Absolutely fascinating read, I highly recommend it for fans of The Band. It also happens to go into tremendous detail about the same blues legends that are being covered by the Stones for Blue & Lonesome...

Yes been looking forward to this book. Robbie's solo albums are wonderful. I just wish he was a little more active after he left "The Band". I'm sure there will
be some great stories in this book.

Is he claiming to have written all of the blues tunes as he claims about all of The Band catalogue ?

Don't like the guy : he had the guts to stick a few Band songs on the 1975 release of the "Basement Tapes" (!?) and he totally ripped off his band members of the songwriting rights.
Then (when he saw he was dead on the music scene?) he switched to the movie biz by selling his knowledge to guys like Scorcese.

Quote
swimtothemoon
Yes been looking forward to this book. Robbie's solo albums are wonderful. I just wish he was a little more active after he left "The Band". I'm sure there will
be some great stories in this book.

GREAT stories. Levon Helm and Ronnie Hawkins come across as hilarious characters. And Robertson has seemed to cross paths with just about everyone. He even met Buddy Holly as a kid

Yeah, I am with dcba on this one. LOVE his music, but there is something about him that rubs me the wrong way.

"sixteen years.." " we've been on the road for sixteen years, man..."

wow ..

was it that bad?

Robbie polarises me, in that he did some great stuff with The Band, but then decided to get all soundscape on us what with his first solo album, and thereafter.

Quote
TheGreek
Is he claiming to have written all of the blues tunes as he claims about all of The Band catalogue ?

I heard too much from Levon this, I believe Levon on this dispute over songwriting royalties. I look at his life. Levon lead an upright life. Rick Danko toured and died when he was bloated and sick, weighing about 280 and in ill health. He had to tour because he had no money. I have zero interest in reading anything by slickster RR. He can FOAD.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-11-16 01:34 by triceratops.

I liked Robbie's solo albums. At least I bought the first three of them. Plenty of good songs there. Testimony here:
[www.youtube.com]

He plays some scoldering stuff on John Hammond Jnr's - So Many Roads



ROCKMAN

Quote
triceratops

Quote
TheGreek
Is he claiming to have written all of the blues tunes as he claims about all of The Band catalogue ?

I heard too much from Levon this, I believe Levon on this dispute over songwriting royalties. I look at his life. Levon lead an upright life. Rick Danko toured and died when he was bloated and sick, weighing about 280 and in ill health. He had to tour because he had no money. I have zero interest in reading anything by slickster RR. He can FOAD.

you believe helm and danko yet these guys have very few writing credits AFTER Robertson was no longer a part of their cicrcle. Robertson on the other hand has tons of writing credits over the last 35 years. so why were helm and danko getting ripped off by Robertson yet unable to create songs for projects they did without Robbie? to me that's almost the proof right there. telling Robertson a story about your life and then Robbie creating an entire song about it doesn't mean a credit should be shared. yes it would have been nice to do that but if Robbie created the music and lyrics alone based on stories from others that doesn't mean a credit for writing the tune should be given

The book makes mention of his friendship with Brian Jones, something I was unaware of. He recalls going with Jones to see a young guitarist in NY who was going by Jimmy James at the time. Ended up being Hendrix. Cool story...

Quote
dcba
Don't like the guy : he had the guts to stick a few Band songs on the 1975 release of the "Basement Tapes" (!?) and he totally ripped off his band members of the songwriting rights.
Then (when he saw he was dead on the music scene?) he switched to the movie biz by selling his knowledge to guys like Scorcese.

just about zero of that is true. Robertson simply didn't want to do the band anymore or tour and guess what. no tours since then. its no like he made a statement and then tours every few years. he has done 1 off shows and what not but not any tours.

as far as the first basement tapes release. first you are complaining that songs written by danko and manuel appear on there, after saying Robbie gave no writing credits. then you never read the story. according to the band they gave the earliest known stuff they had and the label slapped it on the release.

I read an excerpt in Rolling Stones last week -- glad to hear the book is worthwhile!

I've never had a judgment of him one way or another re: his bandmates, scruples, etc. I'm aware of ugliness within The Band, and saw some postins on Facebook from Garth Hudson looking to raise funds because, I believe, he wasn't able to pay for a storage unit containing a lot of Band artifacts, etc. But I don't know the details. Maybe after reading this book.

However, incidentally, as a junior high girl when I started seeing The Last Waltz at those late-night $1 screenings (often double-billing with Gimme Shelter) I had a crush on him---he was possessing of such sloe-eyed elegant diablerie and cool, with just a scoatch of geekiness tossed in. Like when Eric Clapton's guitar strap breaks and Robbie has to step in to solo during "Further on up the Road," and it's evident how nervous and eager he is, despite trying to appear otehrwise. This century's cosmetic surgery has left Robbie resembling Wayne Newton or Liberace a bit moore than the formerly nonchalant intense talented outlaw bad boy he'd been. Aging ain't for the faint of heart and we all do it differently--however, I'm happy to see Mick and Keith's faces reflecting life-roadmaps than trying to delete it with plastic.

