You’d write him off because of one interview 36 years ago? Or have there been subsequent episodes where he’s lacked the proper humility? He hasn’t done much in recent years to impress me, but he was a driving force behind the success of The Band, in my mind one of the greatest groups of all time.
Dude…read what I wrote. I think the music is great. I think he’s a dick.
If you think he’s a dick because of a 36 year old interview, it’s possible that you might be making a hasty conclusion. But whatever…
Did Roberston have to undergo some form of hypnosis before gigs to overcome his stage fright? Or is that just a rock n roll legend? Maybe that would explain his weird demeanour?
Also onthe subject of The Last Waltz and rock n roll legend, is it true that when Neil Diamond came off stage he said to Bob Dylan “Man, you’re gonna have to go some to follow me tonight” (or words to that effect) and Bob replied “What am I gonna do - go out there and fall alseep?” (or words to that effect) Even if it isn;t true, it’s pretty funny!
And IMO I don’t think Neil Young ever sang prettier than he did at The Last Waltz.
mm
My gripe also.
I don’t think considering how high their singles got is a measure of their importance. They were on the cover of Time, after all!
I got to see them live at Tufts about the time Stage Fright came out. They were a fantastic live band, and I loved their version of “Don’t Do It.” which I had a bootleg of too. Take a listen to the Basement Tapes CD - not only do they back Dylan, they have some good stuff of their own.
It isn’t a measure of their importance: they were once of the top groups of their time, and their music hasn’t dated a bit. However, because they didn’t have any hit singles, their songs are not played on today’s Classic Rock radio (which concentrates on singles). Thus, people don’t get exposed to them and they are nowhere near as well known as they should be.
I read Helm’s book two years ago, and tried to figure out why he seemed so pissed at Robertson. Like Sam Stone wrote, a lot of the resentment was about writing credit (and money).
My memory is not perfect, and Helm’s was not a model of cogency, these are some of the issues the book touches on:
- The members all made important contributions to all the songs and didn’t really understand the financial implications of Robertson receiving most of the writing credit.
2.The record company wanted the band to have a more visible front man, and encouraged Robertson to be THE songwriter. (While record companies do like to develop “stars”, especially females, I didn’t think Helm offered much evidence of pressure from above.)
- Helm and the other band member’s later sold the rights to the songs that they had co-written to Robertson. This was after Helm understood the importance of writing credit, but contends that he was pressured to do so by the group’s manager and the record label because they wanted to simplify royalty payment.
In the book he seemed to have mixed emotions toward the Band’s manager (Albert Grossman?) and sometimes portrayed him as an ally, and also as conspiring with Robertson to screw the rest of the group.
- And as Loach said, the members other than Robertson didn’t really want to retire after “The Last Waltz”. When the money starting getting tight, they resented Robbie’s refusal to do reunions.
Overall, I felt that Helm didn’t come up with any strong reasons for his strong resentment. Robertson came away with most of the money, but it seemed that the other members could have had their own writing credits if they had tried as hard --and written as well-- as Robbie.
I’m not a big Robbie Robertson fan, but Showdown At Big Sky is one of my favorite songs of all time.
Btw, if you’ve seen the great movie The Right Stuff, that’s Levon Helm playing the part of Ripley. And he did a fine job of it, too.
Why Baez had more commercial success with that song, in which she successfully removed every trace of depth and soul, is one of life’s great mysteries. The Last Waltz version of The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down is a masterpiece. Definitely Van the Man was the guest with the best performance, though he appeared stoned out of his gourd. Emmylou Harris was a treat as was the surreal treatment of her studio number Evangeline. Scorsese deserved a lot of credit for the work that went into this film, done well before videos and MTV were heard of.
I never heard of the Helm-Robertson feud. Helm’s gritty voice was my personal favorite of the bunch. Robbie’s one of the underrated geniuses of the era- how unfair that an artist of his ability just can’t sing worth a hoot.
Lyrically, Robbie’s songs were Robbie’s songs. Richard Manuel was the only other serious songwriter in the group (although everyone got a little songwriting action in the first two albums), and he had real trouble with lyrics. The arguments mostly occur over the credits for the music and whether they should be shared. The Band was VERY collobarative, especially in the early years in Woodstock, and would often spend hours together working out the arrangements for a song. For example, Robbie wrote “Rag, Mama, Rag” as a straightforward rock number, but it didn’t work until the other guys changed the tempo, and switched instruments, transposing Robbie’s guitar lead to Rick Dankos’s fiddle and having Garth Hudson play syncopated ragtime style on an old upright piano (among other changes)
Robbie sure did mug for the cameras and play up to Scorsese, didn’t he? Robbie was somewhat alienated from his bandmates by that time (notice how often he seems to be standing apart from them), and was stressing from trying to put together the concert and the movie (the other guys weren’t that interested, especially in the movie side of things, ad were rather ambivalent about the whole idea of The Last Waltz).
