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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.

There was a live streaming which can be played now, but I haven't watched yet. [livestream.com]

To me it's so intresting that the name of The BAND, not Robbie Robertson and the band and yet because ROBBIE did not want to tour anymore because of all of the bad and evil things about the ROAD and then wanted to end The Band which is the most ultimate and uncaring thing someone who claims to be mates with or brothers in arms or anything else that you want to call it, yeah if i were one of the other 4 members of the Band i would have been very despondent about this and not to mention broke and living in the poor house as the other four were because Robbie got all of the publishing royalties and his masterpiece idea of how to cash in with Marty to get that big payday withe the Last Waltz pure genius like a Bernard Madoff .Helm , Danko, Manuel, and Hudson should have told Robbie to pack up his Strat and go back to Toronto via Malibu and be done with it .That is exactly what i would have done and my oh my his replacement in THE BAND MR.Jimmie Weider (a fine man who i have met with and spoken about guitars and amps )could play rings and circles around Robbie as if Robbie could have taken all the guitar listens from none other than the master himself Andres Segovia and it would not have improved (not that he plays badly as opposed to his vocal abilities(which with the Band his mic was always turned off because it was all about the three vocalist harmonies) his skills one bit at all. I do have the utmost respect for Mr. Robertson and Mr.Albert Grossman and Mr.Bill Graham all such fine gentelman who Robbie is cut from the same cloth as them .

I don't disagree with you, but in the end that is what they did is continue on without Robbie. And no one really cared. Would that maybe have been different if they didn't have a whole sendoff to Robbie with the Last Waltz and more quietly made a transition? Maybe. But in the end, they didn't do anything worth noting after Robbie left. I'd give them more credit if they had good material when he left and continued on. But from my view it seemed like Robbie and the talent left when he did so in that regard its hard for me to blame Robbie. Yeah he got the better end of the deal, but they did continue on without him and it didn't mean much. Its not like he really prevented them from doing anything. He wanted out.

I found the RS excerpts boring......

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RollingFreak
I don't disagree with you, but in the end that is what they did is continue on without Robbie. And no one really cared. Would that maybe have been different if they didn't have a whole sendoff to Robbie with the Last Waltz and more quietly made a transition? Maybe. But in the end, they didn't do anything worth noting after Robbie left. I'd give them more credit if they had good material when he left and continued on. But from my view it seemed like Robbie and the talent left when he did so in that regard its hard for me to blame Robbie. Yeah he got the better end of the deal, but they did continue on without him and it didn't mean much. Its not like he really prevented them from doing anything. He wanted out.

I totally agree.
Robbie was the real deal.......the others should be grateful for the experience.
One assumes they all got the same royalties for record sales?
The others (well, maybe excluding Garth) didn't exactly handle the fame game very well either. If you see the Last Waltz interviews Richard Manuel already looks on the way to oblivion.
That said Robbie's remarks about '16 years on the road" is really quite laughable. I'm sure most working musicians wouldn't swap the life (and its rewards).

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TheGreek
To me it's so intresting that the name of The BAND, not Robbie Robertson and the band and yet because ROBBIE did not want to tour anymore because of all of the bad and evil things about the ROAD and then wanted to end The Band which is the most ultimate and uncaring thing someone who claims to be mates with or brothers in arms or anything else that you want to call it, yeah if i were one of the other 4 members of the Band i would have been very despondent about this and not to mention broke and living in the poor house as the other four were because Robbie got all of the publishing royalties and his masterpiece idea of how to cash in with Marty to get that big payday withe the Last Waltz pure genius like a Bernard Madoff .Helm , Danko, Manuel, and Hudson should have told Robbie to pack up his Strat and go back to Toronto via Malibu and be done with it .That is exactly what i would have done and my oh my his replacement in THE BAND MR.Jimmie Weider (a fine man who i have met with and spoken about guitars and amps )could play rings and circles around Robbie as if Robbie could have taken all the guitar listens from none other than the master himself Andres Segovia and it would not have improved (not that he plays badly as opposed to his vocal abilities(which with the Band his mic was always turned off because it was all about the three vocalist harmonies) his skills one bit at all. I do have the utmost respect for Mr. Robertson and Mr.Albert Grossman and Mr.Bill Graham all such fine gentelman who Robbie is cut from the same cloth as them .

