I met Scorsese once. He told me Robertson and he were roommates for a time and Robbie spent far too much time correcting people on the proper pronunciation of Scorsese. "It's Score Sez Ee, not Score Say Zee!" Marty didn't care how people pronounced it and found it rather odd that Robertson had such a bee in his bonnet over it.
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posted by dobbs at 4:17 PM on August 9, 2023 [13 favorites]
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posted by dobbs at 4:17 PM on August 9, 2023 [13 favorites]
I was about 14 when I first became aware of The Band. It was the mid 70s and my parents had recently gotten divorced. My mom started hanging around with a new group of friends. I didn't meet them very often, she probably had them over to the house on weekends when my brother and I were staying with my dad. My mom owned about 10 records at the time. She mostly listened to show tunes or Harry Belafonte. Simon and Garfunkel, Carol King, and Carly Simon were also in our record pile.
One day I noticed some new records were in there. In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, Easy Rider soundtrack, and Music From Big Pink. I didn't know what any of them were so I took them to my room and listened. After a few minutes I realized that mom never listened to any of these. I had never heard any of this music before. Her new friends must have left them at our house. In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida was ok. Easy Rider had some good music but Music From Big Pink really stood out. It was strange and amazing and unlike anything else I had ever heard. I still have that banged up copy I found at 14. And now another one of the people who created this amazing music is gone.
Tonight I will have a drink (probably more than one) and listen to it again. A little sadder this time.
posted by freakazoid at 4:40 PM on August 9, 2023 [17 favorites]
One day I noticed some new records were in there. In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, Easy Rider soundtrack, and Music From Big Pink. I didn't know what any of them were so I took them to my room and listened. After a few minutes I realized that mom never listened to any of these. I had never heard any of this music before. Her new friends must have left them at our house. In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida was ok. Easy Rider had some good music but Music From Big Pink really stood out. It was strange and amazing and unlike anything else I had ever heard. I still have that banged up copy I found at 14. And now another one of the people who created this amazing music is gone.
Tonight I will have a drink (probably more than one) and listen to it again. A little sadder this time.
posted by freakazoid at 4:40 PM on August 9, 2023 [17 favorites]
I have always had an affinity for late night radio. Back in the day, my folks had a radiogram. Everything sounded pretty good on it to my teenage ears, but hearing Somewhere Down the Crazy River on the radio for the first time, late at night in a pretty dark room ....that was something else.
posted by Calvin and the Duplicators at 5:06 PM on August 9, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by Calvin and the Duplicators at 5:06 PM on August 9, 2023 [7 favorites]
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Just got to note “Acadian Driftwood” as a favorite.
posted by MrGuilt at 5:06 PM on August 9, 2023 [5 favorites]
Just got to note “Acadian Driftwood” as a favorite.
posted by MrGuilt at 5:06 PM on August 9, 2023 [5 favorites]
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posted by Fuchsoid at 5:35 PM on August 9, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Fuchsoid at 5:35 PM on August 9, 2023 [1 favorite]
Here’s ’Stage Fright,’ another stone classic Robertson songwriting credit.
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posted by box at 5:44 PM on August 9, 2023 [4 favorites]
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posted by box at 5:44 PM on August 9, 2023 [4 favorites]
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posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 6:13 PM on August 9, 2023
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 6:13 PM on August 9, 2023
I forgot to add that I also love the Robbie Robertson album because it introduced me to the Bodeans. He made music with so many incredible people.
And I think "Broken Arrow" is the most romantic song I've ever heard.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 6:14 PM on August 9, 2023 [3 favorites]
And I think "Broken Arrow" is the most romantic song I've ever heard.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 6:14 PM on August 9, 2023 [3 favorites]
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, maybe some PC controversy now but one of my favourite Levon Helm songs. One of the most "American" and "Southern" anthems, written by a First Nations Canadian guy.
