Robbie Robertson, Leader of The Band, Dies at 80

[Hardbopjazz]

The Band was so good. Robbie wrote some great songs. RIP. 
https://variety.com/2023/music/news/robbie-robertson-dead-the-band-1235692172/amp/?fbclid=IwAR2WC7nL3G7549YNTg0ugKLmDHtzbIgqSNEDJ3iOKitz08kcrOyJ2daiFhA

[felser]

RIP.  Garth Hudson is the only surviving member, plus that shaggy-haired guy they toured with in 1966 is still around.  Fascinating band at their best.

[GregK]

Damn this is very sad news. Those first two albums were so good, such a unique sound for the time. What a collection of talent The Band was. 

[Brad]

80 is not so old these days.  RIP. 

[EKE BBB]

R.I.P. 

[John L]

This is a surprise to me. I didn't know that he was sick.  RIP

[sgcim]

RIP. Maybe he and Levon can work things out now that they're wherever they are.

[romualdo]

RIP Robbie - off to The Big Pink House in the sky

[ghost of miles]

Listening to the first album right now, with the second and the Basement Tapes w/Dylan lined up for later. As a kid I think I heard their influence on subsequent bands before I ever heard them directly; now at an older age, I appreciate the music they created and what they helped inspire even more. Would have loved to have been around to hear those early albums when they first came out.

[Milestones]

A great, great figure in Rock and Americana.

Spinning The Basement Tapes now.

R.I.P.

 

[Joe]

Complicated man, complicated legacy. At his best, though, he was responsible for some pretty timeless music.

[clifford_thornton]

Unfortunate news indeed. Now that I live Upstate and near Woodstock/212, that group is pretty unavoidable and so much a part of the cultural fabric. I actually didn't keep any Band records but should revisit them. Really beautiful songs that transcend ubiquity. 

[T.D.]

28 minutes ago, clifford_thornton said:

Unfortunate news indeed. Now that I live Upstate and near Woodstock/212, that group is pretty unavoidable and so much a part of the cultural fabric. I actually didn't keep any Band records but should revisit them. Really beautiful songs that transcend ubiquity. 

I didn't keep any records either. Kind of ashamed to say that (after living about an hour away for 20+ years) that I've never even attended a concert at the Levon Helm Studios...between travel and the fact I don't listen to those types of performers so often.

I think the fabled "Big Pink" house in Saugerties has been maintained as some kind of luxury rental. 😆

[JSngry]

Haven't kept any, and not in any way ashamed about it. They weren't anything I wanted/needed to "hold on to", although they were a cool thing to pass through for a bit. But "timeless"? Not for me. 

Still, I guess, RIP. He got old and wasn't broke, so good for him; not everybody gets that. 

[clifford_thornton]

9 minutes ago, T.D. said:

I didn't keep any records either. Kind of ashamed to say that (after living about an hour away for 20+ years) that I've never even attended a concert at the Levon Helm Studios...between travel and the fact I don't listen to those types of performers so often.

I think the fabled "Big Pink" house in Saugerties has been maintained as some kind of luxury rental. 😆

That is true about Big Pink. I have taken a gander at it and took a few photos some years back -- was a rainy, dreary day, so kinda perfect.

The Levon Helm Studios concerts are very expensive, so that keeps me out.

[Joe]

12 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Haven't kept any, and not in any way ashamed about it. They weren't anything I wanted/needed to "hold on to", although they were a cool thing to pass through for a bit. But "timeless"? Not for me. 

Still, I guess, RIP. He got old and wasn't broke, so good for him; not everybody gets that. 

The first 2 albums are special, IMO. But mostly because they are true group efforts. TBH, I could listen to Richard Manuel sing just about anything. (What's the expression... "the telephone book?"). But they kind of fall of a cliff after that, mostly because it became the Robbie Robertson Show, whether out of necessity, bad blood, or some mix of all that plus, you know, human nature.

I find THE LAST WALTZ almost unwatchable now, but maybe I should never have read Levon's memoir.

[jazzbo]

I feel very much the same way Joe, though the next two had some great moments. And I'll add the complete Basement Tapes and Planet Waves. Planet Waves still blows me away, best of Bob and The Band together.