what a bunch of junk. the went on without Robbie starting in the early 80's and no one cared and they had 3 albums that at best contain 6-7 good songs total. that's a really bad ratio. Robbie fit the band. just because someone plays better doesn't mean anything.

as far as his singing. I think his voice is just fine and on "out of the blue" he does a great job. his solo stuff his voice is fine for it too.

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keefriffhard4life

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TheGreek
To me it's so intresting that the name of The BAND, not Robbie Robertson and the band and yet because ROBBIE did not want to tour anymore because of all of the bad and evil things about the ROAD and then wanted to end The Band which is the most ultimate and uncaring thing someone who claims to be mates with or brothers in arms or anything else that you want to call it, yeah if i were one of the other 4 members of the Band i would have been very despondent about this and not to mention broke and living in the poor house as the other four were because Robbie got all of the publishing royalties and his masterpiece idea of how to cash in with Marty to get that big payday withe the Last Waltz pure genius like a Bernard Madoff .Helm , Danko, Manuel, and Hudson should have told Robbie to pack up his Strat and go back to Toronto via Malibu and be done with it .That is exactly what i would have done and my oh my his replacement in THE BAND MR.Jimmie Weider (a fine man who i have met with and spoken about guitars and amps )could play rings and circles around Robbie as if Robbie could have taken all the guitar listens from none other than the master himself Andres Segovia and it would not have improved (not that he plays badly as opposed to his vocal abilities(which with the Band his mic was always turned off because it was all about the three vocalist harmonies) his skills one bit at all. I do have the utmost respect for Mr. Robertson and Mr.Albert Grossman and Mr.Bill Graham all such fine gentelman who Robbie is cut from the same cloth as them .

what a bunch of junk. the went on without Robbie starting in the early 80's and no one cared and they had 3 albums that at best contain 6-7 good songs total. that's a really bad ratio. Robbie fit the band. just because someone plays better doesn't mean anything.

as far as his singing. I think his voice is just fine and on "out of the blue" he does a great job. his solo stuff his voice is fine for it too.

If Robbie didn't want to tour anymore, that was his choice. If he didn't want to end like a train-wreck, well then a good choice for him. It was a hard life on the road those days. Just look at the ones that passed away. And he had been on the road since 1960 with the Hawks, Dylan, Band etc. - 16 long years.

He wrote most of the Band's music, and just like Jagger / Richards, Lennon / McCartney etc. - he had the song writing credits / royalties.

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keefriffhard4life

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TheGreek
To me it's so intresting that the name of The BAND, not Robbie Robertson and the band and yet because ROBBIE did not want to tour anymore because of all of the bad and evil things about the ROAD and then wanted to end The Band which is the most ultimate and uncaring thing someone who claims to be mates with or brothers in arms or anything else that you want to call it, yeah if i were one of the other 4 members of the Band i would have been very despondent about this and not to mention broke and living in the poor house as the other four were because Robbie got all of the publishing royalties and his masterpiece idea of how to cash in with Marty to get that big payday withe the Last Waltz pure genius like a Bernard Madoff .Helm , Danko, Manuel, and Hudson should have told Robbie to pack up his Strat and go back to Toronto via Malibu and be done with it .That is exactly what i would have done and my oh my his replacement in THE BAND MR.Jimmie Weider (a fine man who i have met with and spoken about guitars and amps )could play rings and circles around Robbie as if Robbie could have taken all the guitar listens from none other than the master himself Andres Segovia and it would not have improved (not that he plays badly as opposed to his vocal abilities(which with the Band his mic was always turned off because it was all about the three vocalist harmonies) his skills one bit at all. I do have the utmost respect for Mr. Robertson and Mr.Albert Grossman and Mr.Bill Graham all such fine gentelman who Robbie is cut from the same cloth as them .