Nothing I have read … has brought home the overwhelming human sense of history that this song does. The only thing I can relate it to at all is The Red Badge of Courage. It's a remarkable song, the rhythmic structure, the voice of Levon and the bass line with the drum accents and then the heavy close harmony of Levon, Richard and Rick in the theme, make it seem impossible that this isn't some traditional material handed down from father to son straight from that winter of 1865 to today. It has that ring of truth and the whole aura of authenticity.
posted by Meatbomb at 6:23 PM on August 9, 2023 [6 favorites]
Nothing I have read … has brought home the overwhelming human sense of history that this song does. The only thing I can relate it to at all is The Red Badge of Courage. It's a remarkable song, the rhythmic structure, the voice of Levon and the bass line with the drum accents and then the heavy close harmony of Levon, Richard and Rick in the theme, make it seem impossible that this isn't some traditional material handed down from father to son straight from that winter of 1865 to today. It has that ring of truth and the whole aura of authenticity.
posted by Meatbomb at 6:23 PM on August 9, 2023 [6 favorites]
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posted by They sucked his brains out! at 6:44 PM on August 9, 2023
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 6:44 PM on August 9, 2023
That performance of The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down is a true classic, but I always thought that was Levon's song. My favorite performance in the Last Waltz, and what I think of when I think of Robbie, is the absolute barnstormer that is The Weight with the Staples Singers.
I seem to remember Robbie once saying in an interview that he played an unreleased tape of The Weight for Bob Dylan, and said it was one of the proudest moments of his life when Bob Dylan became noticeably jealous that Robbie had written that song.
Rest in peace.
posted by fortitude25 at 6:46 PM on August 9, 2023 [7 favorites]
I seem to remember Robbie once saying in an interview that he played an unreleased tape of The Weight for Bob Dylan, and said it was one of the proudest moments of his life when Bob Dylan became noticeably jealous that Robbie had written that song.
Rest in peace.
posted by fortitude25 at 6:46 PM on August 9, 2023 [7 favorites]
And I think "Broken Arrow" is the most romantic song I've ever heard.
Here's that link.
Another track off his 1987 album - Fallen Angel, his elegy for Richard Manuel.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:00 PM on August 9, 2023 [1 favorite]
Here's that link.
Another track off his 1987 album - Fallen Angel, his elegy for Richard Manuel.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:00 PM on August 9, 2023 [1 favorite]
Out of the Blue
Thanks for all the great moments, Robbie.
posted by brachiopod at 7:02 PM on August 9, 2023
Thanks for all the great moments, Robbie.
posted by brachiopod at 7:02 PM on August 9, 2023
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no shortage of Robbie Robertson songs with some sorrow in their marrow.
The River Hymn
posted by philip-random at 7:12 PM on August 9, 2023 [2 favorites]
no shortage of Robbie Robertson songs with some sorrow in their marrow.
The River Hymn
posted by philip-random at 7:12 PM on August 9, 2023 [2 favorites]
I love his music and I also love his speaking voice.
In case you haven't heard it - in the early 90s Richard Godley organized this massive global musical collaboration-type thing as a sort of pro-environmental statement, called "One World One Voice." It's got a totally awesome and bonkers bunch of mashups, with The Chieftains jamming with a Chinese flutist and Laurie Anderson collaborating with a Brazilian jazz artist, Little Steven Van Zandt and Peter Gabriel teaming up on shit, David Gilmour playing for Bob Geldof singing, and it ends with the Leningrad Symphony Orchestra teaming up with the Kodo Drummers of Japan.
But it starts with Robbie Robertson reciting that quote attributed to Chief Seattle.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:32 PM on August 9, 2023 [5 favorites]
In case you haven't heard it - in the early 90s Richard Godley organized this massive global musical collaboration-type thing as a sort of pro-environmental statement, called "One World One Voice." It's got a totally awesome and bonkers bunch of mashups, with The Chieftains jamming with a Chinese flutist and Laurie Anderson collaborating with a Brazilian jazz artist, Little Steven Van Zandt and Peter Gabriel teaming up on shit, David Gilmour playing for Bob Geldof singing, and it ends with the Leningrad Symphony Orchestra teaming up with the Kodo Drummers of Japan.
