The Pop Corporation

The thing with The Band is that they seemed to land perfectly formed. Are there many better debut albums than ‘Music From The Big Pink’?

As well as spearheading the revival of rootsy Americana, which is no mean feat in itself, to find yourself there when Dylan was called “Judas!”, Robbie Robertson lived enough for multiple lives.

Sadly, Robbie has passed away aged 80 – but it’s a life worth celebrating, after suffering a long illness.

Robertson’s manager, Jared Levine, said: “Robbie was surrounded by his family at the time of his death, including his wife, Janet, his ex-wife, Dominique, her partner Nicholas, and his children Alexandra, Sebastian, Delphine and Delphine’s partner Kenny. He is also survived by his grandchildren Angelica, Donovan, Dominic, Gabriel and Seraphina.” In lieu of flowers, the family asked that donations be made to the Six Nations of the Grand River to “support a new Woodland Cultural Center”.

So just how rich was Robertson’s life? Initially from Canada, living on the Six Nations of the Grand River reserve, he would move toward rock ‘n’ roll, joining Ronnie Hawkins with The Hawks, where he’d meet future bandmates, Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel and Garth Hudson.

These shows lead to a meeting with Bob Dylan, where they helped him to ‘go electric’ – one of the most poignant moments in music history. The story says that some tried to take an axe to the power source, while the band played “fuckin’ louder”.

During their association with Dylan, they’d contribute to the infamous and wildly influential ‘Basement Tapes’, which would almost singlehandedly create the bootleg album as we know it.

Eventually, the band became The Band in Woodstock, and would release their debut named after the place where the basement sessions were recorded – the aforementioned ‘Music From The Big Pink’.

Seemingly landing fully formed, the LP featured ‘The Weight’, ‘We Can Talk’, and fused country and folk with R&B, jugband music, rock, soul, baroque and blues. They would feature on the counter culture classic ‘Easy Rider’, and play the Woodstock festival, Isle of Wight and more.

They’d go on to release ‘Rag Mama Rag’, ‘The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down’ and many more hits, both pop and counter culture, and we’re the darlings of the critics as well as music fans. Robertson one of the primary songwriters and de facto leaders of the group.

By the time of January ’70, Robertson and his bandmates became the first American rock act to star on the cover of Time magazine.

By ’76, they were calling it quits – but unlike most bands, they held a grand farewell Thanksgiving show which was filmed by Martin Scorsese in the documentary The Last Waltz and featured a number of their contemporaries, such as The Staple Singers, Dr John, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Dylan, and many more.

Robertson continued in music, with solo LPs and production work, as well as continuing his affair with cinema, scoring Raging Bull, Casino, The Wolf of Wall Street, amongst others.

In a statement, Scorsese said: “Long before we ever met, his music played a central role in my life – me and millions and millions of other people all over this world. The Band’s music, and Robbie’s own later solo music, seemed to come from the deepest place at the heart of this continent, its traditions and tragedies and joys. It goes without saying that he was a giant, that his effect on the art form was profound and lasting. There’s never enough time with anyone you love. And I loved Robbie.”

And so, to Robbie’s final bow – music for Scorsese’s next movie, ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’.

A Native-themed film, it is something of a full circle, given Robertson’s childhood on the reservation with his Native American mother. Via a solo LP from ’87, spending time in New Mexico reservations to forge a bond with his past, his final work will again touch on those themes.

While Robertson’s life is far from an easy ride, it was one with great richness and depth. One of the most impressive figures in rock music history and his influence, along with the rest of The Band, is as present as it ever was.

Rest easy, Robbie Robertson. You are truly one of the greatest.