what a bunch of junk. the went on without Robbie starting in the early 80's and no one cared and they had 3 albums that at best contain 6-7 good songs total. that's a really bad ratio. Robbie fit the band. just because someone plays better doesn't mean anything.

as far as his singing. I think his voice is just fine and on "out of the blue" he does a great job. his solo stuff his voice is fine for it too.

With all due respect maybe if you had the chance to meet these fine gentleman and spend a little time with them and appreciate there fine vocals and playing skills as i did from so long ago you would feel a little something about them and there plight in life .I know we all do make our own choices in life but my God there voices the three of them were so heavan sent for me to listen to there wonderful (Helm ,Danko, and Manuel) harmonies really grabbed me from such a young age that i would hear there music on the radio when i was a kid before high school and i would always ask who is that song by and i would be told over and over again that it was "The Band"and i did not get that at a early age that someone had a band called "The Band".So i had that sound in my head as a kid and then later on to get to meet them and talk with them and how real and humble and normal down to earth people they were ,so real they just touched me and moved me so much .It just upsets me so much about the hand of cards they were dealt ,the cruel fate of life and how life is not fair .So much pure talent !



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-11-18 13:42 by TheGreek.

There will be a tribute to the Last Waltz tour this Jan - Feb featuring Warren Haynes, Don Was, Michael McDonald and more:

[blackbirdpresents.com]

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TheGreek

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keefriffhard4life

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TheGreek
To me it's so intresting that the name of The BAND, not Robbie Robertson and the band and yet because ROBBIE did not want to tour anymore because of all of the bad and evil things about the ROAD and then wanted to end The Band which is the most ultimate and uncaring thing someone who claims to be mates with or brothers in arms or anything else that you want to call it, yeah if i were one of the other 4 members of the Band i would have been very despondent about this and not to mention broke and living in the poor house as the other four were because Robbie got all of the publishing royalties and his masterpiece idea of how to cash in with Marty to get that big payday withe the Last Waltz pure genius like a Bernard Madoff .Helm , Danko, Manuel, and Hudson should have told Robbie to pack up his Strat and go back to Toronto via Malibu and be done with it .That is exactly what i would have done and my oh my his replacement in THE BAND MR.Jimmie Weider (a fine man who i have met with and spoken about guitars and amps )could play rings and circles around Robbie as if Robbie could have taken all the guitar listens from none other than the master himself Andres Segovia and it would not have improved (not that he plays badly as opposed to his vocal abilities(which with the Band his mic was always turned off because it was all about the three vocalist harmonies) his skills one bit at all. I do have the utmost respect for Mr. Robertson and Mr.Albert Grossman and Mr.Bill Graham all such fine gentelman who Robbie is cut from the same cloth as them .

what a bunch of junk. the went on without Robbie starting in the early 80's and no one cared and they had 3 albums that at best contain 6-7 good songs total. that's a really bad ratio. Robbie fit the band. just because someone plays better doesn't mean anything.

as far as his singing. I think his voice is just fine and on "out of the blue" he does a great job. his solo stuff his voice is fine for it too.

With all due respect maybe if you had the chance to meet these fine gentleman and spend a little time with them and appreciate there fine vocals and playing skills as i did from so long ago you would feel a little something about them and there plight in life .I know we all do make our own choices in life but my God there voices the three of them were so heavan sent for me to listen to there wonderful (Helm ,Danko, and Manuel) harmonies really grabbed me from such a young age that i would hear there music on the radio when i was a kid before high school and i would always ask who is that song by and i would be told over and over again that it was "The Band"and i did not get that at a early age that someone had a band called "The Band".So i had that sound in my head as a kid and then later on to get to meet them and talk with them and how real and humble and normal down to earth people they were ,so real they just touched me and moved me so much .It just upsets me so much about the hand of cards they were dealt ,the cruel fate of life and how life is not fair .So much pure talent !

i never said they don't sing or play well. i just said the bands appeal in ticket sales and strong new material fell of once robbie left yet you make it out as if he was holding them back.

