Robbie Robertson: An Appreciation

 My first exposure to Robbie Robertson was his 1987 debut. Like many of his peers like John Fogerty, Roger McGuinn and others , the music landscape was ready to embrace these legends after a brief hiatus.

I was a “cassette club” member so it was one that caught my eye, but less for the artist and the more guests. I was a huge U2 fan and this was the rare album where they made a guest appearance. I am sure it was related to Daniel Lanois being the producer.

U2 co-wrote one song and appeared on a second. Peter Gabriel, the BoDeans, Ivan Neville and Maria McKee also guested

It was an acclaimed Roots Rock album when Roots Rock seemed to be at a height, but as someone who listened mostly to The Clash and Ramones, I didn’t care for it.

Now, to be fair, while I never fell head over heels over the album, I did come back to it and ended up listening to it a lot years later.

As a teen, I watched The Last Waltz, though I had no context at the time. I didn’t know it was supposedly the best concert film ever, but just a concert film (and one with a bunch of cameos) and it didn’t have a huge effect on me

But one thing that did have that monumental effect was The Band’s 1976 SNL appearance. Now, I didn’t see it live but in those 90s reruns of the classic stuff, but it was an illuminating moment nonetheless.

It’s hard to find YouTube footage that doesn’t get zapped by NBC, and of course it was Levon Helm who sang lead. Still, maybe that was part of the appeal. Robertson was the most recognizable face, and when they hit the chorus and he, Manuel and Danko all sang, it was fairly amazing.

I have always loved that song. The discussion around it has taken a life of its own recently for glorifying the Lost Cause, though certainly the anti War sentiment is surely the basis of the song.

That experience led me to buying the ubiquitous Best of the Band record and eventually the second album (the self titled Brown album).

I may never have embraced them quite like I did the Byrds (and I never really liked their biggest hit “The Weight”) but I did love songs like “Up on Crippled Creek” and “Ophelia” and it probably wouldn’t hurt to search out more. Additionally, as I have mentioned elsewhere, I have come to enjoy Dylan and the Bands 1975 The Basement Tapes album.