Robbie Robertson On The Break-Up Of The Band
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
- The legendary guitarist and songwriter talks about what led to the dissolution of The Band - and refutes claims that he was the driving force behind the split.
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no matter what happened, still some of the best music from that period. leave it at that.
No! Robbie’s awful. Let’s leave it at that.
Robbie takes the brunt of it now, but remember the stuff he wrote was in 1967 and 68 and released in 1969, with The Bands only real albums, and there were no credit writing problems until some 20 years later with one person and that was Levon and he was dealing with cancer. He probably was on a whole lot of meds, pain killers and if you know anything about those drugs you will think anything. But for 20 years no one had a problem? Doesn't that matter to anyone??
@@lewstone5430 No, Robbie is a genius and the driving force.
I wish it was that easy, for most. Most opt to whine with their mindless drivel, and ruin the great music.
@David Lindsay I said, let’s leave it at that ok? Ok.
RIP Robbie. Thanks for the music.
Nobody came back??? The other 4 members of The Band played together for years after the breakup with Robertson. The only one that didn't come back was Robbie.
Yes, Robbie will say anything to avoid responsibility. He’s a schmuck.
My feeling has always been that he wasn't welcome.
@@zingzangspillip1 You might be right, under the circumstances at the time. But Robbie's the one who left in the first place. Said he'd had enough of the road, which is understandable. Why would he want to come back anyway? He was rolling in all the royalties. I know he wrote them, but it would have been the right thing to do to give them, say 20% to divide between the 4 of them. Those songs may have never seen the light of day, much less been covered countless times if The Band hadn't played them. That's always been my feeling about it.
The other members would have known how songwriting royalties work. They have my sympathy, but Robbie was the one who churned out the songs, not them. One of the reasons they released Moondog Matinée was that Robbie didn't have enough material for an album and the other members had nothing to offer.
@@Mr.56Goldtop Sorry, you're wrong. That's not how professional songwriting works. What the others members do is called the "arrangement" and they don't get royalties - sorry. I get what you're saying philosophically, but deciding how you'll play your high hat or bass lick usually doesn't count as songwriting in the professional sense. Does Bob Dylan, Taylor Swift, John Mellencamp, all give their band royalties - no!
Well, I'll let you guys (below) argue about Robbie and Levon. All I know is that The Band was a fantastic group of Canadian musicians (except for Levon). The Last Waltz was a classic.
@Le Spam A classic music documentary. If you don't think EVERY live filmed show will step up the production to make the music sound optimal then you are kidding yourself. But this is recognized as THE rock classic documentary, despite the fact that I don't particularly like it, found it boring, and as some critics have said, made it clear that most of the other guys in the band didn't really want the band to end. Arguing about personal shit from outside seems kind of pointless. I have to say that Robbie's 'on air' personality does seem 'less authentic' than Levons 'good ol boy' charm while the camera is rolling (and maybe when its not). I think its the fact that Robbie doesn't lay it all out for the world is what gets to a lot of people.
@ThatKidWhoLiesAboutHisAge OnTheInternet I think all the of the band were at least highly original if not great.
Nobody came back?....didn't they tour a few years later and HE didn't come back??
Yea, that's my memory of it. They waited for him a long time and finally reformed the band in the early '80s with two other guitarists. They toured in that decade and into the '90s, but Robbie never rejoined them.
Robbie has a different take on it then anyone else that was in the group he screwed them over I think Levon took it the worst they didn't talk till he was on his death bed and he refused to go for their rock n roll Hall of fame induction
It was over a decade later that the others reformed.
It wasn’t over a decade later. The Last Waltz was Thanksgiving 1976. They officially split in 1977 after they recorded some of the Islands album. Then, they reformed in 1983 to tour. So, 6 years.
John Joseph C I meant between albums, what difference does that make?
When exactly did he morph into a claymation replica of Yoko Ono with some sort of weird Just For Men Jet Black dyed plushie toy cat on top of his head or have I been drinking too much strawberry wine?✌️
no .. you are just an idiot is all
@@tyrapp262 Hahahahaha!!!! Well put my friend!!!!!✌️
I really think that the 5 of them were magic. It doesn't happen often and usually fades out pretty fast. Robbie was the writer I don't think anyone can say he wasn't . The thing is that his ideas came from Levons life in many ways and the guys just made these songs special. The way they could work out a song instrumentally showed how amazing their individual talent was. IMO Without these voices and ideas these songs would never have been what they became. I am just thankful we have this masterpiece of music. When you are so close for so long and then reality comes in such as money ,credits so on I think it just hurt levon so much he couldn't get over it. That's not saying he was right it is saying he was hurt. I figure they all tried to make a living off the coat tail of The Band after. Robbie made the most money so he certainly did better than the rest. Its sad but its just the way it worked out. Drugs,alcohol and a life style unsustainable may have been a big part of stopping when they did. Very sad that three are now gone but that's life.I love The Band and always will ,the best of the best. We still have the music.
Well put Marleen, well put indeed.
Robbie was obviously a man greatly interested in Levon’s south and Levon himself was a great storyteller. That said, the band played together, touring with Ronnie Hawkins and then Dylan. They holed up in Big Pink. Robbie had a lot of strong influences.
The thing about Robbie is that he wasn’t simply riffing on Levon’s life or background. The guy wrote with his voice and the voice of Rick and Richard in mind as well.
People love to rag on Robbie that he exploited Levon somehow- Go out and try to do they yourself. Levon wasn’t able to do it. Robbie wrote songs that truly fit those voices as simple as that.
They were at it for something like 15 years.
@@waterfordrs22 Don't forget, too, that while they were making the Basement Tapes which morphed into Music From Big Pink, Levon was on an oil rig off the Mississippi Delta.
And isn't it ironic that maybe Richard and the others wouldn't have had to tour incessantly in later years had they been able to reap some of the rewards of the songs written by the life, times and talent of ALL the members.
Richard wrote a lot of early songs. It seems like they spent a lot of their money on crashed cars and drugs. It sucks, but Robertson had three kids and didn't want to travel around with suitcases of heroin to tour. They probably should have went Beach Boys and had the writer stay home, prepping the next record.
I agree with this. They really should have split the songwriting credits equally. As long as everyone pulls their weight (no pun intended) then it should work out.
Or maybe if they hadn't pissed away the money they had on drugs and alcohol. But yeah, it's always someone else's fault....
@@Carback27 They ALL partied. Rock stars aren't usually choirboys. But yeah, if it's anybody's fault, it would be that douchebag Robertson.
@@fatgrl1935 I'm curious as to why you think so.
The Last Waltz has immortalized The Band for generations to come.
or immoralized
Robbie is a horrible person
Or desanitized.