But it starts with Robbie Robertson reciting that quote attributed to Chief Seattle.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:32 PM on August 9, 2023 [5 favorites]
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posted by fingers_of_fire at 7:46 PM on August 9, 2023
posted by fingers_of_fire at 7:46 PM on August 9, 2023
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He Don’t Live Here No More, but I hope he’s back with Rick, Richard, and Levon, and I hope after all the fallout they feel like brothers again.
I also hope Garth makes it to like 100, but there you go.
posted by armeowda at 8:24 PM on August 9, 2023 [2 favorites]
He Don’t Live Here No More, but I hope he’s back with Rick, Richard, and Levon, and I hope after all the fallout they feel like brothers again.
I also hope Garth makes it to like 100, but there you go.
posted by armeowda at 8:24 PM on August 9, 2023 [2 favorites]
the summer before my senior year in college, I lived on campus with a couple of friends as caretakers of a big, rickety, beautiful old fraternity house. We took a couple of summer classes during the day, worked on the house at other hours, and spent the long muggy evenings (no AC) shooting pool, drinking beer and trying to impress an irregular crew of college and local girls that drifted in and out. It was just as great a summer as it sounds.
Robbie Robertson's first solo album, the one so many have linked to here, was the soundtrack of that summer. So many great songs, and it seemed like everyone turns up on that record, like Peter Gabriel and Bono and my then-faves the BoDeans.
Just thinking of it puts me right back in the big living room with the pool table and big open windows looking over the football field with the warm breeze wafting through and people draped over the shabby furniture with cups of awful keg beer.
So yeah, this one hurts.
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posted by martin q blank at 8:30 PM on August 9, 2023 [6 favorites]
Robbie Robertson's first solo album, the one so many have linked to here, was the soundtrack of that summer. So many great songs, and it seemed like everyone turns up on that record, like Peter Gabriel and Bono and my then-faves the BoDeans.
Just thinking of it puts me right back in the big living room with the pool table and big open windows looking over the football field with the warm breeze wafting through and people draped over the shabby furniture with cups of awful keg beer.
So yeah, this one hurts.
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posted by martin q blank at 8:30 PM on August 9, 2023 [6 favorites]
Wait a minute, Chester.
He said, "That's okay, boy
Won't you feed him when you can?"
🎶
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:47 PM on August 9, 2023 [3 favorites]
He said, "That's okay, boy
Won't you feed him when you can?"
🎶
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:47 PM on August 9, 2023 [3 favorites]
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Who else is going to bring you a bottle of rain?
posted by fairmettle at 8:52 PM on August 9, 2023 [2 favorites]
Who else is going to bring you a bottle of rain?
posted by fairmettle at 8:52 PM on August 9, 2023 [2 favorites]
My mum was a huge fan and so his music was definitely on the mixtape of my childhood, but I found him again on my own when he released Contact from the Underworld of Redboy. It looked like a NIN or David Bowie cover. I haven't thought about any of his music in years, not since an ex-roommate stole my CD collection, which is sad. That he went on to produce the Shrek soundtrack has me spinning. He has a Twitter? Amazing. I regret not being reminded of his glory sooner.
posted by foxtongue at 9:54 PM on August 9, 2023
posted by foxtongue at 9:54 PM on August 9, 2023
This is sure stirring up some ghosts for me…
posted by Capt. Renault at 10:40 PM on August 9, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by Capt. Renault at 10:40 PM on August 9, 2023 [4 favorites]
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posted by Joey Michaels at 12:29 AM on August 10, 2023
posted by Joey Michaels at 12:29 AM on August 10, 2023
Just yesterday I was in the former Friars’ Tavern, where Robbie and the rest of the Hawks met Bob Dylan for the first time and subsequently became The Band.
It shares the eventual fate of every building in Toronto in that it is now a Shoppers Drug Mart.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 2:04 AM on August 10, 2023 [5 favorites]
It shares the eventual fate of every building in Toronto in that it is now a Shoppers Drug Mart.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 2:04 AM on August 10, 2023 [5 favorites]
I can never listen to It Makes No Difference just once, and I always have to get under a blanket with a lot of tissues to hand when I do.
