The Band.

What is going on in Visions of Johanna? The guitar is so sparse and stabbing, almost seems random.

the good (fucking amazing solo that gets close to rock n' roll verlain/quine) and the bad (pretending to sing into a turned off mic lol) of Robbie!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2aAN3MZhm0

He did a lot for Scorsese after The Last Waltz. There's a brief but funny interview with him on the bonus features for Raging Bull where he talks about fixing a terrible tape drag on a recording of "Cavalleria Rusticana" so that it was usable, but he was often the music supervisor going forward. Occasionally he'd even perform on the soundtracks himself - King of Comedy is probably the best (he produced Van Morrison's "Wonderful Remark" on there and plays lead guitar). The Color of Money may be the worst.

Love his guitar on those 1966 tour recordings:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvKTSUTcDKo

Also, I'm no fan of his self-titled debut, but it definitely got some love back in the day. 30 voters pushed it to #13 on that year's Pazz & Jop poll.

He produced this gem for Tom Petty, the closest the Heartbreakers came to sounding like...The Band:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hySGRNEKYN0

Yup. That's another that was done for King of Comedy. (Three long years before it showed up again on Southern Accents.)

he was pretty hot too

I loved so much of his writing. It’s just Garth left now. pic.twitter.com/ewKzvOwgkW

— Hanif Abdurraqib (@NifMuhammad) August 9, 2023

Not said often enough: well in the late '70s he was kinda hot?

Posting a picture of what is now a pretty morbid tic-tac-toe board hanging in my living room:

https://i.imgur.com/rkBeoVx.jpg

:(

do wanna post one more hot shot, he could really pull off the "low level pool hustler" look, it's really hard not to look stupid dressed like this!

Canadian musician Robbie Robertson best known for his work as lead guitarist and songwriter for The Band, and for his career as a solo recording artist has died today at the age of 80. RIP pic.twitter.com/2k46IjXT2B

— Jake (the ‘80s never ended in my world) Rudh (@JakeRudh) August 9, 2023

aw marty ;_;

Martin Scorsese's statement to @NBCNews on the death of his collaborator and friend Robbie Robertson:

"It goes without saying that he was a giant, that his effect on the art form was profound and lasting." pic.twitter.com/reSLs44RDN

— Daniel Arkin (@d_arkin) August 9, 2023

IIRC, there was an anecdote from one of Scorsese's exes in Easy Riders, Raging Bulls about how it was too bad that Marty & Robbie weren't gay, because their relationship was by far the best either one was involved in at that time.

Pretty crazy how they lived. Robertson talked about in-depth for the first time in an interview he did to promote his solo debut:

The wild times with Scorsese also included many highflying jaunts to Europe to promote The Last Waltz, attend film festivals and pick up awards — trophies and gold records — garnered over the years but never collected. “Seems like there was always a commotion wherever we went,” says Robertson. “Marty has big extremes in his personality. One minute he would be laughing, and the next minute there would be telephones flying out the windows.”

As the months of extreme living drifted by, word inevitably leaked out. “There was a magazine article,” Robertson says, “and it was called ‘Bel Air, Bel Air.’ It said something like ‘I went to Martin Scorsese’s house. He and Robbie Robertson are having these wild parties, and there are women everywhere, and there are drugs, and it makes Hugh Hefner’s place look like a kindergarten.’ So we get a copy of this article and Marty goes crazy.” Robertson laughs. “He starts breaking glasses immediately. Smashing things. Talking with lawyers, ripping phones out. He says, ‘Look at this! Look at this article! Read it! I’m suing these people. I’m taking them to court.’ And I looked at it, and I said, ‘Marty, the only thing inaccurate here is that we don’t live in Bel Air.'”

That chapter came to an end when Scorsese, an asthmatic, suffered health problems brought on by the fast living. “He got real sick and ended up in the hospital,” says Robertson. “It was either change your lifestyle or die. I remember seeing him in the hospital and thinking, ‘Boy, this is definitely the end of an era right here.'”

