Seems most commenters know him from the Band, so I thought I'd share how I know him instead since I seem to be in the minority.
When I was a kid my father gave me a copy of "Music for the Native Americans"[0], an album he put together in collaboration with several Native American artists as a soundtrack for a documentary. It's my favorite album ever written. I know that's just because I grew up listening to it so it rooted itself somewhere deep in my brain during my formative years, but I hope someone else might find it now and hear something beautiful in it too.
If he did that today it would be called "cultural appropriation" and his reputation would be trashed. But thankfully he did it years ago so we've still got a chance to hear this sort of rare music.
I just love this. Scorsese’s camera moves - the way he swoops in behind Mavis and then slowly comes back around her as she starts to soar. The way he lights up Danko for the start of his solo bit. It’s just a beautifully put together document of a great performance. It was shot separately on a soundstage, making it essentially an early music video, and a great one at that. That Robertson and Scorsese were still working together right to the end just makes it all the more poignant and wondrous.
Played The Band's Academy of Music performance [0] last night when I got the news. It's right up there with The Last Waltz. Great and timeless music. Hell some of my favorite Grateful Dead performances were covers of his music. RIP Robbie. Enjoy your weekends fellow heady folks (~);)
My favorite music lore is the Dead, The Band, Dylan and Lennon interplayed.
- the The Dead covering Dylan live consistently
- the Dead’s weight covers over the years. I’m fairly Brent Mydland’s last-ish live song was the Weight and he sang the “I’ve gotta go but my friends can stick around” verse. Chilling but feels right.
- Jerry and the Dead supporting Dylan with a joint tour in the 80’s when Dylan was a washed up alcoholic
- Jerry’s got a great Dear Prudence cover that I believe yoko said it was how the song was meant to be played. Plus a bunch of other JCB/Dylan covers.
I was there. It started three hours late. They showed a samurai movie with subtitles while we waited. My GF was sick from all the smoke. Dylan seemed drunk.
But it is a fantastic album!
‘Up on Cripple Creek’ was my first explicit introduction to them. After buying their 1969 self titled album on a whim, my jaw dropped from hearing the original sample from GangStarr’s “Beyond Comprehension” off their 1990 ‘Step in the Arena’. That isolated drum roll and guitar lick is so mystical. I could listen to those brief 3 seconds on loop for hours.
Great quote: Speaking of the Band in the 2020 documentary "Once Were Brothers," Bruce Springsteen said, "It's like you've never heard them before and like they'd always been there."
Similarly, this was a great line from the LA Times obituary for Robertson:
>As the Band’s chief songwriter and grand conceptualist, Robertson turned old American folklore into modern myths, a knack that gave a timeless quality to such songs as “The Weight” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”; it was as if he had unearthed the songs, not written them.
RIP. Recently heard this interview with him, telling a story not actually about himself, but still revealing a lot about himself and what making blues music was like at that time.
Readit News
When I was a kid my father gave me a copy of "Music for the Native Americans"[0], an album he put together in collaboration with several Native American artists as a soundtrack for a documentary. It's my favorite album ever written. I know that's just because I grew up listening to it so it rooted itself somewhere deep in my brain during my formative years, but I hope someone else might find it now and hear something beautiful in it too.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_for_The_Native_Americans....
If I had to choose the greatest song ever written, I would not hesitate to go with The Weight. The version [0] from The Waltz is especially brilliant.
[0] - https://youtu.be/q-w9OclUnns
Also, nice username. ;)
[0] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNtcW2LqveU&list=OLAK5uy_khf...
- the The Dead covering Dylan live consistently
- the Dead’s weight covers over the years. I’m fairly Brent Mydland’s last-ish live song was the Weight and he sang the “I’ve gotta go but my friends can stick around” verse. Chilling but feels right.
- Jerry and the Dead supporting Dylan with a joint tour in the 80’s when Dylan was a washed up alcoholic
- Jerry’s got a great Dear Prudence cover that I believe yoko said it was how the song was meant to be played. Plus a bunch of other JCB/Dylan covers.
True musicians!
‘Up on Cripple Creek’ was my first explicit introduction to them. After buying their 1969 self titled album on a whim, my jaw dropped from hearing the original sample from GangStarr’s “Beyond Comprehension” off their 1990 ‘Step in the Arena’. That isolated drum roll and guitar lick is so mystical. I could listen to those brief 3 seconds on loop for hours.
>As the Band’s chief songwriter and grand conceptualist, Robertson turned old American folklore into modern myths, a knack that gave a timeless quality to such songs as “The Weight” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”; it was as if he had unearthed the songs, not written them.
Robbie Robertson Talks About Sonny Boy Williamson (Language Warning) https://youtu.be/90-O6c20PLk