I always find myself torn about The Band. I get the feeling Robbie and Levon's versions of the truth were done with blinders on. There are 2 sides to every story. Both sides are usually very slanted and you have to look deep in the middle of each side for the truth. That applies to The Band as well, I believe. I think Robbie had good intentions for wanting it to end, but he doesn't know how to properly address them without sounding bad. He has the same problem when giving the others credit for being the perfect outlet to his songs (which, all respect to the others, I do believe he wrote). Levon was hurt by all this, and he took his bitterness places it should not have went. It hope this sounds acceptable to most reading it. Robbie is a great guitarist and song writer. Levon, was one of the finest musicians and singers, ever. We'll never have a voice like his again. I hope peace was truly made at Levon's end.
No Robbie. No Band. Get over yourselves. They could not cut it without him. They tried but failed, and you all know this. Of course they all helped with the arrangements, that's what bands do, but unless he had walked in one morning and said, 'what do you think of this guys, I think I'm going to call it King Harvest.......'
But then of course he walked in the next morning and said 'I've got this thing I'm working on called ''The Weight'', what do you think?.....
And the next morning and the next.....
Michael Colgan . Robbie was a smart business man, he took all writing and producing credits and all the money. He was a guitar player and coke user with Scorsese. Just ask any other member of the group on there views of him.
"Nobody came back"? Robbie didn't come back. I think history clearly shows that.
his story = history..he rewrote history.
it was clearly stated in "the Last Waltz" that they all were weary of the touring thing. Robbie went on to do some studio stuff that i liked a lot. it was not "The Band sound." i think he did not want to come back doing "the Band's Greatest Hits Tours."
@@edhorton2766 You hit the nail on the head, he wanted to make new material.
That's rite RR said new material, all they came back as a oldies act.
So many serious drug problems in that band, particularly when they were touring. I don't think Robbie wanted to deal with that mess any more.
But, Robbie. You clarify in the Last Waltz that you couldn't go on touring with The Band. I believe Levon.
3 of them where junkies/alcoholics
@@richardbranton7396 yeah. That's rock.
@@Zakdayak yes ,but not just rock but all walks of life ,but some like to give rockers a pass on it but not the guy/girl who works a regular job ,someone had to keep it together no matter what you think of RR motives character etc and hes really not responsible for grown mens decisions and lifestyles ,ive been there and you cant reason or trust an addict eventually you have to let them go and take care of yourself
The other members sold their publishing shares to Robbie. The Band’s struggle with substance abuse throughout the early-to-mid-Seventies, after the group had released its first two landmark albums, is common knowledge. Robertson’s book, however, reveals that the group was already exhibiting wildly self-destructive behavior by the time they arrived in Woodstock in 1967. Richard Manuel and Levon Helm got into a drunk-driving accident a few days after Robertson’s wedding, while Rick Danko got into several crashes, one of which left him in critical condition with a broken neck. “Car wrecks with Richard, Rick and Levon became a regular occurrence,” writes Robertson. “All Garth and I could do was get out of the way.”
Richard Manuel killed himself. Danko struggled with heroin addiction, and died of heart failure in 1999. Garth Hudson is older than Robertson, but is not in good health. Levon struggled with addiction too, but he made it to his early 70s before he died in 2012.
It's asinine to blame Robertson for the dissolution of The Band.
@@timmysullivan2515 Garth Hudson
Gee, if you close your eyes you can almost hear Paul McCartney talking....or an attorney.
Bottom line in the whole feud is that one was a junkie and one wasn’t. Levon was a great soul and an amazing talent, and could have had more than enough money for a lifetime with his acting and music and writing memoirs etc. He was universally beloved and admired and could have done so much more had he used a little more moderation. His mistakes were his own, sadly. The music will live on forever. I’m grateful to all of them.
Richard Manuel had some serious demons which resulted in a lot of substance abuse too which also caused a lot of problems within The Band.
Cheap shot. If you have a fact regarding your insinuations, say it.
@@TonyWud Those are all known facts. Any rock historian will tell you that. If someone tells you water is wet, do you demand proof?
@@Ignats75 😆😆😆
@@TonyWud 3 members of The Band were doing heroin, in addition to downers (Helm) to take the edge off, alcohol and cocaine Richard, and cocaine Rick. These are known facts, read Barney Hoskyns biography of The Band. Robbie did drugs too, but not heroin, and he had a wife and small children that kept him grounded, besides the music alway came first with him. Keef7224 you are right about Levon, he did not handle money well, spend lavishly on hotels, drugs, build an elaborate house in Woodstock, his motto was "don't let your bank account dictate your lifestyle", then years later he writes a book and blames Robbie for his money problem. Not cool.
Somewhere down the Crazy River and other solo work of RR should not be overlooked.
One of my favorite songs. Video was a little ahead of its time.
its bullshit compared to in a station or ophelia ^^ pure bullshit
80s cringe
He didn't want to go back on the road. He thought they'd get together and start over, make some records and maybe get into the movie business. They didn't want that, they just wanted to play rock and roll music and have fun. Robertson was done with that.
levon was the heart of the band, period.
Richard Manuel was just as much "the heart of the band" as Levon. All four of the others have said that.
Richard taught all other four members about instruments
Garth was the only TRAINED musician in THe Band.
david pritchard robbie robertson is the Band
they were all such amazing musicians...I dont understand the reason to argue!
I wonder how successful The Band would have been without the songs Robbie Robertson wrote.
I wonder how successful The Band would have been without Levon's voice, and soul.
In my opinion there was plenty of money to go around for the whole band. The right thing to do was to split the money evenly just like the band Aerosmith does, that's one reason why Aerosmith are still together.
Excellent point!
U2 do the same , always have, they say its the main reason they are still a tight unit
Berry/Buck/Mills/Stipe ❤️
The Police had a deal where individual songwriters would get the credit, but they split the publishing money equally. Sting's name is on most of the songs, but they all benefited, so they kept working together. That definitely wasn't how Robbie and the Band management did things.
@@samadams8355 Nice to hear that, I thought Sting took the loot.
Gotta love the haters. What a sad, judgemental lot.
maybe some of us know more than you ..I was friends with Lee and Rick Robbie squeezes some BS in with his stories
@ you dont know squat
It was supposed to be the last concert, not the last album they made.
Whether he deserves it or not, (he deserves it), Robertson is the Yoko Ono of The Band. And like Yoko, he's spent years trying to wiggle out of his fuck up.
Rick B As a matter of fact, I am. I even know where the term originated and for what purpose a scapegoat was used. .
Rick B I just calls 'em like I sees 'em. And no, the Cubs were cursed long before that kucklehead Bartman came along.
I heard that back in the 30's Al Capone's kid choked to death on a stick of Juicy Fruit so he hired a gypsy from Romania to put a "Triple-Whammy Death Hex" on the organization.
Rick B But there's always a precipitating factor. I've played in bands back in the 60's and 70's so I have a bit of insight.
Ideally, it should be a collaborative effort. Everyone should be equally as committed. This is never the case. Egos screw everything up. Robertson had a massive ego. .