Outside of Levon Helms’ book (which I haven’t read) , the book on the Band is Barney Hoskyn’s Across the Great Divide: The Band and America. Robbie Robertson was very driven. Without him, the Band would probably have never broken out of the bar band circuit. But he also had a very cold calculating side. For example, he didn’t want Ronnie Hawkins to be at the Last Waltz, thinking his former mentor was too small time to be on that stage with him.
My highlights from The Last Waltz:
Van Morrison high-kicking his stumpy little legs thorugh the closing to “Caravan”
Paul Butterfield and Levon storming through “Mystery Train”
Muddy Waters nearly giving himself a heart attack grinding out “Mannish Boy”
The Staples Singers and the Band combining to creat multipart harmony in the last verse of “The Weight”
Robbie picking up Clapton’s solo in “Further Along Up the Road” after Clapton’s strap broke
Ronnie Hawkins, big time at last, hamming it up in front of his former sidemen.
Levon, Rick, and Robbie yodelling through “Up on Cripple Creek”
Garth’s greasy sax solo in “It Makes No Difference”
Levon singing the immortal lines 'Vrigil Caine is the name, and I worked on the Danville Train." for what was presumable the last time.
Ridley, Yeager’s flight engineer; he of the broomhandle and Beeman’s. I don’t know The Band’s music very well, but I’m willing to cut Levon Helm a lot of slack for being in the best damn movie ever made.
Mr. Helm appeared recently in a fine movie, The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico. He looked and sounded about a million years old, but he was still very entertaining.
Right. Jack Ridley. The movie depiction of Ridley was a little wrong. The real Ridley was killed in an aircraft accident in 1957, but he was shown helping Yeager prep for the NF-104, which Yeager crashed. The NF-104 wasn’t delivered until 1963, and that’s the year of the accident.
Great movie. One of my favorites, but with some flaws. Like the mystical ‘fireflies’ with the aborigines.
I thought he did some singing when I last saw him on Imus sometime this past summer.
Maybe not, but he sure couldn’t play his guitar! He’d done a couple of lines before going onstage, and claimed later, “I was fried…I barely knew where I was.” You can see Robertson and Danko exchange a glance and then move closer to their mikes, apparently realizing that it’s up to them to make up the difference for Young, who, while still making chords with one hand, is unable to hit the strings with the other. He did sing well, though; I’ll give him that.
I haven’t seen the Last Waltz since it was in the theaters :eek: also had a college buddy that was at the Last Waltz.
I just popped in to say that legendary bluesman (for those that don’t know who he was) Muddy Waters sang beautifully in the film. Caldonea and Mannish Boy.
Levon also played the coal miner in Coal Miner’s Daughter.
I’ve just been reading down the list of comments - some interesting stuff here.
Levon Helm also played Lorreta Lynn’s father in the excellent film Coal Miner’s Daughter, with Sissy Spacek as Lynn - it was made in the late 1970s.
I became an instant fan of The Band when I was 17 - watching Easy Rider on late nigth TV, first time I’d ever seen it. I watched it again recently and my favourite scene is still the one where they’re riding across the desert (Monument Valley, Colorado?) at dusk with ‘The Weight’ playing on the soundtrack. Is there a better image of total freedom in any film? I can’t think of one - that song just encapsulates it all.
I bought their greatest hits on CD 20 years ago but for some reason it just didn’t quite grab me. Then a few months back I saw The Last Waltz DVD for sale for $10 and thought ‘what the hell…’
I put it on after a few drinks one night, with my headphones on - and in 20 minutes I realised all that I’d heard about it was true - the best damned rock’n’roll movie ever made! I became an instant fan, have watched it 10 times since and am now a huge fan again after they dropped off my radar for a long time.
What a great bunch of guys, and the esteem in which they were held is in evidence with all the incredible guest stars. Van the man is my favourite - but I also love Dr John’s performance, and Neil Young, Eric Clapton and more.
Yeah Robbie comes across as a bit of a tosser, but he was good mates with Scorsese long before the film was made. But you do get the impression Robbie treats the band as if they’re his band. It’s a shame about he and Levon falling out - but that sort of shit will happen in a band that’s been together as long as those guys “16 years on the road!”
Focus on the legacy - some of the best damned music of the entire 20th century - the very best of Americana - and I’m an Australian…