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TheGreek

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keefriffhard4life

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TheGreek
To me it's so intresting that the name of The BAND, not Robbie Robertson and the band and yet because ROBBIE did not want to tour anymore because of all of the bad and evil things about the ROAD and then wanted to end The Band which is the most ultimate and uncaring thing someone who claims to be mates with or brothers in arms or anything else that you want to call it, yeah if i were one of the other 4 members of the Band i would have been very despondent about this and not to mention broke and living in the poor house as the other four were because Robbie got all of the publishing royalties and his masterpiece idea of how to cash in with Marty to get that big payday withe the Last Waltz pure genius like a Bernard Madoff .Helm , Danko, Manuel, and Hudson should have told Robbie to pack up his Strat and go back to Toronto via Malibu and be done with it .That is exactly what i would have done and my oh my his replacement in THE BAND MR.Jimmie Weider (a fine man who i have met with and spoken about guitars and amps )could play rings and circles around Robbie as if Robbie could have taken all the guitar listens from none other than the master himself Andres Segovia and it would not have improved (not that he plays badly as opposed to his vocal abilities(which with the Band his mic was always turned off because it was all about the three vocalist harmonies) his skills one bit at all. I do have the utmost respect for Mr. Robertson and Mr.Albert Grossman and Mr.Bill Graham all such fine gentelman who Robbie is cut from the same cloth as them .

what a bunch of junk. the went on without Robbie starting in the early 80's and no one cared and they had 3 albums that at best contain 6-7 good songs total. that's a really bad ratio. Robbie fit the band. just because someone plays better doesn't mean anything.

as far as his singing. I think his voice is just fine and on "out of the blue" he does a great job. his solo stuff his voice is fine for it too.

With all due respect maybe if you had the chance to meet these fine gentleman and spend a little time with them and appreciate there fine vocals and playing skills as i did from so long ago you would feel a little something about them and there plight in life .I know we all do make our own choices in life but my God there voices the three of them were so heavan sent for me to listen to there wonderful (Helm ,Danko, and Manuel) harmonies really grabbed me from such a young age that i would hear there music on the radio when i was a kid before high school and i would always ask who is that song by and i would be told over and over again that it was "The Band"and i did not get that at a early age that someone had a band called "The Band".So i had that sound in my head as a kid and then later on to get to meet them and talk with them and how real and humble and normal down to earth people they were ,so real they just touched me and moved me so much .It just upsets me so much about the hand of cards they were dealt ,the cruel fate of life and how life is not fair .So much pure talent !

loved your post, TheGreek..

later on to get to meet them and talk with them and how real and humble and normal down to earth people they were ,so real they just touched me and moved me so much

sounds like a great story, I'd like to hear more if you care to share..

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

Don't forget he's also on Hammond's LP "I Can Tell" where he is backed on a couple of songs by Bill Wyman ( so this post is no longer "OT" ) !

But for me the Hawks and especially Robbie's finest moment was in 1963,
when they recorded "Who Do You Love" .
One of the best rock'n'roll singles - ever!

Is there a word about these sssions in the book?

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Rank Stranger

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

Don't forget he's also on Hammond's LP "I Can Tell" where he is backed on a couple of songs by Bill Wyman ( so this post is no longer "OT" ) !

But for me the Hawks and especially Robbie's finest moment was in 1963,
when they recorded "Who Do You Love" .
One of the best rock'n'roll singles - ever!

Is there a word about these sssions in the book?

Yes, he discusses his time with the Hawks at great length. He specifically mentions "Who Do You Love" several times as being one of his proudest moments in the Hawks.