Does he still play?
-swiss

Robbie Robertson had plastic surgery? that's news to me. he looks pretty old to me. maybe its the extra weight he's gained that's making you think he did.






that's a face of plastic surgery? that's a pretty recent pic



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-11-16 08:43 by keefriffhard4life.

and here he is in 2011

Quote
keefriffhard4life
you believe helm and danko yet these guys have very few writing credits AFTER Robertson was no longer a part of their cicrcle. Robertson on the other hand has tons of writing credits over the last 35 years.

I cannot name a single Robertson tune after he left The Band because they are c-r-a-p. The Band were a collaboration and he ripped off his band mates. Robertson wrote tunes that Levon and the others contributed so much to that they deserved co-equal credits..as in royalties.
Once more, take a look at Levon's life. A fine man, I believe his account. Levon blamed Danko's early death, in part, on Robertson's thievery.
I could care less what your RR boosters say. I heard that jive before.

Quote
triceratops

Quote
keefriffhard4life
you believe helm and danko yet these guys have very few writing credits AFTER Robertson was no longer a part of their cicrcle. Robertson on the other hand has tons of writing credits over the last 35 years.

I cannot name a single Robertson tune after he left The Band because they are c-r-a-p. The Band were a collaboration and he ripped off his band mates. Robertson wrote tunes that Levon and the others contributed so much to that they deserved co-equal credits..as in royalties.
Once more, take a look at Levon's life. A fine man, I believe his account. Levon blamed Danko's early death, in part, on Robertson's thievery.
I could care less what your RR boosters say. I heard that jive before.

please name the helm/danko post Robertson tunes that are well known by all?

for Robbie Robertson was about "broken arrow" covered by rod stewart and the grateful dead? how about "it's in the way that you use it" co written with Clapton? what about "somewhere down the crazy river"?


they are not crap. they are different to the bands material put you can still easily tell its the same person who wrote those classics by the band. Robertson also seems to have no issues with giving a credit to people on his solo albums.

-big pink has 7 songs without a Robertson credit.
-self titled has 4 songs with co-writing credits to other members
-stage fright has 3

after that its pretty much all Robertson credits. then the band reforms and releases 3 albums without Robbie.
-Jericho has just 2 songs with a helm or danko credit
-high on the hog has just 1 song with a helm or danko credit
-finally on jubilation those 2 have a decent amount of writing credits


-helm has I believe 6 solo albums and only a handful of total writing credits
-danko did a bit more writing than helm as a solo artist but it was still working with others

again I see more proof that helm telling Robbie to change parts of songs is what happened than helm actually coming up with lyrics or melodies or whatever and then getting shafted. the band musical history boxset shows tunes of early sketches with songs pretty much complete with just Robbie and his guitar



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2016-11-16 09:44 by keefriffhard4life.

Quote
keefriffhard4life
Robbie Robertson had plastic surgery? that's news to me. he looks pretty old to me. maybe its the extra weight he's gained that's making you think he did.

that's a face of plastic surgery? that's a pretty recent pic

I may be totally wrong--I'd seen a photo like this and thought it he'd had at least a facelift. Doesn't matter. Looking forward to reading his book.

Robbie's Mother was a Mohawk and his features now seem to confirm this more strongly than in his Band days. Bizarre.

The Band.....I still listen to them almost every day.

Didn't Eric Clapton say that after he saw and heard them, he knew Cream was dead?

Quote
swiss

Quote
keefriffhard4life
Robbie Robertson had plastic surgery? that's news to me. he looks pretty old to me. maybe its the extra weight he's gained that's making you think he did.

that's a face of plastic surgery? that's a pretty recent pic

I may be totally wrong--I'd seen a photo like this and thought it he'd had at least a facelift. Doesn't matter. Looking forward to reading his book.

must be the makeup he had on for tv

looks like a corpse to me .Kudos to the makeup artist

Great article in Vanity Fair by Robby on the Making of the Last Waltz:

[www.vanityfair.com]

Last night I attended a discussion with Robbie and Steve Van Zandt at the NYPL.
Robbie was a great story teller, and came across as very likable and funny.
He spoke very highly of Levon and all the artists he worked with.
I am looking forward to reading his book.

Quote
keefriffhard4life

Quote
triceratops

Quote
keefriffhard4life
you believe helm and danko yet these guys have very few writing credits AFTER Robertson was no longer a part of their cicrcle. Robertson on the other hand has tons of writing credits over the last 35 years.