(What makes this YouTube clip especially poignant is that it starts with Robbie, Rick, and Richard joshing each other in an offstage moment. Echoing armeowda's wish that the three of them, and Levon, are finding their way back to one another in the afterlife.)
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🎸
posted by virago at 4:05 AM on August 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
(What makes this YouTube clip especially poignant is that it starts with Robbie, Rick, and Richard joshing each other in an offstage moment. Echoing armeowda's wish that the three of them, and Levon, are finding their way back to one another in the afterlife.)
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🎸
posted by virago at 4:05 AM on August 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
Oh, and here's the ungated version of the Los Angeles Times obituary.
posted by virago at 4:11 AM on August 10, 2023
posted by virago at 4:11 AM on August 10, 2023
Here is his final Guitar World interview from 2016 -- it's unfortunately all too ad laden but still well worth the slog:
“Playing with Bob Dylan was like entering The Twilight Zone of music. You thought, ‘They’re going to wake me up tomorrow because all of this is impossible’”: Robbie Robertson reflects on his remarkable career and the end of the Band
It's very comprehensive and detailed -- This, for instance especially intrigued me:
posted by y2karl at 4:14 AM on August 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
“Playing with Bob Dylan was like entering The Twilight Zone of music. You thought, ‘They’re going to wake me up tomorrow because all of this is impossible’”: Robbie Robertson reflects on his remarkable career and the end of the Band
It's very comprehensive and detailed -- This, for instance especially intrigued me:
...And one of the things nobody knew about on a large scale yet outside the South was this trick of using a banjo string for the first string, then moving the others all down one. That way the strings were looser, and you could bend them.That bit about the banjo string is no doubt common knowledge to much of the guitar playing demographic here but it was new to me. I am going to make a trip to Dusty Strings in Fremont forthwith as soon as I can.
"I learned it from Fred Carter, who was the guitar player I took over from. He was from Louisiana and a lot of guitar players came through the Louisiana Hayride [radio and TV show]: guys like James Burton and Roy Buchanan. I was learning the tricks of the trade and that was my school. Ronnie recognized that there was no stopping me and said, 'Go get ’em, kid.'"
posted by y2karl at 4:14 AM on August 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
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posted by Gelatin at 4:39 AM on August 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Gelatin at 4:39 AM on August 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
This whole column, by Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin, is worth reading, but what jumped out at me was this (because I live in Maine, home to many people of French Canadian ancestry):
... for me, Robertson's most powerful song is "Acadian Driftwood" from "Northern Lights/Southern Cross" (1975). It was influenced by Longfellow's poem "Evangeline," the story of the expulsion of the Acadians from Nova Scotia during the wars between the British and the French, and their long trek to Louisiana, where Cajun culture was born. Check out this video that combines the song with the history.posted by virago at 4:51 AM on August 10, 2023 [6 favorites]
Why does this song move me so much?
It is not only one of Robertson's finest compositions, both lyrically and musically. It is a song of exile, of what Jews call galut -- of a displacement that is not only geographic, but the destruction of a world of meaning.
"How can we sing the LORD'S song in a strange land?" the Psalmist lamented. That singing of songs in strange lands is a human experience that many groups have shared ...
Who better to write than Robbie Robertson, the product of two displaced peoples, to write such a song? Who better than a son of the First Nations and a Russian Jew?
Never was a fan of the band, but I did enjoy his solo work. You'll be missed Mr. Robertson.