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RollingFreak
I don't disagree with you, but in the end that is what they did is continue on without Robbie. And no one really cared. Would that maybe have been different if they didn't have a whole sendoff to Robbie with the Last Waltz and more quietly made a transition? Maybe. But in the end, they didn't do anything worth noting after Robbie left. I'd give them more credit if they had good material when he left and continued on. But from my view it seemed like Robbie and the talent left when he did so in that regard its hard for me to blame Robbie. Yeah he got the better end of the deal, but they did continue on without him and it didn't mean much. Its not like he really prevented them from doing anything. He wanted out.

The talent left when Robbie did ? Are you serious?

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keefriffhard4life

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TheGreek
To me it's so intresting that the name of The BAND, not Robbie Robertson and the band and yet because ROBBIE did not want to tour anymore because of all of the bad and evil things about the ROAD and then wanted to end The Band which is the most ultimate and uncaring thing someone who claims to be mates with or brothers in arms or anything else that you want to call it, yeah if i were one of the other 4 members of the Band i would have been very despondent about this and not to mention broke and living in the poor house as the other four were because Robbie got all of the publishing royalties and his masterpiece idea of how to cash in with Marty to get that big payday withe the Last Waltz pure genius like a Bernard Madoff .Helm , Danko, Manuel, and Hudson should have told Robbie to pack up his Strat and go back to Toronto via Malibu and be done with it .That is exactly what i would have done and my oh my his replacement in THE BAND MR.Jimmie Weider (a fine man who i have met with and spoken about guitars and amps )could play rings and circles around Robbie as if Robbie could have taken all the guitar listens from none other than the master himself Andres Segovia and it would not have improved (not that he plays badly as opposed to his vocal abilities(which with the Band his mic was always turned off because it was all about the three vocalist harmonies) his skills one bit at all. I do have the utmost respect for Mr. Robertson and Mr.Albert Grossman and Mr.Bill Graham all such fine gentelman who Robbie is cut from the same cloth as them .

what a bunch of junk. the went on without Robbie starting in the early 80's and no one cared and they had 3 albums that at best contain 6-7 good songs total. that's a really bad ratio. Robbie fit the band. just because someone plays better doesn't mean anything.

as far as his singing. I think his voice is just fine and on "out of the blue" he does a great job. his solo stuff his voice is fine for it too.

Just because someone is more successful financially doesn't mean anything .And no one cared after the 80's? How about 3 fine albums,which don't rank with their best,but neither does Robbie's solo stuff.The Band yes with a capital "T" is the ultimate example of the whole being greater than the sum of it's parts.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-11-18 21:12 by TheGreek.

Levon's 3 Grammy awards for his last 3 solo albums.That's in addition to the Lifetime Achievement Grammy for The Band .Rick's first solo album featured appearances by Ronnie Wood and Eric Clapton . Rick's numerous solo records.His work with Paul Butterfield.Garth's solo records.Garth is on literally hundreds of albums as a studio musicans.If you ever saw how musicians were speechless and in awe in Garth's presence, you would know who has real musical talent ,not to mention watching him work in the studio.Ringo personally asked Rick and Levon to be part of his first All-Star Band in 1989. Roger Waters asking the reformed Band to play with him in Berlin at his performance of The Wall when the actual Wall came down .Keith Richards, along with Scotty Moore and DJ Fontana,going to Woodstock NY to record with them in July 1996 (the photo of them all together still sends shivers down my spine) Keith loved Levon , and enjoyed every chance he had to play with him,which was not limited to that one session .The 2 albums Rick Danko made with Jonas Fjeld and Eric Anderson .Clapton and John Hiatt appeared on their last album Jubilation .Check out Love for Levon CD/DVD to see the All-Star lineup of classic rock ,folk, and Americana musicians who payed tribute to him.Springsteen,Fogerty,Little Feat ,the Black Keys are just some who paid tribute at their own shows.The hundreds of shows The Band did for thousands of fans since the 80's, including the US,Canada ,Europe and Japan.The thousands of people who flocked to Woodstock NY to see Levon perform , in his house ,for his fans,with hundreds of world renown musicians who flocked there to play with him .Truly a man of the people.And if you spent any time with any of them ,you would know how much music, talent and humanity dripped from every pore. No talent ?Nobody cared?Give me a break .They are musicians'musisicans,and thousands loved them and still do .So you judge musicians by the size of the crowds they play for ? Tell all the Blues musicians that . Levon ,Rick,and Garth were/are musicians.That's what they did .It was their calling .They were not accountants,managers,or Hollywood -types,although Levon did quite a bit of acting ,much of it very well reviewed.Just because someone is more financially successful musician,that doesn't diminish the actual talent,musicianship,or popularity of others. As far as songwriting goes, we will never know.Only 5 guys know for sure.3 ain't talking anymore(but 2 sure did when they were alive ),one chooses not to,and one claims it all. The ignorance in some of the posts here is really astounding sometimes.

