Robbie Robertson:
The Weight
Robbie Robertson was born on the Six Nations Reserve outside of Toronto, Ontario, on July 5, 1943, his mother was of Mohawk and Cayuga heritage, and his biological father (who he never knew) was a professional gambler. He spent some time as a teenager working with traveling carnivals before he felt the pull of rock ’n’ roll. By the time he was 16 he was already the lead guitarist with Ronnie Hawkins and The Hawks, a popular Canadian bar band. “I was trying to do something with my playing that was like screaming at the sky,” he wrote in his autobiography “Testimony”.
The Hawks split from Ronnie Hawkins in 1964, and soon were known as The Band, and became Bob Dylan's backup band when Dylan "went electric" to the consternation of his folk fans.
The Band more or less created the style of music now called "Americana". Robertson wrote odes to Confederate soldiers, blacksmiths, medicine shows and whistle stops, his tall tales given weight and energy by the heft of The Band.
By 1976 Robbie had had enough of the touring and rock n roll life, and The Band played their last concert with him, "The Last Waltz". This was released 2 years later as a movie filmed and directed by Martin Scorsese , and it began his career as a music advisor to Scorsese which continued up through Scorsese's current movie, “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
Released from the shackles of Rock and Roll, Robertson continued to write songs and put out seven very eclectic albums as well as being involved with eighteen film soundtracks.
Here is a clip from "The Last Waltz", with Levon Helm singing lead on "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down"
and here is an amazing clip of The Band playing live in their studio in Woodstock NY, "King Harvest (Has Surely Come)" sung by pianist Richard Manuel,
For the sheer joy of music, and the power of Robertson's songwriting, you can't beat this clip from PLAYING FOR CHANGE with Robertson on guitar and Ringo Starr on drums, with guest spots from Larkin Poe, Lucas Nelson (Willie's son) and countless others.
https://youtu.be/ph1GU1qQ1zQ
Robbie, the weight has been lifted, go in peace!
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