Robbie Robertson, Leader of The Band, Dies at 80

[BeyondGeography]

Source: Variety

Guitarist-songwriter-singer Robbie Robertson, who led the Canadian-American group the Band to rock prominence in the 1970s and worked extensively with Bob Dylan and Martin Scorsese, has died. He was 80.

According to an announcement from his management, Robertson died Wednesday in Los Angeles after a long illness.

In a statement, Robertson’s manager of 34 years, Jared Levine, said “Robbie was surrounded by his family at the time of his death, including his wife, Janet, his ex-wife, Dominique, her partner Nicholas, and his children Alexandra, Sebastian, Delphine, and Delphine’s partner Kenny. He is also survived by his grandchildren Angelica, Donovan, Dominic, Gabriel and Seraphina. Robertson recently completed his fourteenth film music project with frequent collaborator Martin Scorsese, ‘Killers of the Flower Moon.’ In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be made to the Six Nations of the Grand River to support a new Woodland Cultural Center.”

Read more: https://variety.com/2023/music/news/robbie-robertson-dead-the-band-1235692172/

[wendyb-NC]

1. A very fine musician

R.I.P. Robbie

[JustAnotherGen]

2. So sad

Broken Arrow and Showdown At Big Sky are two of my favorites.

[applegrove]

3. Loved the song "Somewhere Down That Crazy River". RIP Robbie.

[hibbing]

17. That was a good album

Hell's Half Acre, Broken Arrow and I liked Showdown at Big Sky too.

Somewhere Down the Crazy River-
"Why do you always end up down at Nick's Cafe?"
I said, "Uh, I don't know, the wind just kinda pushed me this way"
She said, "Hang the rich"

Wait, did you hear that?
Oh, this is sure stirring up some ghosts for me
She said, "There's one thing you gotta learn
Is not to be afraid of it"
I said, "No, I like it, I like it, it's good"
She said, "You like it now
But you'll learn to love it later"

Peace

[applegrove]

18. Great music.

[Sky Jewels]

4. Ahh, Damn -- He was one of the greats.

RIP to a Talented One.

[struggle4progress]

11. +

[BigmanPigman]

27. I love that film

and this song was my favorite. I just watched it again a few weeks ago.

[ms liberty]

5. Nooooo!

[hlthe2b]

6. Oh, NO!!!! I just saw an interview with him a short while back. 😭

I haven't gotten over losing Levon Helm several years back. Damn.

Robbie, I will continue to watch 'the Last Waltz' every Thanksgiving when I'm home (as is my tradition).
The Band were a phenomenal band and Scorsese gave us all quite the gift with his filming of that last concert.

[JustAnotherGen]

8. Jealous!

The Band's music was in my parents record collection and listened to quite often.

In the 80's my mom brought home his first solo album - and I then taped it for my own listening. That voice was amazing!

[honest.abe]

9. I deleted this because it was a performance by the Band but Robertson was not there.

It was still great.

[maxsolomon]

10. RIP, such an important voice for me

I think Robertson was the last member alive.

[VGNonly]

15. Garth Hudson

The last member.

[maxsolomon]

16. Thanks, for some reason I thought he was gone too.

[VGNonly]

19. He was the oldest in The Band.

86 just a week ago.

[SCantiGOP]

29. Interesting story about Garth

He was the only one in the group with classical
music training, and he told the others that he wouldn’t play unless they paid him $10 a week for “lessons.”
They thought it was weird and that he just wanted the money. It turned out that both of his parents were classical musicians, and would have been appalled had he told them he was playing in a hippie band. Instead he told them he was making his money teaching music.

[VGNonly]

35. Garth didn't look like a rocker,

he looked like a tuba player in a Om-pah-pah band.

Listen to him playing a demonic organ in Chest Fever.

[SCantiGOP]

37. A bar I hung out in in college

Had that song on its jukebox as the default. If it went 10 minutes without someone playing something, that beginning organ blast would start up. Spend a couple of hours there and you might hear it 15 times.

[VGNonly]

47. Bruce Springsteen liked Chest Fever

so much he basically covered it for Tunnel of Love.

[2naSalit]

38. Love this song.

[Botany]

50. Thank you that was sweet.

n/t

[SCantiGOP]

54. Had never heard that

Thanks for the post

[Abigail_Adams]

45. Robbie was an immensely talented songwriter

and not a-tall bad on guitar, either. A loss for music but a great legacy.

[world wide wally]

12. Peace, Brother

[JohnnyRingo]

13. Sad. My music heroes are reaching the end of their era.

I have tix to see bandmate Jim Weider.
I never know when I'm going to get a sad refund.

Thanx for posting.

[ancianita]

14. RIP to one of the greats.

His spirit will live on.

[BeyondGeography]

20. The NYT is working on a complete obit

Here’s an excerpt and a gift link of what they have so far:

…The songs Mr. Robertson wrote for the Band used enigmatic lyrics to evoke a hard and colorful America of yore. With uncommon conviction, they conjured a wild place, often centered in the South, peopled by rough-hewed characters, from the defeated Confederate soldier in “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” to the tough union worker of “King Harvest Has Surely Come” to the shady creatures in “Life Is a Carnival.”

The music he matched to his passionate yarns mined the roots of every essential American genre, including folk, country, blues and gospel. Yet when his history-minded compositions first appeared on albums by the Band in the late 1960s, they felt vital as well as vintage.