grammy's mean nothing really and levons albums are pretty much all cover material. thats my point. these guys constantly slagged on robbie then were unable to write songs by themselves then try and blame robbie for being broke and never take into account bad choices they made in life.


robbie claims it all and has more proof to back it up that he did write the songs. statements from people who worked with helm in the 90's allude to the fact he didn't know what arranging vs writing means. he just always sounded like a bitter guy but never proved us all wrong. heres the masterpieces i wrote after robbie left. never happened



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-11-18 22:09 by keefriffhard4life.

Why were the other guys financially strapped?
Drugs?
Bad business advice?
Divorce?
Poor recording deals?

You can't blame Robertson for any of the above. Hard working, respected musicians at their level should have a healthy cash flow, by most peoples standards.

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jlowe
Why were the other guys financially strapped?
Drugs?
Bad business advice?
Divorce?
Poor recording deals?

You can't blame Robertson for any of the above. Hard working, respected musicians at their level should have a healthy cash flow, by most peoples standards.

drugs mainly.

robbie even stated before he didn't start making a lot of money until he started doing movie soundtracks

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keefriffhard4life
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.

Taylor and Levon same notion of songwriting credits!!!!!

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keefriffhard4life

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jlowe
Why were the other guys financially strapped?
Drugs?
Bad business advice?
Divorce?
Poor recording deals?

You can't blame Robertson for any of the above. Hard working, respected musicians at their level should have a healthy cash flow, by most peoples standards.

drugs mainly.

robbie even stated before he didn't start making a lot of money until he started doing movie soundtracks

Like most musicians - no big money in the sixties, early seventies as we know it from today. By the way, the same thing with sports.

All I can say is their sound was magic. The music was so far from the rock scene at that time. They wrote in their own bubble. They were true originals with great songs that told a story as if they were born and raised in rural Appalachia which they weren't. I saw them live twice back then and the entire show was incredible, every song great, different voices that were heaven either solo or singing together. Robbie had such a GREAT sound live, the Tele or Strat through I believe a cranked Fender Bassman was very powerful and moving. Such a sad end with Richard, Rick and Levon passing. They were never the same after Robbie left, the magic was gone for me.

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mtaylor

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keefriffhard4life
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.

Taylor and Levon same notion of songwriting credits!!!!!

seems like they do

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TheGreek

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RollingFreak
I don't disagree with you, but in the end that is what they did is continue on without Robbie. And no one really cared. Would that maybe have been different if they didn't have a whole sendoff to Robbie with the Last Waltz and more quietly made a transition? Maybe. But in the end, they didn't do anything worth noting after Robbie left. I'd give them more credit if they had good material when he left and continued on. But from my view it seemed like Robbie and the talent left when he did so in that regard its hard for me to blame Robbie. Yeah he got the better end of the deal, but they did continue on without him and it didn't mean much. Its not like he really prevented them from doing anything. He wanted out.