[JSngry]

First two were special, yes. But as time passed, I didn't care any more. Just didn't care. 

[clifford_thornton]

Yeah, albums like those are what streaming is for. I don't need to own 'em but they're good records and foundational for so much that came after (some of which I like, most of which is... not for me). 

no Band, no Jayhawks (just one of a million examples).

[ep1str0phy]

R.I.P. 

RE: the above conversation - I'm a tremendous admirer of the first two records, though I have no strong sentimental attachment to the music. When the Band operated as a collaborative entity, it was truly extraordinary. The group understood pocket in a really special way, and the best of the writing somehow sounds both nuanced and effortless.

The bass motion and cascading power chords in "King Harvest" are weirdly sophisticated - not in a proggy sense, but in the same way that the Pixies or Mitski would later harmonize around the melody. It deviates from the pop formula of the era by adapting the harmony to a lead voice, rather than just superimposing the vocal line over a predictable diatonic chord progression. In a practical sense, it presages the "chunks of power chord"-type writing that is all over modern indie and alt rock.

Incidentally, there is a certain school of creative music that swears by Robbie Robertson's guitar playing. I admit that It's taken me a long time to get to it. It's fundamentally economical, and its specialness is based on feel and rhythmic nuance rather than energy or sophistication of line. But it's perfect for the Band, and a fine contrast to the escalating virtuosity that prevailed in the guitar heroism of the late 60's onward. 

[Joe]

1 hour ago, ep1str0phy said:

R.I.P. 

RE: the above conversation - I'm a tremendous admirer of the first two records, though I have no strong sentimental attachment to the music. When the Band operated as a collaborative entity, it was truly extraordinary. The group understood pocket in a really special way, and the best of the writing somehow sounds both nuanced and effortless.

The bass motion and cascading power chords in "King Harvest" are weirdly sophisticated - not in a proggy sense, but in the same way that the Pixies or Mitski would later harmonize around the melody. It deviates from the pop formula of the era by adapting the harmony to a lead voice, rather than just superimposing the vocal line over a predictable diatonic chord progression. In a practical sense, it presages the "chunks of power chord"-type writing that is all over modern indie and alt rock.

Incidentally, there is a certain school of creative music that swears by Robbie Robertson's guitar playing. I admit that It's taken me a long time to get to it. It's fundamentally economical, and its specialness is based on feel and rhythmic nuance rather than energy or sophistication of line. But it's perfect for the Band, and a fine contrast to the escalating virtuosity that prevailed in the guitar heroism of the late 60's onward. 

I hear you w/r/t Robertson the guitarist. I had a similar experience. It's probably the best part of the latter LPs, where the songwriting starts to calcify a bit.

I mostly think of The Band these days as a collection of cautionary tales: about the music industry, about fame and ambition, about what it means to be part of a collective, about mythologizing... the beginnings of those stories are relatively happy, the endings almost uniformly sad.

[danasgoodstuff]

I've loved RR and The Band since way back in the day and, if anything, that's only grown for me.  Saw them just once, with Bob in Seattle in '74.  It worked in the room better than it does on the live album that came from that tour.  Collaboration was the key to what made the first two so very special, and I have to think John Simon's involvement played a role just as Jimmy Miller's did for the Stones.  I've got the box set, the deluxe versions of some of the albums, but not all the bells and whistles, yet.  I'm a bit bummed about RR's passing, but not overly so - good long rum, did what he wanted and if that meant not revisiting what he did with The Band except to curate the reissues, well that's his perogy.  As a guitar player, he was right for that band and for Ronnie and Bob, but I wouldn't have hired him as a session player.  As a songwriter, when he was good he was great, but when he wasn't it could be unintentional bad self-parody awkward.  RIP and thank you.

[Gheorghe]

I kinda had blinders regarding other music than jazz, but once a chick took me to that film "Last Waltz" which I remember quite well, though sure I was more interesting in dating that chick than in the music. 

In any case .... a remarkable career but of course it´s a drag if you disband a successful unit as early as at age 35.....