This even happened to the Rolling Stones. Mick Jagger let his ego run away with him and got whacked.
The story goes that one night he came back to the hotel drunk on his ass. Keef was there but no Watts. So Jagger starts hollering, "where's my drummer?" Real loud.
Watts was asleep. The racket woke him up. So Watts put on one of his nice Saville Row bespoke suits, walks downstairs, and proceeds to beat the living shit out of Mick. "I'm not your fucking drummer! You are my fucking singer!"
Keith said Charlie hung Mick out of the window by his heels and threatened to drop him into the canal. Keith said all he could think about was the coat Mick was wearing being damaged. He'd lent the jacket to Mick for the evening and he didn't want to see it ruined.
For what it's worth, Charlie Watts is Jewish.
But in the end, it wasn't Robertson's ego that broke up the band. It was coke and booze. They just got too fucked up to continue.
Is there a rule that no one can ever tire of doing one thing and wish to try something else.
That would be a good analogy of Yoko was in the Beatles and wrote the vast majority of their songs.
Theres a lot of misunderstanding about this and its an interesting and murky subject isn't it? I used to despise Robertson believing him to be a snake who was out to rip off the other members of the band, however I realised that was purely based on what I'd read in Levons book. I adore Levon Helm, I'm a mega fan, but I've never read or heard anything negative other than his lone point of view regarding Robertsons handling of the last waltz, the break up of The Band and apparent 'false' claim over soul song writing royalties - other than articles and comments based on that book. I have however read a few first hand sources state that Robertson was the songwriter. I believe Robertson was the writer and that the others helped arrange tracks which are 2 very different things altogether where intellectual property is concerned. Levon seemed like he was only member of the band with anything truly negative to direct at Robertson & I'd be interested to read or hear of any other sources that back up Helms claims. I'm sure if Helm etc had written the songs then they'd have serious grounds for a court case disputing credits which would lead to an enormous amount of investigation though it seems that never happened...You can't blame Robertson for learning the business either, he was obvously pretty savvy and ambitious and he probably made the most of their time with Dylan & Grossman and learnt the importance of application, maybe he even stayed at home more and worked whilst the others were off partying and felt he deserved whatever royalties his songs generated? Saying that, Lennon & McCartney gave Harrison and Starr 5% worth of royalties each for each track they played on, Sting gave Andy & Stewart an undisclosed % per song despite being the sole credited writer so there are definitely examples of songwriters recognising their bandmates contributions. Mainly just speculation on my part regarding the Robertson/Helm stuff to add to friendly discussion and I'm not jabbing at either of them. Immense talents all round and thank god for that gorgeous music we all get to enjoy x
+Januaryastral Levon's friend Larry Campbell, who has never met Robbie: "The thing Levon would do, once he got into a frame of mind about something, it was a logic-free zone."
+Januaryastral Watch the making of the basement tapes. One would come up with a kernel of an idea for a song, they would all sit around playing and singing and create a song from the kernel. It was clearly a join effort. Find the videos where Garth returns to the Pink House, he clearly backs Levon version of history
+Tom 42 I watched Garth returning to Big Pink. Didn't hear him back up Levons side of things bro, which part were you referring to? Thanks
+Januaryastral Nobody - me included - is saying Robertson didn't write the bulk of each song. What people ARE saying - me included - if there was ever a collaborative band - a band where each member contributed to the writing and the arrangement of these songs - it would be The Band. Robertson claims 100% of the royalties. 100%! I'm sorry - but there is no fucking way. Listen to the lyrics. As the only American in The Band - Levon clearly contributed certain phrasing a Southerner would instinctively use. For example - The Night They Drove 'ol Dixie Down - "...there goes THE Robert E. Lee..." I know it sounds minor - but a contribution is a contribution. Four Canadians and a kid from Arkansas. I believe everyone in The Band collaborated on the songs - period.
"and the arrangement" You don't get songwriting money for arranging. For instance, Ringo wasn't a credited songwriter for making up his own drum fills on "A Day In The Life," and didn't expect to be, because he understood how people get paid songwriting money for _writing songs_. A minor contribution is a minor contribution, so when you try to pretend otherwise on that, and try to in effect fold arranging into songwriting, you're spinning the truth (not necessarily deliberately).
1:16 "nobody came back." Patently false. They all came back. Except Robertson. So what's that?
Technically he's correct in saying nobody came back. None of the guys came back to Robbie's Band. They left him and reformed The Band without him. Levon wanted nothing to do with Robbie post Last Waltz. It's why he was a no show at the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Induction and also why you won't find a picture or video of the two men together post 1977-78ish. Levon despised him.
When you write songs. And Robbie takes full writing credits. He should be black balled . I have seen folks get black balled for less.
Don't forget they Reformed 6YEARS LATER....after solo work....👍
@@revkelly85 if you are a songwriter, you know...just because I was in the room while you wrote, Does Not make me your Co Writer, if I add a cool chord or two, That doesn't make me a CoWriter. If I make a KILLER Arrangement, that Also doesn't make me a CoWriter. They ALL got PAID Artist Royalties and Gigs, Periferals and the Movie etc. Plenty of money was made be ALL. I was growing up in Woodstock NY during these days...'64-'77.
@@revkelly85 Writer Royalties are For Melody and Lyrics ONLY. .half of which go to whoever owns the Publishing. Not Title, Chords or Arrangements.
So many here who rip Robbie Robertson for getting royalties simply have no idea how songwriting works. If I take 3 chords and write a melody over it and then write the lyrics - it's my song. What the rest of band does is called the arrangement - but you're not getting royalties for that unless you're a producer. Levon Helm was more likable - and super talented - but that doesn't mean he gets songwriting credit. If you come up with the song's "hook" then you should get some credit.
Garth had to file for bankruptcy too...3 times in fact. Sad really.
I don't care what anyone says. If you take a song like "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.." I don't care who he says wrote it, that has Levon all over it. Even if Robbie wrote the music and lyrics, Levon's soul is in it 100% and that's just as important.
Unfortunately its called the music 'business', so no, it didn't. It has the south all over it, which Robbie says he was immersed in, and which if anybody deserves credit, its Levons dad who he says he talked to. But thats not how the music business works. I've lived most of my life with next to nothing, I've NEVER had to declare bankruptcy and I was never part of a travelling band.
Its sad that musical and artistic people really seem unable to even comprehend financial and common sense matters. Do work, get cheque, put in bank. But if your going to choose "do work, get cheque, blow it on booze, houses and drugs" then really you have nobody else to blame.
There are studio musicians who get ZERO royalties, there are several good docs on the about then musicians who were responsible for most of the music from the late sixties and early seventies. Take a walk on the wild side wouldn't have even gotten ANY airplay if it weren't for the double tracked bass, which had NOTHING to do with David Bowie or Lou Reed but with an anonymous bass player who made it up, and double tracked it because if you double tracked it then you got double the daily studio rate.