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posted by evilDoug at 6:42 AM on August 10, 2023
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posted by evilDoug at 6:42 AM on August 10, 2023
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posted by ivanthenotsoterrible at 7:33 AM on August 10, 2023
posted by ivanthenotsoterrible at 7:33 AM on August 10, 2023
I've never been a huge fan, they have some ok songs, but if you want to track US history to the current day, then just go listen to the anti-union message of King Harvest, written by Robbie (supposedly--according to him). The bass step/cymbal/drum section is cool though.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:52 AM on August 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:52 AM on August 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
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posted by kabong the wiser at 8:06 AM on August 10, 2023
posted by kabong the wiser at 8:06 AM on August 10, 2023
Robertson on "King Harvest" as quoted in a recent blog post:
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:41 AM on August 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
Robbie Robertson: “It’s just a kind of character study in a time period. At the beginning, when the unions came in, they were a saving grace, a way of fighting the big money people, and they affected everybody from the people that worked in the big cities all the way around to the farm people. It’s ironic now, because now so much of it is like gangsters, assassinations, power, greed, insanity. I just thought it was incredible how it started and how it ended up.”There was an echo of the same sentiment in Levon Helm's Growing Trade from 2009.
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:41 AM on August 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
Northern Lights / Southern Cross was one of the first records I ever owned. I was 11. I asked my mom for the Captain and Tennille for Christmas and she sent my much older brother out to the record store. He got me The Band, Maria Muldaur's Midnight at the Oasis and Firesign Theater, The Giant Rat of Sumatra.
I wish I could say that I was overjoyed but in actual fact I pitched a small fit and cried. I was 11 and I wanted to play Muskrat Love over and over on my folding record player. However, a couple years later, I took those albums out and played them. . . over and over again. OK I never really did warm up to Maria Muldaur, but the others changed my life. Northern Lights / Southern Cross remains one of my all time favorite top ten desert island discs.
RIP Robbie Robertson, thanks for being the soundtrack of my life.
posted by mygothlaundry at 9:26 AM on August 10, 2023 [5 favorites]
I wish I could say that I was overjoyed but in actual fact I pitched a small fit and cried. I was 11 and I wanted to play Muskrat Love over and over on my folding record player. However, a couple years later, I took those albums out and played them. . . over and over again. OK I never really did warm up to Maria Muldaur, but the others changed my life. Northern Lights / Southern Cross remains one of my all time favorite top ten desert island discs.
RIP Robbie Robertson, thanks for being the soundtrack of my life.
posted by mygothlaundry at 9:26 AM on August 10, 2023 [5 favorites]
Aw, Robbie.
The Band are still, in my not so humble opinion, tremendously underrated. Each member's contributions were just indelible, and it's kind of tragic that so much bad blood came down through the years about credit given and credit due, in terms of songwriting. I'm not here to litigate that and wouldn't even know where to begin. But regardless of the inarguably vital contributions the whole band The Band made to those recordings, performances, and songs, it's just as inarguable that Robbie wrote or co-wrote some of the best, most timeless songs of the era. I love him.
We watch The Last Waltz at my house every Thanksgiving, have for many years, and among a thousand favorite moments is right before Clapton is going to start wailing, about 38 seconds into this clip, on Further Up The Road his guitar strap pops off, he panics just a little bit, says "woah!", and Robbie, without missing a beat, takes the solo COMPLETELY off the cuff, while Slowhand gets his shit together. I'm not a Clapton fan so this pleases me on several levels.
Freakazoid, that's a funny coincidence with the Easy Rider soundtrack and Big Pink! The band "Smith" does the (just OK) cover version of The Weight on that soundtrack, and The Band's version is, obviously, on Big Pink. And, maddeningly, Smith just smooths over the odd timing on the chorus, and ASIDE from the fact that it sounds weird because we all know the Band's version of it, it sounds wrong because it IS wrong. The song works way better with the crazy move of having that last measure 7 beats long. But Smith adds that beat, and it sort of squares the whole thing off and it falls apart. They're not alone though - In a world where everybody and their cousin covers The Weight, it baffles me to hear so many people get it wrong. I guess it's not especially easy, particularly if you haven't pre-comprehended it, but come on. That's one of the most perplexing and yet inevitable hooks in music.
I would love to know where in the songwriting process they came up with that timing. Was it there when it was just Robbie playing a rough version, and they didn't realize until later how odd it was? Or did someone say "How about THIS?" But this is kind of the way I feel about The Band in general - songs that feel like they were always there, or were just tossed off in a moment, but when you start to look at them and think about them you see how intricate and constructed and masterful they are.
