Robbie Roberson, best known as guitarist and singer in The Band, died today, August 9 2023, at the age of 80 after a lengthy illness.
Robbie Robertson was born Jaime Royal Robertson on July 5 1943 in Toronto. His mother, Rosemarie Dolly Chrysler, was Cayuga and Mohawk, and had been raised on the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario. His biological father, Alexander Klegerman, was Jewish and had been killed in a hit-and-run accident. His mother married James Robertson while still carrying Robbie Robertson. It was while Robbie Robertson was growing up on the Six Nations Reserve that he became interested in music. For two summers as a teenager Robbie Robertson worked for touring carnivals.
Robbie Robertson played guitar in high school bands. One of his bandmates in a band called The Suedes joined Ronnie Hawkins's band The Hawks as their keyboardist. Robbie Robertson served as a member of Ronnie Hawkins and The Hawks' road crew and later replaced Scott Cushine as the band's bassist. Eventually, Robbie Robertson became The Hawks' lead guitarist. Levon Helm was The Hawks' drummer at the time, and he and Robbie Robertson became close friends. By 1961 The Hawks' line-up would also include Rick Danko, Richard Manuel, and Garth Hudson. This line-up toured with Ronnie Hawkins from 1961 to 1963. They also recorded with Mr. Hawkins on Roulette Records. It was in early 1964 that The Hawks and Ronnie Hawkins parted ways.
The group recorded singles as both Levon and The Hawks and The Canadian Squires. Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm, and Garth Hudson also played blues artist John Hammond's 1965 album So Many Roads. It was in 1965 that Bob Dylan sought to hire Robbie Robertson as the guitarist for his backing band. Robbie Robertson initially refused Bob Dylan's offer, but did play two shows with Bob Dylan. Robbie Robbie Robertson then suggested that Levon Helm be hired as the band's drummer, and the two performed as part of his backing band.
It was in 1967 that Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, and later Levon Helm gathered at a pink ranch house in Woodstock, New York (dubbed "Big Pink" by the group) to work on music for the feature film You Are What You Eat. They also conducted recording sessions with Bob Dylan, both at Mr. Dylan's home in Woodstock and at Big Pink. Eventually the group, at last simply called "The Band," would sign a contract with Capitol Records. Their debut album, Music from Big Pink, was released in July 1968.
From 1969 to 1977, The Band would record six more studio albums. They also released several singles, including "The Weight,' "Up on Cripple Creek"/"The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," "The Shape I'm In," and more. The Band decided to take a hiatus, and their farewell concert at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco was filmed by Martin Scorsese and released as the film The Last Waltz in 1978. While The Band would later regroup, for the most part it would be without Robbie Robertson. In 1994 Robbie Robertson played as part of The Band upon the occasion of their induction into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.
Even while he was a part of The Band, he did production and session work outside of the group. He produced Jesse Winchester's 1970 debut album. He played guitar on Ringo Starr's 1973 solo album Ringo. He also played on Ringo Starr's 1974 album Goodnight Vienna. He also played with Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon. Hirth Martinez, Eric Clapton, and Neil Diamond in the Seventies.
Robbie Robertson's first, self-titled solo album was released in 1987. It would be followed by five more solo albums, last of which was Sinematic in 2019. From the Eighties to the Nineties he co-produced the Tom Petty and The Heartbrakers song "The Beat of Everything" on their album Southern Accents. played on The Call's album Reconciled, and producef the song "Love in Time" for Roy Orbison's album King of Hearts (released in 1992 after Mr. Orbison's death).
Robbie Robertson also had a considerable career in film. He starred in the 1980 film Carny. He also acted in the film The Crossing Guard (1995). He worked a good deal with Martin Scorsese, serving as the a music producer, music consultant, or music supervisor on the movies The King of Comedy (1982), Casino (1995), Gangs of New York (2002), Shutter Island (2010), The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), Silence (2016), and The Irishman (2019). He was the composer on the films The Colour of Money (1986), The Irishman (2019), and the upcoming Killers of the Flower Moon (2023).
While Robbie Robertson was a consummate musician, he was strongest as a composer and songwriter. He was essentially a storyteller, with most of his songs telling stories, often firmly entrenched in American and Canadian tradition. He also wrote some of the best soundtracks to Martin Scorsese's films, He certainly had a lasting influence on various music artists, including artists as diverse as The Grateful Dead, Elton John, and George Harrison. Indeed, he is counted as being instrumental in the creation of the music genre known as Americana. Few music artists had the impact that Robbie Robertson did
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