Yeah it sucks, but we're not talking about children here, the moral of hte story is READ the fucking contract they put in front of you.
read This Wheels on Fire
robertson took credit for writing most of the tunes Even though they were written by the other members . each one contributed. when the records came out
robertsons name was on them as composer which meant he Made the Most
revenue. The other members were shocked when they saw this but kinda resolved that this was the way it was gonna be
sad story of an Incredible Group
saw them in New Orleans in 1969
greatest live concert Ive ever seen
@@richarddenson5052 Thats been debated to death. The more accurate is that when they sobered up they were pissed off at how songwriting credits work in the music industry. There are TONS of studio musicians who have created MOST of the songs you hear on top 40 radio but not only do they not get songwriting credit but most don't know who they are.
Thats especially true of drumming. Ginger Baker constantly complained that White Room wouldn't exist if he hadn't 'arranged' it, but royalties go to lyricists and melody writers mainly.
The idea that some guy who had played MOST of his adult life with and was financially set for life would just 'out of fun' try to destroy his former bandmates is ludicrous. Robertson is a preachy kind of guy and lacks Helm's good ol boy charm, but good ol boy charm can sometimes mask rampant racism (it didn't in his case, but I use it to make a point), and preachy condescension can sometimes mask somebody who just has their shit together.
" In the end, Robertson emphasizes, gently but clearly, that the Band's beloved songs-and the harmonies, ingenious instrumentation, and transcendent sound contained therein-wouldn't exist if he hadn't taken the plain initiative to write them in the first place. Robertson was a heady operator, but he was also the group’s bridge from the basement to the wider world. There wouldn’t be a story of the Band, or a villain to give it drama, without him."
Thats from a review of HIS book. Either way, it has nothing to do with you or me, and neither will know what it takes to run a band. I know from enough interviews with guys who are considered NICE what it takes to keep even a functional band together. Five guys strung out on booze and drugs and its amazing he lasted in it as long as he did.
@@mikearchibald744 Lots of truth here. when Bands Blow Up, there are Tons of Stories good and bad. Becker-Fagan, Lennon -Mcartney etc
suffice it to say that the Band put out Incredible Music that was So Original
so Innovative for its time. I was in a group that played a bunch of their tunes. We attempted Life is a Carnival and ultimately gave up after about
3 hours . Greatness is so often fleeting and they Certainly Were GREAT
regardless of the acrimony... Peace
@@richarddenson5052 "read This Wheel's on Fire" so it must be true 😆
that book has been disproven by everyone else who knew the band and it wasn't even written by Lavon but a ghostwriter instead who pretended to be Lavon
This has been said before, but why not here, again. There are 2 schools in granting song-writing credits. The older approach was that there was a songwriter who wrote songs and musicians who played them. The musicians get paid a fee as musicians, and the songwriter gets the writing (and maybe publishing) royalties. This was done for years and was a standard model in the music biz, but it was a model based on a time when songwriters wrote but did not play their songs, a famous singer would sing them along with anonymous studio musicians. But in the 60s things started to change when bands who wrote their own music and singer-songwriters became a thing. Sure, the Beatles had Lennon-McCartney as the song writers, the Beach Boys listed Brian Wilson as the songwriter (in most cases), but then with some bands, all members were listed as writers. Robbie may have been the real writer here, but Levon felt they had an understanding that it was always a group effort. I've heard it said that no one else in The Band ever wrote their own stuff, but its also true that Robbie never made good music on his own outside of The Band. It was a similar thing with Pink Floyd. Roger may have wrote the majority of their great songs, but the rest of the band weren't just some "guys who did a good job playing Roger's songs". They made them more than they were. Roger didn't make great music as a solo artist.
Couldn't have said it better...thank you for a very cogent post.
There is no school. There is THE LAW. Nothing else would stand up in a court of law and no businessman would enter into an agreement like that.
Harmony can’t last forever but the magic of their recordings will live on. People change, environments change moods and time continues but when it was good, it was captured and that’s what is important here.
Examining all of the accounts of what and who caused this marvellous group to end (in its best known formation) I find that there is no definitive party upon whom to lay "the blame". On balance, Robbie seemingly has more to answer for and defend, while Levon (& essentially Rick) draw greater sympathy from most observers and fans. But this is not to lay blame at all on one person; that would be too easy, convenient and simplistic. What I truly think is that after 25+ years together, realistically (and sadly) by 1976 their future together was in its final stages, whether they knew it or not - had it continued, it would not have been for much longer anyway. No one thing makes a band stay together for so long, and no one thing (apart from the inevitable passage of time) generally makes it cease to continue. Just be thankful we had them for as long as we did. Most bands break up amid bitterness over creative differences or money or both.....when all's said and done, does it really matter who set things off? I don't want to play favourites among these five; they collectively were always greater than the sum of their parts....
Bands break up. Period. Each for similar/differing reasons. Those of us on the outside can miss them and their music (never done) BUT let's all get a grip. Laying blame is a fools game. Enjoy the great sounds of The Band/Floyd/Beatles/Kinks/CSN&Y/etc. etc. etc. and get on with your life. That's me.
Well said.
Except that Robbie Robertson was by far the most expendable part of The Band. He's nothing more than a credit stealing hack
@@kevinsouthgate3960 LOL interesting point. Those other guys didn't need Robbie. They could have done just fine without him! Of course, they wouldn't have had any of his repertoire of songs to play, those songs we all know and love and associate with The Band. But for sure, they were great musicians and singers and no doubt would have rocked out at the local dive bars, and any one of us may have stumbled in randomly and enjoyed listening to them. Even if we never got to hear the amazing songs that Robbie wrote. Yeah...right..........
@@kevinsouthgate3960 Who was going to supply the guitar case that said nazareth on it and be inspired to write The Weight then? That is a totally idiotic statement that shows neither an understanding of how music works nor any intelligence whatsoever.
Garth Hudson played on a bunch of Robertson's stuff. Danko and Manuel did too at times. Seems like the rift between Helm and Robertson was too deep.
@Tony........John Simon was widely considered the 6th member of The Band. As you are aware he produced the first two great albums. Here is what he had to say about the songwriting in The Band:
“ 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.”
Please don't eat you keyboard but RR wrote most of the songs...Richard some others.
keep in mind the only member of The Band to have Meg Ryan full freaky plastic surgery (need i say any more) *metaphor*
i remember him saying in an interview, that some people accused him of goin Hollywood, to which he replied, "so what's wrong with that, I like Hollywood,!'" That says it all about the douche......
15 years ago we we owned that road now its rolling over us instead.............
Richard Manuel is Dead.
~Jason Isbell
Robbie acts like the reunion never happened. Literally the rest of them did get back together, toured, recorded. The problem is, without Robbie's arrangements and songwriting, the reunion stuff is just not that great. "Nobody came back" - his response is deluded.
