There was a thread about the new documentary “Once Were Brothers- Robbie Robertson and the Band”, but I can’t find it.
What the fuck? Robbie Roberson AND the band. The Band was the band, they weren’t your fucking band. I’m listening to The Band now, inspiration for this post. Up on Cripple Creek, The Night They Drove Ole Dixie Down, The Weight, It Makes No Difference, The Weight, many more, I hear Rick and Levon and Richard singing.I don’t hear Robbie. And I don’t hear any prominent guitar playing, mediocre as his playing always was. Not great, not bad.
OK, he wrote the songs, or at least most of them Good on you, Robbie, and I do respect you for that. But you have spent decades trying to pretend that all those guys were just you’re backing band. And you broke up The Band, you wanted to end it, Garth and Rick and Levon and Richard wanted to continue on.
You are the very definiton of a self-important rock star. I love you, but fuck you.
I haven’t seen the documentary in question but is it possible you’re misinterpreting the title? The title could mean it’s about the relationship between Robertson and the other members of the band. Just like you might speak of the relationship between John Lennon and the Beatles or between Roger Waters and Pink Floyd.
You don’t capitalize “the”. The title of the documentary got it right.
It’s the Band, the Beatles, the Who, the Miles Davis Quintet, the The, and the Group That Hasn’t Been Named Yet.
(This is bound to spark an argument between Correct People and illiterates, and it will be more interesting than the one about Robbie Robertson, good or bad?)
As others have mentioned, you’re misinterpreting the title. And can I get a cite that Robertson has spent decades pretending that the other guys were just his backing band?
I’d put Robertson’s guitar playing well above mediocre/average. When I watch Last Waltz the guitar is a consistent joy for me — along with a lot of other things. (Garth’s fills, Rick and Levon’s singing, Levon’s drumming.) Here’s a link to It Makes No Difference; I think Robbie shines, altho Rick is amazing and Garth’s sax is the perfect finish.
I’ve read Levon’s book, and his tirades against Robertson are messy and often silly. And for all the Band’s musical greatness, it’s really the songs that give them their place in history. Robertson didn’t try to prevent the other guys from performing as the Band, AFAIK, or from releasing albums as the Band.
There’s also the issue of heroin and alcohol addiction among Rick, Richard, and Levon that probably motivated Robertson to move on out. Check out Northern Lights’ lead cut, Forbidden Fruit, for general details. Really though, I feel the Band had a short heyday and after a few glowing albums the greatness was gone.
The Wrath of Khan, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold and The Caine Mutiny are filed under W, S and C, but the definite articles are all capitalized nevertheless.
The Beatles, The Who and the Eagles are filed under B, W and E, but two take a capitalized definite article.