Then there's this:

It wasn’t until after another “crazy” period — with Gary Busey during the making of Carny — that he finally decided it was time to slow his pace and patch up his marriage.

And that's all they print about that - Jesus how do you reserve one line for "another 'crazy' period with Gary Busey"?

Wonder why Robbie didn't do more acting in Scorsese pictures. I've always thought the reason Marty had such a hard-on for The Band was that Robertson and Danko were basically Mean Streets-era Keitel and De Niro.

Sad news! I’ve been singing “Dixie down” since I heard the last waltz version a few weeks ago, recommended

Andrew Sandoval posted this:

In 1997, I met Cheryl Pawelski at Capitol Records while working on the soundtrack album for the Beach Boys’ documentary, Endless Harmony. A few months later, we worked on another collection (The Beach Boys’ Ultimate Christmas) and Cheryl and I launched into what would be a decade of projects we produced together at various labels. Around that time, Cheryl asked me if I was a fan of The Band. I told her I had grown up listening to their first three albums (which my parents had) but hadn’t listened much since. She suggested that if I could apply myself and really learn their catalog, we might collaborate on expanded reissues of their original albums. Done and done.

Thusly, we began our research in Bearsville at their former manager Albert Grossman’s studio (staying at Robbie Robertson’s 1970 era residence on the estate). We proceeded to listen to everything we could lay our hands on. The results were expanded reissues of The Band’s original catalog albums – Music From Big Pink, The Band, Stage Fright, Cahoots, Rock Of Ages, Moondog Matinee, Northern Lights/Southern Cross & Islands – which were issued in the year 2000. Subsequent sales were enough to finally push Music From Big Pink (in particular) to RIAA certified gold status. The award presentation gave us both an opportunity to pitch Robbie Robertson in person on a bigger project: an all-encompassing box set.

For the next three or so years, we were invited to meet with Robbie once-a-week at his office in Beverly Hills’ Dream Works. We looked at lists, we listened to multiple takes of songs, we joked and he told us lots of amazing stories. He was warm, candid and he valued our opinions. It was also an amazing lesson in diplomacy, for as much as we were fans of The Band, a unique balance had to be struck between our collective desires to bring the box to fruition. The end result was 2005’s The Band: A Musical History. I still think it is an excellent overview of their finest work. Nevertheless, it is not the final word and in fact it is only one of many box sets that have landed on The Band.

Nonetheless, it was a great education and in particular about something which I am sure a lot of people will be commenting on now that Robbie has sadly passed. The original formation of The Band and their earliest albums were a team effort. Subsequent releases were marred by their early success, excessive drug use and dissension. It is a popularly held belief in rock lore that Robbie lifted all of his ideas from his bandmates and they deserved greater credit for their contributions. However, having personally listened to every surviving session and live recording they made between 1968-1976 I can tell you that this is not the case.

Had the idea that Robbie was a less-than-talented journeyman who preyed on the vulnerability of his bandmates been true, they would have never made the music they made in the first place. You know, I personally wish that Richard Manuel and Rick Danko had gotten their lives together, because they wrote (and were properly credited with) my favorite songs in The Band’s catalog. The entire world was denied more of their work. In fact, the individual members all had years to prove to the world how great they were outside of The Band. They staged reunion tours, made multiple albums and had solo careers. The sad truth is the whole was greater than its sum of parts.

One day we were meeting with Robbie and he casually mentioned that he had phoned Levon Helm the day before to ask him something. We both were a little shocked having believed that Levon must be some kind of enemy with the way he spoke of Robbie in print. This was clearly not the case, in fact Robbie never said anything negative about any of the band members privately (or publicly). He only talked about his heartbreak that they couldn’t have done more. The lesson I learned from this is that sometimes a great story isn’t always true. It makes a great tale, it gets a lot of likes, but the truth is stranger and sadder.