Unless he's talking about when he got Shangri-La all set up and nobody showed up in 79-80. So at that point, he shrugged and moved on.
I guess it's like a marriage. Sometimes it's better to go your separate ways than drag things out if your heart's not in it. That's just life.
Robbie had a prenup that the other members didn’t know about. He got the house, the car and the kids. Some marriage. Ugly divorce from the band
@@drdrew3 They knew about it. They just didn't care. And they accepted it at the time at the breakup. They even wanted to sell their publishing shares to Robbie. Helm started complaining 15 years later when he got himself into financial problems.
I don't think Robbie's lying. I do think he's being pretty disingenuous though, and unwilling to take responsibility for what he did. The guilt over Rick and Richard's deaths is probably weighing on him pretty heavily, even if it's not entirely justified. When people close to you like that die like that there's gonna be guilt, deserved or not. That said, Levon's post-Band music has it all over Robbie's, that's for sure.
not too many bands stayed together as long as them. I think the five of them began in 1961 or 1962 and played together until 1977, I think. people move on with life. most marriages don't last that long. at least we can enjoy their music indefinitely. I sure do.
my understanding was that keeping the band together became like trying to herd cats and robbie was the herder and just got tired of doing it...at the same time robbie was very media conscious and in no way did he want to give the impression that he had anything more to do with the break up than anyone else which was prolly true...not that we particularly care...bands run their course no matter how great and successful they may have been...the stones are just cashing in but it's been a long time since they've had an actual hit...the band was together longer than the beatles including their time with ronnie hawkins...some bands are not successful at all...the band had a great run and at some time could afford to stay home with their families and pick and choose what to do.
It seems to me that Robbie, looking long term, knew that the power was in the control of the product. He formed a mutually benficial aliance with the suits and squeezed the other members out. Levon was the only one that could see what was happening and was strong willed enough to try and do something about it. In a tug of war the pencil pushers win. Robbie looked after himself at the expense of Garth, Ricky, Levon, and Richard. The music was created as an ensemble.
Yes, unfortunately I concur
Sadly to the victors go the spoils and history, in all things..Look at history and who gets to write it, The Victorious, that's the truth, wrong or right doesn't matter.
@@joeceonnia1954 But we remember! Who was the sweet voice...who made the keyboards come alive in 'Chest Fever'...who gave this band its soul playing the mandolin...what generated the magic...it was all 5 together. RR can think what he wants. 79 years old and he's still telling the same fuckin stories in interviews that he told in The Last Waltz...pathetic.
Any of you folks actually know those guys? A very telling scene in Last Waltz was..Old Time Religion...I grew up in Woodstock NY during those days and Never heard anyone angry because Robbie wrote most of the songs. Front cover of Rolling Stone, Time and Newsweek all proclaiming Robbie the genius. Dont remember anyone complaining. YOU DON'T GET ROYALTIES FOR ARRANGEMENTS, or TITLES .ONLY FOR MELODY AND LYRICS..NOT FOR CHORDS. The truth is the rest, not Garth were wasting their money on drink drugs and wrecking their Mercedes...if you Really Watch, Robbie is just tired of the drunks and drugs...nobody here are Angel's, but I loved Richard Manuel's music, adored his many voices and his great Piano playing....but unfortunately, if someone is determined to drink himself to death, that's hard, or impossible to stop. Depression and Alchohol are bad combination. Did Robbie come across as self serving? Ok. But he cut the movie with Scorsese, and could have cut those scenes. Unless you have lost friends and loved ones to Alchohol and/or drugs...its hard to Express the love/hate you feel for the victims. Don't forget, they reformed in '86 and played for years. And THEY ALL MADE A BUNCH OF MONEY...some wasted theirs.....I hate how this has turned out, one of my Favorite bands, I wish people who Don't Know Them would keep their attitudes under better control......
How did you come to such conclusion? What are your sources?
Robbie is full of crap. He's been that way for decades. Before Levon died, Robbie said that he had gone to Levon's hospital room and talked. Professor Louie, who played with Levon, said that Levon was in a coma when Robbie purported that he spoke with him. He also said that if Levon had known Robbie was in that room, he would have sat up and punched him in the jaw. Robbie is just another Canadian diva.
I hope Robbie never considers me as one of his brothers
I honestly don't have a horse in this race, but if you watch the last waltz from beginning to end and time who is on screen more for the interview segments, and who did what in terms of the production of the movie - ie picked the director, picked Neil Diamond (who had no obvious connection to the Band), etc... all signs point to it being Robbie's show and the rest of the Band are treated as sidemen for the duration of the movie.
"❤♫•*❤♫•*❤♫•*❤He is full of bull, he destroyed THE BAND, "❤♫•*❤♫•*❤♫•*❤
How the he'll do you know?
The 'junkies' in the band destroyed the band, not Robbie Robertson.
@@Luke-pd7xj dude you don't know much on what you "read" .. they actually were wealthy at the time of the breakup but they all except Robbie squandered their money and couldn't write songs to keep up the royalties after Robbie left
Having worked with The Band at Shangri- La Studio in Mabilu..yeah Mabilu.....I can tell you..... These guy's ALL GOT ALONG very very well....there is a lot of total BS...factless comments here........ The Band was...and will always be Great.......There will never be anything like Thanksgiving with The Band.......doing The Last Waltz............ memories of The Blue Room...............Thanks Mazzeo...for all The Good Times and Intro's.........
Robbie is glossing over way more of the troubles The Band had, and outright lying at points right here. Yes, it was most likely him that said "I'm done, we should move on". Whether the other guys wanted to continue or not is up for debate, but in that decision Robbie was right. Their last few albums were already losing it and The Band had run its course. They ended it in the best way possible.
Robbie then starts changing history here, claiming The Last Waltz wasn't the end but more of a break. Well... thats not true at all. The whole thing of the Last Waltz was that it WAS the end and thats how it was marketed and done at the time. Listen to the box set. It couldn't be clearer. And also to say that people never got back to it is blantantly untrue because the others DID go right back to the band. So they all did want to play together and its not like Robbie missed that the Band existed without him, despite the fact that myself and most don't see that as "The Band." So Robbie is towing a thin line here. Just say what the truth really was and he doesn't have a ton to feel bad about. He wrote the music, he wanted an end, the others didn't and continued without him and weren't successful at all. Thats fine and he doesn't come off looking so bad. Its the way he rewrites history to make it seem it was all mutual and that things just never clicked again that makes him seem worse.
the guy can say whatever he wants. It is his history not yours. You make an awful lot of assumptions.
+gajaga789 I agree with you on that one. "The last Waltz" was in fact a farewell show and film...
yes--he stated that in the 90s when asked if he would play-tour as part of the band--no--TLW was the end. would be horrible to have a reunion.
Thanks
Not sure that The Band was not a success after the Last Waltz. They all continued to play great music together and separately. Commercial success was not great but they played and they played well.
