RIP Robbie Robertson

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[tbonezone]

definitely a rock legend for those who still remember the band.

 

[Toga]

The Band
It was like post Civil War rural America meets Woodstock and wonderful things happened.

 

[br801]

Many fans of the Band disliked him and blamed him for a lot of stuff, but the whole thing doesn't happen without his vision and songwriting and lead guitar playing. RIP, Robbie.

(And who had Garth Hudson as the last man standing?)

 

[orangeinohio]

Noooooo.
This sucks.

 

[Fireball Jr.]

Many fans of the Band disliked him and blamed him for a lot of stuff, but the whole thing doesn't happen without his vision and songwriting and lead guitar playing. RIP, Robbie.

(And who had Garth Hudson as the last man standing?)

All true, but legit reasons for Robbie to be disliked despite his greatness as a guitar player & songwriter. He rarely gave his bros props
and was an insufferable self-promoter as enabled by his pal Marty Scorsese on Last Waltz.

Garth turned 86 last week,

 

[br801]

All true, but legit reasons for Robbie to be disliked despite his greatness as a guitar player & songwriter. He rarely gave his bros props
and was an insufferable self-promoter as enabled by his pal Marty Scorsese on Last Waltz.

Garth turned 86 last week,

Oh, I get why some didn't care for him, including some of his band mates. My point was just that we don't get the Band and that body of work without him.

 

[Symphony Steve]

Their second album, 'The Band', got me through my freshman year at SU. Not sure whether it was homesickness, and/or an aggressiveness on the part of some of the students which I wasn't used to.

But this album was a bedrock of reassurance:

 

[Fireball Jr.]

Great show, great day, great memories.

 

[Symphony Steve]

Great show, great day, great memories.

Saw The Band at the War Memorial. Our RA at the time, Billy Case (former SU basketball player, GREAT guy), was a huge fan, and we were in heaven at that concert. May still be the best show I ever saw. Three encores, the third of which (preceded by a huge shout-out to CNY by The Band) was a cover of a great, but little-known, song by the 4 Tops:

Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever (Live At The Academy Of Music, New York, 1971 / Remastered 2001)

Provided to YouTube by Universal Music GroupLoving You Is Sweeter Than Ever (Live At The Academy Of Music, New York, 1971 / Remastered 2001) · The BandRock O...

www.youtube.com

 

[br801]

Robbie Robertson: 20 Essential Songs

Guitarist and songwriter made classic music from the Basement Tapes to the Last Waltz and Beyond

www.rollingstone.com

 

[orangeinohio]

Robbie Robertson: 20 Essential Songs

Guitarist and songwriter made classic music from the Basement Tapes to the Last Waltz and Beyond

www.rollingstone.com

Maybe not the best, but this is my current favorite:

‘Ophelia’ (1975)​

One of The Band’s most boisterous recordings — Garth Hudson’s horns! Richard Manuel’s Hammond! Levon Helm’s rowdy vocal! — once again sprang from Robertson’s mind. It also features one of Robbie’s most exquisite guitar solos, both on the studio version from 1975’s Northern Lights – Southern Cross and in the quintessential live recording from The Last Waltz. During Helm’s comeback tour decades later, the drummer made it a staple of his live shows, stirring the masses with that yearning plea for the titular “Ophelia” to “come back home.” Since then, it’s been covered by everyone from My Morning Jacket to Eric Church, a true genre-crossing classic. —J.H.

 

[Newhouser]

Reading Robbie's biography side by side with Levon's gives you an interesting history of friendship and music. Robbie clearly was responsible for their short run but he had some vessels in Rick and Levon...that said all of them stem from Dylan and his staggering genius.

 

[Forloveoforange]

The Band is my favorite group.

Here is a Robbie Robertson song:
My favorite lines are We've got time to kill, Catskill, sweet by and by.

 

[Forloveoforange]

A Robbie Robertson-written song, led by the great Rick Danko:

 

[Symphony Steve]

A Robbie Robertson-written song, lead by the great Rick Danko:

What's amazing about The Band is that they had three otherworldly vocalists, Danko, Richard Manuel and Levon Helm. Each one of them totally distinctive. I saw a clip from Levon where he said they'd each try out the lead vocal, would then decide which one was right for a given song, then build the harmonies around it.

 

[Forloveoforange]

Levon leading this Robbie Robertson song is what started my love for The Band:

 

[br801]

A Robbie Robertson-written song, led by the great Rick Danko:

That's as good a song as anyone has written, period, and perhaps Danko's greatest vocal.

 

[Forloveoforange]

That's as good a song as anyone has written, period, and perhaps Danko's greatest vocal.

That's as good a song as anyone has written, period, and perhaps Danko's greatest vocal.

Another great Danko song is the often-covered, peppy version of Long Black Veil, which I kind of lean toward as my favorite (The) Band song:

Of course all of the singers are there in it.