The profound influence of The Band on late 1960s music and culture has never been fully credited. In much the same way The Beatles’ film A Hard Day’s Night made it look like fun to be in a band, The Band’s first two albums made it seem like you could create your own world in exile. Stashed away in the Catskills with only a tape recorder and time to kill, they sang to the heavens and some of it was pretty damn great. So long, Robbie; I can’t believe we crossed paths and I am appreciative of the time and great stories you shared.

plenty of songwriters go on to create inferior work when separated from their creative collaborators

Cough cough Beatles cough cough

How many are part of a genuinely great band and go on to do better on their own?

I would argue Peter Gabriel. Arguably Jason Isbell (though I think it’s more of a draw).

xpost
thanks for posting that bird, great stuff

Lou Reed.

xpost

oh BETTER. Never mind.

if you say Jeff Tweedy you're wrong

Justin Timberlake obv

Gene Clark imo

Neil Young too if Buffalo Springfield are great

I listen to Gene Clark more than the Byrds these days but I'd hesitate to say they're better than the Byrds records, IMO some of the best the US ever produced. Neil is a good example. Plenty of great songwriters started in mediocre bands, of course - Steve Young, Jerry Jeff Walker, for two contemporaries.

neil is probably the best example

oh - john lydon

Robert Wyatt

loved this goofball, rip

just eats clapton's fuckin lunch on that i love it

― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, August 9, 2023 4:31 PM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

OTM

Was just listening to Big Pink and I know Chest Fever is the Garth showcase but the guitar on it is so fucking cool.

^ just had that same thought right now listening to their Woodstock set.

I live 40 minutes from the Big Pink house and I’ve never seen it. I need to do something about that.

RIP, might be a good time for a deep dive.

RIP. In addition to all of his great talents, dude wore the hell out of a good hat.

xxp I've been there and discussed it with another friend who made an earlier trip with his family. My experience: go during the day, because if you're not familiar with the area, it's scary af and probably very dangerous thanks to very dark winding roads and how fast some of the locals drive. Also there's that weird-looking home across from it that looks like a shanty town - I remember some people saying there were neighbors in the past who discouraged tourists from visiting Big Pink, falsely telling them they were trespassing. There didn't appear to be any other neighbors in the immediate area of the actual house so I'm guessing that's them.

My friend who went with his family had a better experience because someone was actually home. Big Pink's actually an airbnb (albeit a pricey one, understandably) and his timing was perfect because the owner was not only there, he was willing to show them THE "basement" (really a garage). They got to go in there and indulge in my friend's "Dylan & The Band" fantasies for a few minutes. IIRC there was a piano, drums and other instruments there.

xp In terms of a deep dive, I don't know if you want to go deeper than 1976, but someone asked Greil Marcus, "Given how important the Band were to you, did you find anything in their solo work that approached their communal efforts? Any thoughts on Robbie Robertson’s last solo album, How to Become Clairvoyant?"

His response:

How to Become Clairvoyant is by far Robbie’s best solo album. There’s a directness, a forthrightness, to the singing and the songwriting, and an absence of clutter in the music. But the real test is, do you go back to it, either in mind or by putting it on? In that sense, hardly anything—“Book Faded Brown” from Jubilation. Levon Helm’s Electric Dirt. But most of all, the YouTube album of a Levon and Rick Danko show from 1983, in a small club in Portland, Oregon, called The Living Room Tapes. Everything on it is lovely, with a soft touch, a sense of confidence in the songs, but “It Makes No Difference” is from another world. I never remotely grasped what a great song this is until I heard it from this night. I knew Rick, but I never understood how much of himself he never revealed until I played this over and over and over.

I'll add I kind of like the reunited Band's versions of "Blind Willie McTell" and "Atlantic City," and from the contractual obligation album Islands, I remember liking "Livin' in a Dream," "Knockin' Lost John" and "Georgia on My Mind." Nothing that'll make you forget the better stuff that came before, but I like hearing them.

If anyone wants to burn a copy of that Helm & Danko show in Portland, here's a lossless copy:

https://www.guitars101.com/threads/rick-danko-and-levon-helm-1983-01-28-portland-or-sbd-shn.139174/

And I agree, it's pretty great.