I believe wholeheartedly that indeed the Band were going to be a studio based unit it's unit and when Levon took a moment then all hell broke loose. I think this Wheel's On Fire book was needing to sell a few copies and and amped this up considerably. They had a record deal with the Warner brothers so I don't see this actually being all the acrimonious as it was. Robbie was career minded and saw a good time to assess and the road was not it.
Huh?
Read this wheels on fire Levon Helm he didnt see it like that
you mean his ghostwriter didn't see it like that
Heroin does that 2 u.
The passion is gone? No, the money was gone and this prick stole it.
I don't believe this guy, somehow.
Very perceptive on your part, as Levon and other band members complained that Robbie screwed them out of $$ and credits.
The records after Robbie left, great performances, just-ok songwriting, lackluster arrangements. And Robbie's guitar, weirdly, feels profoundly absent (so percussive!). I do feel like the way Robbie constantly talks about the breakup of the band is pretty disconnected from reality - it's as if the reunion concerts and albums never happened.
Robbie was talented, ambitious and hard working… it must have been hard to try and work with junkies and alcoholics
Junkies and alcoholics that consistently out performed him on stage and in songwriting
Robertson didn't sound very sincere.
When the critics all praised his turn as Loretta Lynn's father in the movie "Coal Miner's Daughter", and he was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance, it ate Robertson up inside. Instead of congratulating Levon on a fine job, Robertson told the Hollywood media that, "it really wasn't a stretch for him to play that character." Wow, talk about sour grapes. Classless.
Levon was not nominated for a Golden Globe for that film.
Ahh, just realized this comment is 8 years old.
@@paulbaker9086 Eight year old fiction is still fiction. LOL.
Don't think it was meant to be disrespectful just an acknowledge of where and how Levon grew up in the south. That role would fit him and his character very well.
They were all so very talented as Robbie always eludes to but at the end he was the only married one with kids while the other three singers were junkies that were self destructing. He has often said he didn't want to be on the road any longer but would have gladly made music with them but touring was no longer enjoyable.
I'm amazed at how many people think songwriting royalties are supposed to be split equally among people who didn't write the songs. I get that a lot of people don't like Robbie, but there ain't one of you that would split your paycheck with your coworkers if you were doing triple the work!
Does anyway remember a song Robbie wrote in his solo career after The Band? Didn't think so. He was a great songwriter but he didn't do it alone. I can't think of any other songwriter as tied to and reliant on the band that played his songs.
Do you remember any songs the other members wrote after The Band?
No, but we shouldn't expect that cause they didn't help writing it, right? But if Robbie did it all alone, where did the magic go when he went solo?
Somewhere down the crazy river. I named one, what do I win?
He had some popular songs, critical acclaim, and good sales figures as a solo artist. Many iconic songwriters who were members of bands don't have their solo output remembered as fondly. I can't name a single Pete Townshend solo tune, and that guy wrote some of the most incredible songs of the 60s and 70s.
@@paulbaker9086 If you don’t remember any great Pete Townsend solo music then your memory is to blame. Just listening to those albums again. All of it better than the last Who records
Of course, Robbie has always looked like the part-Native American that he is. But he has also clearly has had some (bad) work done on his eyes.
LEVON HELM HAS 2, THAT'S TWO, GRAMMY AWARDS FOR HIS SOLO ALBUMS.
Robertson has NONE!!!
lavons grammy's for minor Americana roots award with no competition or interest.. Robbie was nominate 4 times for more competitive major awards
Lavon was never nominated for major awards
Who Cares.
He used to be pretty tight with Bob Dylan but Bob Dylan probably seen how he handled s*** and...
Who cares.....RR was the force....
Robbie Robertson wrote all of those great songs for The Band. I can't think of even one song from Levon's solo albums.
*CORRECTION!!* Levon won 3, that's THREE, Grammy Awards for his SOLO albums. He won for, "Dirt Farmer", "Electric Dirt", and "Ramble at the Ryman".
He also won his first one in 1975, as Producer of Muddy Waters, "The Muddy Waters Woodstock Album", and another one for "Lifetime Achievement" as a member of The Band.
SO, that makes a total of 5 Grammy Awards for Levon!!!
Screw Robertson!!!
And didn't have one solo song writing credit on any of them. Levon didn't write.
There's always one guy who's smarter than the rest when it comes to the "business" side of the music business.
That's him and money creates a rift between people.
In a band...? Forget it!
The Band created great music with unique songs.
We'll always have that so, Thank You, Gentlemen. 🎸
That was McCartney who refused to get screwed over by Alan Klein.
He knew Manuel was going to die if they stayed on the road, it was obvious to everyone. Who would want to continue knowing that was coming?
hmm...i once met rick danko before he died and told him that i had met robbie the year before. "but you still have your shirt, though?" was rick's response. apparently, robertson's craftiness at taking advantage of his former band mates' financial and personal situations is legendary.
I see no contradiction between the quotes you each offered.
One was a private comment to a single person, the other was a public interview. Danko's 2 diff comments could easily be spoken from 1 heart w/ 1 viewpt, & 2 diff ideas re: apt public vs private comment.
p.s. the interview comment is a thankful "compared to what" & I'm not gonna publicly rip something beautiful we did together. does't mean he cldn't feel ripped off ... just meant he didn't want to moan abt it in public.
I've read several of these endless debates you carry on correcting anyone doesn't share yr very decided views on this specific subject; have complimented one or two such debates for being informative, to me who knew nothing of the controversy (for all I love The Band's music & live performances, I've never made reading about musicians lives & etcs a priority, tho I do some of it at times, & more than I ever did thanks to the best of what youtube offers)...
to take my 2 posts & translate them to "Rick Danko is a politician talking from both sides of his mouth" puts words in my mouth that were not what I said nor what I felt.
"Don't try to make it as even comments" is just as inapt a characterization of what I did/said. I didn't evaluate the comments. I said I saw "no contradiction between the quotes you each offered". The guy shared one piece of data that he personally experienced. He didn't declare that was Danko's view for life, or anything of the kind. He stated he heard Danko say that once, perhaps assuming that any real human has said different things in different moods or different seasons,months,years,weeks, within different limited contexts.
So whatever yr obsessive mission is (1) re: this subject &(2) re: yr need?,habit?,whatdoyoucallit? to the THE Authority gonna correct all us fool others, for what we said wrong, or for what you reconstrue of what we said to enjoy? correcting us ... might be worth a self-examining look in the mirror.
As for yrs being a "reply" to what I said ... you sound like one politician misquoting another to burn the straw man effigy you make of them...
& I only waste my time saying so to invite you to consider why do you.
thx for yr interesting opinions on this subject as expressed elsewhere
I enjoyed reading various takes on the subject. personally I'm done with it, and if the Band members managed to get done with it, you might want to consider asking why can't you? for yr sake, not mine.