I cannot name a single Robertson tune after he left The Band because they are c-r-a-p. The Band were a collaboration and he ripped off his band mates. Robertson wrote tunes that Levon and the others contributed so much to that they deserved co-equal credits..as in royalties.
Once more, take a look at Levon's life. A fine man, I believe his account. Levon blamed Danko's early death, in part, on Robertson's thievery.
I could care less what your RR boosters say. I heard that jive before.

please name the helm/danko post Robertson tunes that are well known by all?

for Robbie Robertson was about "broken arrow" covered by rod stewart and the grateful dead? how about "it's in the way that you use it" co written with Clapton? what about "somewhere down the crazy river"?


they are not crap. they are different to the bands material put you can still easily tell its the same person who wrote those classics by the band. Robertson also seems to have no issues with giving a credit to people on his solo albums.

-big pink has 7 songs without a Robertson credit.
-self titled has 4 songs with co-writing credits to other members
-stage fright has 3

after that its pretty much all Robertson credits. then the band reforms and releases 3 albums without Robbie.
-Jericho has just 2 songs with a helm or danko credit
-high on the hog has just 1 song with a helm or danko credit
-finally on jubilation those 2 have a decent amount of writing credits


-helm has I believe 6 solo albums and only a handful of total writing credits
-danko did a bit more writing than helm as a solo artist but it was still working with others

again I see more proof that helm telling Robbie to change parts of songs is what happened than helm actually coming up with lyrics or melodies or whatever and then getting shafted. the band musical history boxset shows tunes of early sketches with songs pretty much complete with just Robbie and his guitar

Indeed. I like Levon's solo material a lot, but there's no denying that he couldn't write a tune to save his life. Dirt Farmer and Electric Dirt rely so heavily on covers and songs from Levon's new band members. I don't know why Levon felt entitled to these royalties if all he did was tell stories that Robbie turned into words and music.

Quote
mrsoandso
Last night I attended a discussion with Robbie and Steve Van Zandt at the NYPL.
Robbie was a great story teller, and came across as very likable and funny.
He spoke very highly of Levon and all the artists he worked with.
I am looking forward to reading his book.

Cool---glad you got to go! Hope Robertson tours doing more talks like this.

Quote
Toxic34

Quote
keefriffhard4life

Quote
triceratops

Quote
keefriffhard4life
you believe helm and danko yet these guys have very few writing credits AFTER Robertson was no longer a part of their cicrcle. Robertson on the other hand has tons of writing credits over the last 35 years.

I cannot name a single Robertson tune after he left The Band because they are c-r-a-p. The Band were a collaboration and he ripped off his band mates. Robertson wrote tunes that Levon and the others contributed so much to that they deserved co-equal credits..as in royalties.
Once more, take a look at Levon's life. A fine man, I believe his account. Levon blamed Danko's early death, in part, on Robertson's thievery.
I could care less what your RR boosters say. I heard that jive before.

please name the helm/danko post Robertson tunes that are well known by all?

for Robbie Robertson was about "broken arrow" covered by rod stewart and the grateful dead? how about "it's in the way that you use it" co written with Clapton? what about "somewhere down the crazy river"?


they are not crap. they are different to the bands material put you can still easily tell its the same person who wrote those classics by the band. Robertson also seems to have no issues with giving a credit to people on his solo albums.

-big pink has 7 songs without a Robertson credit.
-self titled has 4 songs with co-writing credits to other members
-stage fright has 3

after that its pretty much all Robertson credits. then the band reforms and releases 3 albums without Robbie.
-Jericho has just 2 songs with a helm or danko credit
-high on the hog has just 1 song with a helm or danko credit
-finally on jubilation those 2 have a decent amount of writing credits


-helm has I believe 6 solo albums and only a handful of total writing credits
-danko did a bit more writing than helm as a solo artist but it was still working with others

again I see more proof that helm telling Robbie to change parts of songs is what happened than helm actually coming up with lyrics or melodies or whatever and then getting shafted. the band musical history boxset shows tunes of early sketches with songs pretty much complete with just Robbie and his guitar

Indeed. I like Levon's solo material a lot, but there's no denying that he couldn't write a tune to save his life. Dirt Farmer and Electric Dirt rely so heavily on covers and songs from Levon's new band members. I don't know why Levon felt entitled to these royalties if all he did was tell stories that Robbie turned into words and music.

that seems to be the main line of thinking is that levon told stories and Robbie made them songs and for some reason levon thinks that means he helped write the tune. we weren't there but there seems to be more proof, lack of writing credits for their material, that helm and danko simply told stories or made suggestions to already completed material.

from the steve Hoffman forum about helm's writing ability.


Jules Shear wrote several songs that were to be used in one of the Band's post-Robbie albums and Levon wanted him to split the songwriting royalties with the other Band members so that Jules would get a 1/6th share! Jules said that Rick Danko was the only guy in that post-Robbie Band who had any idea about writing a song.

I'm not sure if I've said it before but at least one of Levon's post-Band collaborators said his notion of what contributions meant songwriting credit was not exactly the standard. If he tossed off a line or had a vague idea, that was worthy of a credit, as opposed to actually writing the song.