XP "The Saga of Pepote Rouge" is a keeper off Islands, and I've never heard a bad version of "Ain't That A Lot of Love".

who else can we cite as a great songwriter, in the sense of songs to be SUNG, who is not even a secondary or tertiary singer of those songs? we can leave the cole porter/carole king/ Billy steinberg axis and their respective milieus out of this… I'm talking about a creative engine of an act, but who never had a role as a conduit of the songs to the public? He was a frontman for the Band, I guess THE FRONTMAN in terms of public recognition. Townshend was the secondary singer of his band, known to even casual fans of the band as such, whereas JRR sang as an exclusive lead singer on two songs, "Out of the blue" and "Knocking Lost John" which are probly the two least consequential recordings the band ever made. And his songs were richly melodic, but the guy putting in the time to craft these songs, when the unprecedentedly great singers in his band were getting fucked up, came up with such fantastic melodies without the benefit of a particularly good instrument —his voice. Is ellington a good analogue?

I read his 2016 memoir, which rehashed his well-trodden birth-to-Last-Waltz periods, in which he clearly wants to promote his version of his relationship with the other guys and settle scores, and it's pretty boring shit for anyone who's followed him for any length of time. There was supposed to be a second volume, which would have covered the marty bachelor pad, working with him on his films, his indeed hubristic solo career, and being a armani clad, Malibu residing biz schmoozer… that would be interesting reading!

We stopped by Big Pink on a family trip a few years ago that took us through the Hudson Valley. I was mostly struck by how isolated it is even now, it's off on a road through the woods that barely feels like a functional road at all. Must have seemed really remote 50-plus years ago. Anyway, nobody was home as far as we could tell, so we just took some photos and then just after we got there another family pulled in and the guy was even more of a Band nerd than I was, he was so into the whole thing. It was pretty cool to see and at the same time in the manner of historic sites of any kind it was really just a place, there's nothing particularly notable about the house beyond its color.

a great songwriter, in the sense of songs to be SUNG, who is not even a secondary or tertiary singer of those songs?

Ron Mael

...unless he's disqualified for singing on a couple of demos on the Gratuitous Sax and Senseless Violins reissue.

It was pretty cool to see and at the same time in the manner of historic sites of any kind it was really just a place, there's nothing particularly notable about the house beyond its color.

I will say living in NYC and traveling there on what was my first drive upstate made it all the more understandable as Dylan's escape. Keeping in mind that it wasn't a popular destination yet, at least for the youth culture, it really did seem like a good place to get away and hide out from the business and his legions of fans.

Missed this, but he did take a supporting role in Sean Penn's The Crossing Guard:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpuHoppfsN0

Also forgot he produced the debut for Canadian singer-songwriter Jesse Winchester - good album.

I don’t know what’s left to be said on this topic but now that it’s on upthread and I kind of think about it, it’s weird that his sinking is so wimpy, especially given his speaking voice. I mean it’s not like he yelled at Morris Levy immediately after polyp surgery or something.

“Ain’t No More Cane” is one of my favorite Band songs (really, just one of my favorite songs, period), and the verse he sings works…but his singing of it on the Woodstock performance ruins the song. He sounds like he’s trying to prove or establish that he’s as good a singer as anyone else in the band, overshoots, and comes off as clumsy. Whereas, on the studio version his singing is effective and evocative, comfortably settling into his range.

stellar guitar player, instantly recognizable sound, those stabs

the waltz version of "it makes no difference" as good as it gets, the soloing with garth in the end chef's kiss

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7yOGAmItFY

truly could not sing but all the same I liked the "how to become clairvoyant" album

he was pretty hot too

🐦[I loved so much of his writing. It’s just Garth left now. pic.twitter.com/ewKzvOwgkW🕸
— Hanif Abdurraqib (@NifMuhammad) August 9, 2023🕸]🐦

I had to stop "Fallen Angel" two minutes before it croaked on for 16 more minutes. He brings Peter Gabriel in on backup vocals + synths so they can both sound like Peter Gabriel with intestinal cramps.