You can’t compare what Rick said in passing to a random fan to an on the record sit down interview. Rick probably knows he got screwed but I don’t know to what level but he knew nothing was going to change so no sense in carrying around bitterness for 30 years so he probably just said fuck it and focused on the positives of being in legendary band and was able to make a living doing what he loved
If Robbie wanted to leave the band for whatever reason - tired of the drugs, better for his mental health, or embark on a solo career, why not just say so? He would garner more respect for that than sugar-coating his memories. Clearly the other guys wanted to keep going, because they did.
I have seen the Band dozens of times and although I understand all the bad scenarios surrounding the Band I feel the real problem was Richard's cocaine and drinking which led to him physically unable to perform from 74-76 and lucky they held up until the Last Waltz. Watch the footage of the Band at the Capitol in 76 months before the Last Waltz and Richard couldn't sing anymore, they barely showed him in the Last Waltz as well. I loved Richard, Rick and Levon but it hurts to watch and admit it.
Liar,,,,
There must have been some reason besides lack of ability to cut him so much from the last waltz. His performance of Georgia on my mind from that night was incredible, easily one of the top 5 songs performed that night. It is easily accessible on UA-cam
If Rick Danko was angry with Robbie about song writing, why would he invite him to play on his first solo album and later record "Twilight" on another album?
I am trying to find a song written by Levon after Thanksgiving 1976 - the Last Waltz. No luck. Yet he toured with Manuel and Danko - two song writers - but never produced on his own. Yet he claims co-authorship of many songs credited to Robbie. This does not pass the smell or the logic test.
I'm not saying Robbie's side of the story doesn't hold any truth to it. But "No one came back?"...
Seriously? They reformed a couple years down the road and when asked by Rick to start back up he declined.
Nobody came back? The four of them were playing live together again within a few years of The Last Waltz. Robbie didn’t come back. I’m not blaming him for doing that but at least be honest about it and don’t be so desperate to revise history that you say things that are easily recognized as demonstrably false by anyone who knows anything.
He’s really bad at lying
Whats really sad is everyone on this thread is all about who got what...it was about the great music they left behind.This friggin country has a mind set of money & greed. HOW ABOUT THE MUSIC ?
Who you fooling with that hair color, Robbie?
you missed the point. Robertson craved the awards, and it eats him up to not have any. Robertson wanted to be a movie star, and went after it with all guns blazing and Martin Scorcese, but failed miserably. Levon didn't go after the awards, he just tried to make quality music. Levon didn't go after the movies, they came after him.
way over rated, he's about as honest as a politician ,. period
levon was the heart of the band, period.
Levon was the heart and soul of the Band
The Band would not exist without Robbie Robertson. All the songs were his creation.
@@davidedward2352 yeah but Levon sang it and many of the songs written were based on stories told by Levon to Robertson.
@@ALong-fo5so Rick Danko says hold my beer
I got the impression that Robbie swindled and/or owed money to Levon, but Levon wasn't one to let petty shit like that get to him, so I'm sure he just had little to do with Robbie. Besides, I got a big time reading on the BS meter, when listening to Robbie.
Someone also might want to tell Robbie that he isn't fooling anyone with this DARK BROWN HAIR DYE JOB.
I'm sorry, man I love Robbie but he looks like K,D, Lang here.
He's older than KD Lang so wouldn't she look like him? Lol
I love each one of those brilliant musicians, however Robbie held the sobriety card fair or unfair some one had to be liable.
Robbie Robertson looks like an old Chinese lady now. His punishment, perhaps?
So much for that Indian-Honesty.
I think it's called Clairol for Men.
I was just thinking that when i saw this on UA-cam-He looks like an old Chinese lady....lol
Robbie actually looks like K.D lang
Rick B Lighten up bro
Say what you will about Robbie but without him, there would be no band, at least from a popularity perspective. He wrote all the songs.
Many road bands of that era were fueled by sex, alcohol and drugs. Levon Helm said as much during the Last Waltz interviews. Most of the Band was stuffing coke up their noses, drunk or screwing groupies every night. Robbie was the only one taking care of business, which is why his name was on most songs...he was awake and at least semi lucid.. The only bands that lasted during those years had to have one member who kept things together and minded the store. Levon wanted to keep touring, getting wrecked and screwing. Robbie said at the time that they couldn't last on the road the way they were. Please note that the group only complained after the breakup, when a few of them sobered up or got clean. I loved Levon Helm, but he was a "good ole boy".....Robbie was a Canadian with a business mind. For those who say he's not talented...Bob Dylan, who you may have heard of, totally disagrees. Before you decide to dis on him, check out the health and financial careers of the rest after the Last Waltz. Also, check out how many songs any of them wrote after Robbie. Finally....Robertson is still alive and still working. He's also protecting reputations, which is probably why he's less than forthcoming about the breakup. The truth would be less than pretty. Peace to you all.
Robbie is jewish which explains alot
As Levons biography says Robbie did alot of Coke with Scorsese while editing The Last Waltz but not Heroin like Levon and Rick or was a severe alcoholic like Richard.
I Love Levon, he was the Soul of the Band but if it hadnt been for Robbie The Hawks would have played Rock and Roll in small clubs for the rest of their days.
he is not jewish you knit whit. He's from Canada and in fact he's first nation
Old Riverman While I still primarily blame Robbie for ending the group prematurely, I think most of your statement is pretty accurate. And for all the comments on here about Robbie's appearance,...jeez, the man is half-Jewish (his Dad) and half-Mohawk Indian (his Mom). What do you expect that that combination is going to result in appearance-wise ? And have you guys ever stopped to think that perhaps Robbie learned some of his business smarts from his Dad ? The fact remains that Robbie was the principal songwriter. Yeah, he couldn't sing a note, and he needed the wonderful voices of Levon, Rick and Richard for that. But, unfortunately, it's the songwriters who reap the lion's share of the dough when a song receives airplay or is covered by another artist. I don't believe George Harrison, for example, got a cent when "Yesterday" was covered or played on the radio or TV.
"which is why his name was on most songs" No, because he wrote them.
I can't trust old men that color there hair like they're 35. God bless Jimmy Page for actually being honest enough to look like a 65 year old man.
Not buying this explanation at all.
Trump supporter??
Don't care about the drama, just one hell of a band, The Band timeless wonderful group That what a bunch of pickers can do togather when you got everyone pulling togather to bad it ended the way it did. RIP. levon Helm. Loved you brother
He'd look a lot better if he went with silver hair. He should have shared the income from whatever and all music made with "The Band". He says he "doesn't carry the weight of the bands split around with him..." Well, he should. Those guys went down hard and poor, yet everytime a Band song played on the radio, or was sold from a record store, Robbie Robertson got PAID, and Levon, Rick, Richard and Garth did NOT get paid.
Yeah, and they wrote some great songs without him....oh that's right, they just did covers.
Is that Robbie Robertson, or KD Lang?