.
posted by dirtdirt at 9:29 AM on August 10, 2023 [8 favorites]
The Band are still, in my not so humble opinion, tremendously underrated. Each member's contributions were just indelible, and it's kind of tragic that so much bad blood came down through the years about credit given and credit due, in terms of songwriting. I'm not here to litigate that and wouldn't even know where to begin. But regardless of the inarguably vital contributions the whole band The Band made to those recordings, performances, and songs, it's just as inarguable that Robbie wrote or co-wrote some of the best, most timeless songs of the era. I love him.
We watch The Last Waltz at my house every Thanksgiving, have for many years, and among a thousand favorite moments is right before Clapton is going to start wailing, about 38 seconds into this clip, on Further Up The Road his guitar strap pops off, he panics just a little bit, says "woah!", and Robbie, without missing a beat, takes the solo COMPLETELY off the cuff, while Slowhand gets his shit together. I'm not a Clapton fan so this pleases me on several levels.
Freakazoid, that's a funny coincidence with the Easy Rider soundtrack and Big Pink! The band "Smith" does the (just OK) cover version of The Weight on that soundtrack, and The Band's version is, obviously, on Big Pink. And, maddeningly, Smith just smooths over the odd timing on the chorus, and ASIDE from the fact that it sounds weird because we all know the Band's version of it, it sounds wrong because it IS wrong. The song works way better with the crazy move of having that last measure 7 beats long. But Smith adds that beat, and it sort of squares the whole thing off and it falls apart. They're not alone though - In a world where everybody and their cousin covers The Weight, it baffles me to hear so many people get it wrong. I guess it's not especially easy, particularly if you haven't pre-comprehended it, but come on. That's one of the most perplexing and yet inevitable hooks in music.
I would love to know where in the songwriting process they came up with that timing. Was it there when it was just Robbie playing a rough version, and they didn't realize until later how odd it was? Or did someone say "How about THIS?" But this is kind of the way I feel about The Band in general - songs that feel like they were always there, or were just tossed off in a moment, but when you start to look at them and think about them you see how intricate and constructed and masterful they are.
.
posted by dirtdirt at 9:29 AM on August 10, 2023 [8 favorites]
[inexact Robbie Robertson quote]
I love the American South because it's the only place in the world where the white people can clap on the two and the four.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:30 AM on August 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
I love the American South because it's the only place in the world where the white people can clap on the two and the four.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:30 AM on August 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
"Music should never be harmless."
-Robbie Robertson
.
posted by BigHeartedGuy at 10:01 AM on August 10, 2023 [3 favorites]
-Robbie Robertson
.
posted by BigHeartedGuy at 10:01 AM on August 10, 2023 [3 favorites]
Back when I was buying cassette tapes -- well, I still do but... -- back when it was a thing to do, I got a copy of The Band. It ended at The Unfaithful Servant, one of the songs of theirs I loved the most. But no King Harvest (Has Surely Come)? Sacrilege!
They were so star-crossed trying to carry on after Robertson left them with both Richard Manuel and Rick Danko dying by their own hands and Robertson and Levon Helm estranged until the latter's dying day. There has been so much darkness in their history.
While not updated for years -- I suspect that may change now -- The Band fan website is maintained and a treasure for the ages. Or so I hope.
posted by y2karl at 10:41 AM on August 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
They were so star-crossed trying to carry on after Robertson left them with both Richard Manuel and Rick Danko dying by their own hands and Robertson and Levon Helm estranged until the latter's dying day. There has been so much darkness in their history.
While not updated for years -- I suspect that may change now -- The Band fan website is maintained and a treasure for the ages. Or so I hope.
posted by y2karl at 10:41 AM on August 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
On closer examination after reading Robbie Robertson's front page obituary in the New York Times plus not reading the article I linked closely enough, I see I was wrong in saying Rick Danko died by his own hand. At least, not in the technical sense. The star crossed history part of The Band after Robertson's departure still stands to my mind.
Also, Carny is worth viewing.
