Robbie Robertson, leader of The Band, dies at 80

[Turn2]

Robbie Robertson, a Canadian musician and songwriter who made his mark in the late 1960s and early '70s as the leader of the influential rock group The Band, died Wednesday after a long illness. Robertson played lead guitar and wrote some of The Band’s best-known songs, including “The Weight,” “Up on Cripple Creek,” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.”
But it was Robertson's appearance in "The Last Waltz," a 1978 documentary about the group's farewell concert that was directed by Martin Scorsese, that made him a star. Robertson went on to produce scores and curated songs for Scorsese movies like "Raging Bull," "The Departed," "The Wolf of Wall Street" and "The Irishman."

Robbie Robertson, leader of The Band, dies at 80

Robertson played lead guitar and wrote some of The Band’s best-known songs, including “The Weight,” “Up on Cripple Creek,” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.”

www.nbcnews.com

Hats off for Robbie.

 

[Mr Janny]

Damn. Incredibly underrated artist

 

[Sigmapolis]

Aww. That one stings.

 

[Al_4_State]

A polarizing figure, but an undoubtedly brilliant songwriter and guitarist.

“The Weight” might be the greatest song of all time.

 

[madguy30]

Sits behind Danko and Helm but like the rest of The Band, he fit perfectly in what he did.

 

[JohnPrineforCy]

I always love the way he plays guitar on this song

 

[JohnPrineforCy]

August 9th has taken some of my favorite musicians.

 

[Acylum]

Not trying to start an argument but Levon Helm was the most important member.

 

[Turn2]

A polarizing figure, but an undoubtedly brilliant songwriter and guitarist.

“The Weight” might be the greatest song of all time.

Not sure what you may be referring to. I've browsed his Wikipedia page to see what I might not be aware of and there isn't a hint there, unless it's related to band relationships, which are often dubious.

Not trying to start an argument but Levon Helm was the most important member.

Those debates will arise with great bands.

 

[ESciGuy]

Not sure what you may be referring to. I've browsed his Wikipedia page to see what I might not be aware of and there isn't a hint there, unless it's related to band relationships, which are often dubious.

Those debates will arise with great bands.

Several reasons:

• essentially forced the Band to disband with The Last Waltz, though the other members weren't on board with that decision
• got too close to Marty S, and hence became a major focal point of TLW movie. Numerous instances of him fake singing. When you have Richard, Levon, and Rick, you don't need a fourth vocalist. Way too many interviews of him, also.
• hogged songwriting credits that weren't entirely his. No doubt, he was a fabulous songwriter, but the other members had significant contributions that weren't properly recognized. Levon was particularly pissed about this.

 

[Al_4_State]

Not sure what you may be referring to. I've browsed his Wikipedia page to see what I might not be aware of and there isn't a hint there, unless it's related to band relationships, which are often dubious.

Those debates will arise with great bands.

Levon Helm accused Robbie of screwing over the rest of The Band on royalties and refusing to keep touring, which left them relatively broke and Robbie fat and happy. Many fans view Robbie as a villain in the story of The Band.

Robbie’s counter was they were all strung out on heroin and he single handedly carried them for a long time.

My opinion is that both parties had some legitimate beefs and the truth was somewhat in the middle. I think Robbie took more credit/royalties than he deserved, but he absolutely did carry them when Levon, Danko, and Manuel were too f*cked up to participate fully.

 

[NorthCyd]

Not trying to start an argument but Levon Helm was the most important member.

 

[Entropy]

 

[matclone]

Rip RR. Big Pink is probably my favorite album of all time. A big part of its greatness was the contribution of each member to the whole (e.g. listen to the song Chest Fever). There were three primary lead vocalists, none who were named Robertson.

On Big Pink Richard Manuel wrote as many songs as those credited to Robertson and Rick Danko wrote another. That mix (songwriting) changed a bit on subsequent records but otherwise I'm not sure what evidence suggests Robertson carried the band at any point other than he was the one always giving interviews. Their greatest records are widely considered to be Big Pink and the Brown album.

I was disappointed to see Last Waltz essentially portray them as Robbie and the Band.

That said, Robertson was one of the greats.

 

[Turn2]

Levon Helm accused Robbie of screwing over the rest of The Band on royalties and refusing to keep touring, which left them relatively broke and Robbie fat and happy. Many fans view Robbie as a villain in the story of The Band.

Robbie’s counter was they were all strung out on heroin and he single handedly carried them for a long time.

My opinion is that both parties had some legitimate beefs and the truth was somewhat in the middle. I think Robbie took more credit/royalties than he deserved, but he absolutely did carry them when Levon, Danko, and Manuel were too f*cked up to participate fully.

Have you seen the documentary ONCE WERE BROTHERS, and if so, would you deem it a fair depiction?

 

[Al_4_State]

Have you seen the documentary ONCE WERE BROTHERS, and if so, would you deem it a fair depiction?

It’s very one-sided to Robbie, but Levon’s account is very one-sided in his direction.

Like I said earlier, it seems like there was material wrong doing on both sides and I don’t see this as a hero/bad guy scenario.

 

[Al_4_State]

Rip RR. Big Pink is probably my favorite album of all time. A big part of its greatness was the contribution of each member to the whole (e.g. listen to the song Chest Fever). There were three primary lead vocalists, none who were named Robertson.

On Big Pink Richard Manuel wrote as many songs as those credited to Robertson and Rick Danko wrote another. That mix (songwriting) changed a bit on subsequent records but otherwise I'm not sure what evidence suggests Robertson carried the band at any point other than he was the one always giving interviews. Their greatest records are widely considered to be Big Pink and the Brown album.

I was disappointed to see Last Waltz essentially portray them as Robbie and the Band.

That said, Robertson was one of the greats.

Throughout most of the 70’s Levon, Rick Danko, and Richard Manuel very completely whacked out on drugs/booze and if it wasn’t for Robbie prodding them, they wouldn’t have made albums like Life Is a Carnival or Rock of Ages. Garth Hudson was just too eccentric (I think he’s undiagnosed high functioning autistic) to lead them in any meaningful fashion.

Robbie never descended to the same depths of substance abuse and remained a functional band leader during that time.

 

[Big Daddy Kang]

Probably pretty easy to take advantage of bandmates "completely whacked out on drugs/booze", though. Was he an important member of The Band? Maybe. Was he a good guy? Not to my way of thinking.

 

[Turn2]

August 9th has taken some of my favorite musicians.

Garcia?

 

[hiltonisheaven]

Heck of a songwriter and a great band. Too bad they couldn’t keep it together as we all missed out on more music. I enjoy watching their concerts on YouTube and two things became apparent: 1) RR wasn’t singing 2) Levon Helm was super talented and really seemed to enjoy playing music.