“I wanted to write music that felt like it could’ve been written 50 years ago, tomorrow, yesterday — that had this lost-in-time quality,” Mr. Robertson said in a 1995 interview for the public television series “Shakespeare in the Alley.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/09/arts/music/robbie-robertson-dead.html?unlocked_article_code=cncn-pEYtx_Gof93Qfze3XIDeq8Nl7MIaE_DPQ26HcoqpMqlELkd8Q2BPacKaOGY2ZhLhWewhBBVA3we1xy3IeYGFVcgmu_Iis7XnhA4nftHNWEXecsPPmSQ56OBbk3NdWKhwhgS1ssx8h33WPkHOh0P0z9DRj9SnOQrq64phGFOA784NCiBVyeTREuTNmA6JQyLIZo3nBOF8DM2il7X34ZSxYTUPEDmOjPZ-tuSCzfP7sy--mUB4BzY8pNED97FQEV0Lwkh6c18wNJyQ2yIBHcSWG6AwGHO7vizMiZz3MRfRylrnD0Yi2Jzy6ViDf8e4F4XWcXLUjqoA8ESwmbwSGBh&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

[VGNonly]

21. Robertson and the rest of The Band

had some issues. I'll remember him as an excellent songwriter and a fine guitarist.

[thatcrowwoman]

22. 🕯️

🕊thatcrowwoman

[PlutosHeart]

23. Chi Miigwetch

🥁🌠🪶😭

[RocRizzo55]

24. RIP

He was one of the best.

[DinahMoeHum]

25. Here he is, with Ringo Starr (Playing For Change)

Rest In Peace, Robbie Robertson

[FakeNoose]

26. Oh no! This one hurts ... Robbie Robertson is one of my all-time favorites

I think he was the last living member of The Band ... and now he's gone.

Rest in Peace Robbie, and thanks for all the great songs.

[RocRizzo55]

49. It sure does hurt

[Dr. Shepper]

28. One of my favorite artists

Rest in peace

[sagetea]

30. Thoughts of

wrapping his family in robes. May he walk the good Red Road among the Star People, and dance with the Ancestors.

Ho'

sage

&list=PLX66jEixZe1wrJxYALU_p92hzuF_Eb0cj&index=3

[Hugh_Lebowski]

31. Aw man!

That is a bummer. I've listened to his first solo album so many times, and of course The Band.

Godspeed Robbie, and thanks for the music

[Solly Mack]

32. ...

[iemanja]

33. RIP

&ab_channel=PlayingForChange

[gademocrat7]

34. R.I.P Robbie Robertson

[MissMillie]

36. I absolutely LOVE HIM!!!!!!

This is heart-breaking.

Anyone not familiar w/ his album Storyville should give it a listen. It's one of my all-time favorite albums.


This one isn't from Storyville. I think it's from his first solo album, but I'm not sure about that.

RIP Robbie. Thank you so much for sharing your gifts w/ us. You'll be missed.

[IrishAfricanAmerican]

39. RIP 💐

[Donkees]

40. Farewell and Thank You

Our hearts are full and our minds are good
Our ancestors come and give us strength
Stand tall, sing, dance and never forget who you are
Or where you come from

[WheelWalker]

41. ...and the Wheel turns.

[NBachers]

42. I'll hafta add this - it's a personal favorite of mine:

[VGNonly]

48. I want Whispering Pines

played for my funeral.

[happybird]

43. Damn.

I’m dreading the next ten or so years. All the greats will be passing away. Such a depressing thought.

[Bayard]

46. I've been thinking the same thing....

Makes me feel really old.

RIP Robbie.

[MissMillie]

53. Recent interview w/ one of my favorites....

...Paul Simon: he's thinking the same thing.

No spring chicken himself, at 81. And he's losing his hearing.

I'm not sure which side of the coin is worse... losing such talent people who have given us so much over the years, or losing the people who show so much promise long before their time (getting that glimpse of what's to come and then.... never knowing).

[yardwork]

44. I'm very sorry to hear this.

[twogunsid]

51. So sorry to hear this...

...I loved the Band and Robbie Robertson. Garth Hudson is now the last surviving member.

RIP and thank you for all the great music that came out of Big Pink.

[Tom Rinaldo]

52. I was listening to Music for The Native Americans a few weeks ago...

It's a masterpiece. If you aren't familiar with it by all means check it out. Here is the opening of the write up about it in Wiki:

"Music for The Native Americans is a 1994 album by Robbie Robertson, compiling music written by Robertson and other colleagues (billed as the Red Road Ensemble) for the television documentary film The Native Americans.[3] The album was Robertson's first foray into writing music specifically inspired by his Mohawk heritage. Robertson brought in his son Sebastian Robertson to handle the drums on "Golden Feather", "Skinwalker", "It Is a Good Day to Die" and "Words of Fire, Deeds of Blood". His daughter Delphine Robertson sings backing vocals on "Coyote Dance".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_for_The_Native_Americans

We owe so much to Robbie.

Here is a live version of "Golden Feather". It contains one of my favorite lyric of all time:

When you find what's worth keeping
With a breath of kindness
Blow the rest away

[scipan]

55. Peace out

[Kennah]

56. Even more chilling to hear this now