https://variety.com/2023/music/news/robbie-robertson-dead-the-band-1235692172/
I love this quote from Robertson describing The Band’s
sound: “I always thought, from the very beginning, that this music was born of
the blues and country music, Southern stuff. The Mississippi Delta area, and
the music came down from the river and from up the river and met, and it made
something new. I always looked at that as kind of the source of the whole
thing.”
Aside from The Band, Robertson is best known for his
soundtrack work with Martin Scorsese. However, he also released a handful of
solo albums. I picked up the first of these (which is self-titled); the critics
loved it more than I did, but “Somewhere Down The Crazy
River” is certainly worth hearing.
A couple of gems from the excellent Variety obituary:
The Band’s second album was recorded “in the pool house of Sammy Davis Jr.’s
Hollywood Hills home,” and the group “became the first American rock act to be
featured on the cover of Time magazine”.
Favorite songs written by Robertson, performed by The Band:
The Weight
Up On Cripple Creek
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
Rag Mama Rag
The Shape I’m In
Ophelia
Acadian Driftwood
King Harvest (Has Surely Come)
Chest Fever
Bonus holiday track: Christmas Must Be Tonight