Lol!
KD Lang is now the lead singer/guitarist of a band called Arctic Monkeys.Gotta say she looks great for her age.And for some reason she speaks with sort of a northern English accent.
that's a *FUCKIN* insult to K.D Lang
You nailed it.
At least KD Lang can sing
It freaks me out how these rich, famous folks are injecting that stuff into their faces and it makes them look like rubber faced freaks, but apparently they think it makes them look young. So many of them are doing it. Do they no longer remember what authentic looks like?
I don't believe him, overrated guy. He was the only one who wanted to make "The Last Waltz" and he was the only one making money out of it. Read the Levon's book. And then he was the one claiming almost every song's right when Levon said he was almost every time a band's collaboration and credits went to him only for an agreement with the label. In fact after the Band what did he make? Nothing. The only good song on one of his solo albums, "Mahk Jhci" is from the native singer Pura Fe', not from him.
I don't believe you because no one else in the band did anything after the break up except him.
None of this is accurate
why does he want to look like Rosanne Barr.
Dude looks like The Night Stalker.
All this is what is known as "Band Crap" which every group goes through to varying degrees. Page and Plant Mick and Keith. Everyone who thinks the Grateful Dead always got along. It's not the case. These guys made amazing music together but ego, money, drugs, the road all take their percentage too.
Part of that also comes from the power struggle between "alphas" in the bands: Mick and Keith, John and Paul, etc...You have two strong presences that drive each other to out do the other and often make the band better, but ultimately they rip it apart, if they don't reach a detente. I was in a band that imploded because at the start the singer was also the songwriter at first, but the guitarist got better than him after a while and stopped wanting to just be another 'hired gun.'
You got it...
He should feel SAD. He played with four of the most talented musicians EVER & stabbed them in the back.....RIP Levon
Tact and elegance (always appreciated) given in response to socially club footed questions. The Band lives on.
Yeah, Robbie carries it in a very fond place...his wallet.
Robertson was the clearest head in a den of junkies, to avoid almost certain death. Life before art, always.
garth didnt do dope
Levon was less concerned about what was owed to him personally, he was angry that the songwriting credits weren't split among all 5 guys evenly. He always spoke up for Garth's contributions especially. His understanding was that profits from the songs and albums were supposed go back into the group itself, like profit sharing. It's pretty obvious Albert Grossman didn't go along with that, and Robbie learned from Grossman.
Levon once said that songwriting credits should have been split more like 60% to Robbie and 40% among the rest. I don't think that there is any question that Robbie was the primary creator of the music. Take a song like Acadian Driftwood...Robertson's knowledge of the British kicking the Acadians out of what is now Nova Scotia during the French and Indian War and a subsequent poem by Henry Wadsworth inspired the song. As is the case with many of the Band's songs, Robertson created the nucleus of the song which was then massaged by the rest of the members to come up with the final version. There are, of course, exceptions. Manuel was a legendary songwriter and was credited on many of their songs.
While there are things about Robbie Robertson that are certainly disappointing (he kind of sold out to tell you the truth), the fact that he was the Band's central songwriter can't be debated. When someone creates a song and you make a suggestion for a small change that it is incorporated, you can't then expect that the songwriting credits will be assigned equally.
@@plembonicities6263 No one knew any better or paid much attention back in 1967 when they set it up (or had Grossman set it up for them). These were contracts that probably hadn't been changed since the 1940s. The concept of "bands" writing their own songs was relatively new. We've learned a lot since then.
@@malbuff That may be, but that doesn't change the fact that Robbie was the original creator of most all of The Band's music. I don't argue that the music Robbie created would have never achieved the legendary status that it did without the voices of Levon, Richard, and Rick and the utter brilliance of Garth, but that doesn't change the fact that Robbie wrote the music. No Robbie = no Band. People should remember that, enjoy the music, and give the controversy a rest.
That's Not how it works. Everyone in the band gets Artist Royalties, Airplay plus Units Sold. Writer's Royalties go to the Publisher, who takes their cut, usually half, and forwards the rest to the Writer(s). Writer Royalties Are ONLY For LYRICS AND MELODY...NOT CHORDS, TITLES OR ARRANGEMENTS....The fact that I am in the room while You write a song, or help with the Arrangement DOES NOT ENTITLE ME TO YOUR WRITER ROYALTIES. This is the law, not open to interpretation. If, however, you come up with the Chorus or Bridge, then you get a Percentage, by agreement with the Writer up front....not 20-30 years down the line.
@@plembonicities6263 That is actually false. In virtually every case, Robbie wrote songs at home in his studio, and then brought them to The Band. Or back in the Big Pink/Basement Tapes era, wrote upstairs at a typewriter just like Dylan did. Robbie didn't bring partials to the group unless he was having trouble, and THOSE, you will notice, DID have shared song writing credits. There is so much ignorance on this page, its astonishing that some of you have survived spreading this much ignorance in your lives. Because if you do it here, I'll bet you do it in other areas of your life.
Without Robertson this thing just wasn't going to go after the last Waltz. It was Robertson that didn't come back. He doesn't admit it in this interview. The interviewer and Robertson stopped short of addressing the money rift between him and Helm.
Only if you ignore 1977 thru 1980.
@@Ignats75 ….they tried to do it without him. Times simply past them by or Robertson was the key.
@@ynotttt YEs, they tried to do it without him starting in 1982; They stopped touring in 1976. That's 6 years. In 1979-80, they were supposed to get back together after a break. Robertson went so far as to get things set up at Shangri-La. And THEY didn't show up. Levon and Richard were in no condition, physically. Danko was touring with Paul Butterfield. Then, when things got hard for Levon and Richard, they tried to clean themselves up and go back on tour. By then, Robertson was immersed in other projects. So, "no-show" depends on when you are talking about. And since Robertson was stood up in 79-80, its no wonder he passed on getting back together by then. Plus, he never wanted to go back on the road. Since Levon can't write, and Richard stopped writing, they had no new material to record, so they HAD to tour. I don't balme Robertson by then. I would have said, "Fuck it" too.
@@Ignats75 …..very solid analysis. It seems like most people portray Robertson as a money greedy villain. Took money and royalties from innocent band members and disappeared. They all ended up broke, dead or destitute. The only one left is Garth and not doing well. It was a great band.
It's like any relationship. If Robbie fell out of love with making music with his mates or thought it was best not to get back together, so be it. People also have to remember the course music was on after the mid-'70s. I can't imagine The Band selling records in the disco/punk rock/hip-hop/rap era. The Band didn't just leave the stage; audience left the theater. Personally, it pains me to see aging artists trying to carry on like a young hipsters. It was the end of an era. Why try to recreate what was in a completely different era? It was tough on some of the band mates but a lot of musicians die broke. See Hank Williams.
I saw them 27 times, no one in the USA loves them more than me. But this isn't true. The other 4 wanted to continue