Also, the NYT's Robbie Robertson's 16 Essential Songs.
posted by y2karl at 12:05 PM on August 10, 2023
Also, Carny is worth viewing.
Also, the NYT's Robbie Robertson's 16 Essential Songs.
posted by y2karl at 12:05 PM on August 10, 2023
But I must disagree with the New York Times's 16 essential songs in regards to their first selection. From the B side of the 7" single of I Want You and recorded live in Liverpool on May 14, 1966, to my mind Robertson's solo is far hotter on this version of Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues.
posted by y2karl at 12:42 PM on August 10, 2023
posted by y2karl at 12:42 PM on August 10, 2023
Yeah, I can see it now
The distant red neon shivered in the heat
I was feeling like a stranger in a strange land
You know, where people play games with the night
God, it was too hot to sleep
posted by tommasz at 2:06 PM on August 10, 2023
The distant red neon shivered in the heat
I was feeling like a stranger in a strange land
You know, where people play games with the night
God, it was too hot to sleep
posted by tommasz at 2:06 PM on August 10, 2023
Wild, while I will always love RR's contributions to The Band and his solo and soundtrack work as well, it's trippy to see this many comments w/o seeing any from folks who've struggled with his outsized ego. Have read / watched almost everything written / produced on The Band - and a million reviews of their collective / individual output - and it's pretty impossible for a clear-eyed observer to come away with an impression that doesn't at least recognize Robbie's impulsive need for control and obsessive requirement for personal recognition.
Levon wasn't makin' it up.
posted by thecincinnatikid at 5:56 PM on August 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
Levon wasn't makin' it up.
posted by thecincinnatikid at 5:56 PM on August 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
.
posted by AnyUsernameWillDo at 5:57 PM on August 10, 2023
posted by AnyUsernameWillDo at 5:57 PM on August 10, 2023
I am just so fucking angry that these incredible ppl are falling through the ice and gone.
None of them -- not even one -- has asked me if it's OK for them to go.
No, it is not OK for them to go.
I have friends and sibs who are making, or who have made, bucket lists. WTF? That is just totally fuct. They are not planning their lives, they are planning their deaths.
No fucking way do I consider my life in that way; I'll die when I die, same as I've already done a few times, trial runs. I'll die when I die but goddamned if I'm putting it on the grocery list.
It's really grabbing me by the throat when the greats leave the scene.
This sucks.
.
posted by dancestoblue at 6:38 PM on August 10, 2023 [4 favorites]
None of them -- not even one -- has asked me if it's OK for them to go.
No, it is not OK for them to go.
I have friends and sibs who are making, or who have made, bucket lists. WTF? That is just totally fuct. They are not planning their lives, they are planning their deaths.
No fucking way do I consider my life in that way; I'll die when I die, same as I've already done a few times, trial runs. I'll die when I die but goddamned if I'm putting it on the grocery list.
It's really grabbing me by the throat when the greats leave the scene.
This sucks.
.
posted by dancestoblue at 6:38 PM on August 10, 2023 [4 favorites]
It really grabbing me by the throat when the greats leave the scene.
There is a former President in hospice care. The first candidate for whom I voted who got elected to the office. There is a day soon coming which I dread. This has been the annus horribilis of all as far as I am concerned.
posted by y2karl at 7:25 AM on August 11, 2023 [3 favorites]
There is a former President in hospice care. The first candidate for whom I voted who got elected to the office. There is a day soon coming which I dread. This has been the annus horribilis of all as far as I am concerned.
posted by y2karl at 7:25 AM on August 11, 2023 [3 favorites]
.
posted by From Bklyn at 9:08 AM on August 11, 2023
posted by From Bklyn at 9:08 AM on August 11, 2023
This, about Levon and Robbie meeting Sonny Boy Williamson back in the day, is very bittersweet. Well, actually, about 95% bitter.
posted by y2karl at 3:10 PM on August 12, 2023
posted by y2karl at 3:10 PM on August 12, 2023
.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 6:26 PM on August 12, 2023
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 6:26 PM on August 12, 2023
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posted by Rumple at 2:04 PM on August 9, 2023 [3 favorites]