The talent left when Robbie did ? Are you serious?

A lot of it. Levon, Danko, Manuel and Garth were excellent, but in the end Robbie did write the songs. He more than had his share of talent that he brought to the band, and I'd say at least a fourth of the appeal, if not more, of the band left when he did. I agree with you that absolutely they are better together than separate, as Robbie's solo albums while good never had anything as good as The Band's songs.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-11-19 15:35 by RollingFreak.

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mtaylor

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keefriffhard4life
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.

Taylor and Levon same notion of songwriting credits!!!!!

Well there was always the argument that someone like Hudson deserves a credit on Chest Fever, since the organ intro is "the only thing you remember from the song" I believe as Levon put it. I don't disagree, but you know, it is questionable how you split that up for songs. Do you only do that if the songs are a hit and there's a key musician riff in it?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-11-19 15:43 by RollingFreak.

Robertson was clearly supplying the vision (and songs)but always came off as full of himself- certainly not as rootsy and down home like-able as Levon. So Robertson generally gets bad PR from alot of Band fans.
Perusing the credits on the post-Robertson Band stuff tells the tale (not to mention the Jules Shear anecdote). I was under the impression that most successful bands throw the non-writers a percentage point or two of the publishing to keep the peace...but if youre talking about the sound that made them successful, thats a different story. Rick, Levon and Richard made it. Not too dissimilar from a Waters versus Gilmour/Wright/Mason analogy I'd say.

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roryfaninva
Robertson was clearly supplying the vision (and songs)but always came off as full of himself- certainly not as rootsy and down home like-able as Levon. So Robertson generally gets bad PR from alot of Band fans.
Perusing the credits on the post-Robertson Band stuff tells the tale (not to mention the Jules Shear anecdote). I was under the impression that most successful bands throw the non-writers a percentage point or two of the publishing to keep the peace...but if youre talking about the sound that made them successful, thats a different story. Rick, Levon and Richard made it. Not too dissimilar from a Waters versus Gilmour/Wright/Mason analogy I'd say.

Or Nanker Phelge 1963-1965.

Grammy Awards, A Grammy Award, or Grammy is an HONOR awarded by the Recording Academy to recognize outstanding ACHIEVEMENT in the mainly English language music industry . GRAMMY'S mean A LOT .

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TheGreek
Grammy Awards, A Grammy Award, or Grammy is an HONOR awarded by the Recording Academy to recognize outstanding ACHIEVEMENT in the mainly English language music industry . GRAMMY'S mean A LOT .

yes jethro tulls crowning achievement in heavy metal. it wasn't metal and not even a top 10 jethro tull release.

the helm albums you mentioned are all covers so it proves nothing about songwriting. all you showed me was he can find songs that are similar to the bands material

From the Hoffman form- and lets admit that John Simon actually knows the facts...
Here's John Simon's perspective on the songwriting question, from a 1999 interview:

Q: What's your take on the way the songwriting credits came down?

Simon: Oh, I have a finely honed opinion on that.

Q: Robbie Robertson says that he tried to get Richard involved and he was also fair when it came to giving credit to whoever was in the room at the time of writing.

Simon: Robbie was fair, yes indeed. Robbie was fair based on an old system. I don't know if you have the new math in England. Mathematics. It's like two different systems, the old math and the new one. The old system of contributing songwriting credits was very distinct - there were people who wrote songs and people who performed songs. And they were different people. You know, Frank Sinatra on very few occasions wrote a song, he was the singer. Sammy Cahn and Johnny Mercer were the writers and not the performers. So, that kind of thing. Like the Gershwins and the Rogers & Hart. All of those people were just songwriters. And that's the system under which Robbie determined that he would be songwriter of those songs. And its true, Robbie was the one who wrote the lyrics and wrote the music. Wrote the lyrics on legal paper, or whatever he wrote it on, and figured out the chords to the song and dictated the melody and chords to the other players. Okay.