Robbie Robertson

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For the fictional editor in the Spider-Man comic, see Joseph "Robbie" Robertson.
Robbie Robertson

Background information
Born July 5, 1943 (1943-07-05) (age 64)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genre(s) Rock, Folk rock, Country rock, Roots rock
Occupation(s) Musician, Songwriter, Producer, Actor
Years active 1958 – Present
Label(s) Capitol
Associated acts The Band

Robbie Robertson (born Jaime Robert Klegerman, 5 July 1943 at Toronto, Ontario, Canada[1]) is a songwriter, guitarist and singer, best known for his membership in The Band. He was ranked 78th in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time[2].

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Born to a Jewish father and a Mohawk mother, (he took his stepfather's last name after his mother remarried), Robertson had his earliest exposure to music at Six Nations 40, Ontario, where he spent summers with his mother's family. He studied guitar from his youth and has been writing songs and performing since his teen years.

By 1958, Robertson was performing in various groups around Toronto, including Little Caesar and the Consuls. By 1959 he had met singer Ronnie Hawkins, who headed up a band called The Hawks (after relocating to Canada). In 1960 he joined the group, which toured often, before splitting from Hawkins in 1963.

The quintet styled themselves as The Canadian Squires and Levon and the Hawks [1], but (after rejecting such tongue-in-cheek names as The Honkies and The Crackers), ultimately called themselves The Band.

[edit] The Band

Bob Dylan hired The Band for his famed, controversial tours of 1965 and 1966, his first wide exposure as an electrified rock and roll performer rather than his earlier acoustic folk sound. Robertson's distinctive guitar sound was an important part of the music; Dylan famously praised him as "the only mathematical guitar genius I’ve ever run into who doesn’t offend my intestinal nervousness with his rearguard sound."

From their first album, Music from Big Pink (1968), The Band was praised as one of rock music's preeminent groups. Rolling Stone magazine praised The Band and gave its music extensive coverage. Robertson sang only a few songs with The Band, but was the group's primary songwriter, and was in the later years of the Band often seen as the de facto bandleader.

In 1976, The Band broke up due to the stresses of sixteen years of touring. In the Martin Scorsese film The Last Waltz (1978) Robertson noted that he had been playing live rock and roll music almost since rock and roll began. Also, credited officially as the band's main songwriter, he was able to live off the song royalties, and no longer needed to tour. The Band reformed in 1983 without Robertson.

[edit] Solo career

From 1987 onwards, Robertson released a series of four solo albums that began with a self-titled album. In 1990, he contributed to Japanese musician Ryuichi Sakamoto's album Beauty. Robertson's song "Broken Arrow", off the Robbie Robertson album, was covered by Rod Stewart on his album Vagabond Heart and became a hit single. "Broken Arrow" was also a part of the Grateful Dead's rotation of live songs 1993-95 (sung by bassist Phil Lesh), and later with Phil Lesh and Friends

On 9 February 2002, Robertson performed "Stomp Dance (Unity)" as part of the Opening Ceremony of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Utah.

At the 2003 commencement ceremonies at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Robertson delivered an address to the graduating class and was awarded an honorary degree by the university. In 2006, he announced plans to write his autobiography.

In 2003, Robertson was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame.

In 2006, Robertson recorded with Jerry Lee Lewis and Samuel Bidleman on "Last man standing" on track "Twilight".

On July 28, 2007, at Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival in Bridgeview, Ill, Robertson made a rare appearance on stage and played briefly.

[edit] Martin Scorsese

Martin Scorsese was hired to direct The Last Waltz based on his use of music in Mean Streets. The two lived together during the editing of Waltz and became friends. Scorsese had later admitted that during the editing process, the two of them heavily used drugs. Scorsese hired Robertson to compose the musical score for his 1980 film Raging Bull, and in the years since the two have been frequent collaborators. Robertson would later work on Scorsese's movies The King of Comedy, The Color of Money, Casino and The Departed, and act as executive music director for Gangs of New York.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums with The Band

[edit] Solo recordings

[edit] Film credits

Robertson is credited in the following films:

[edit] References

  1. ^ Nygaard King, Betty. Roberston, Robbie. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved on 2007-12-02.
  2. ^ The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All time. Rolling Stone (2004-03-24). Retrieved on 2007-02-17.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
The Band
Original members
Robbie Robertson • Rick Danko • Richard Manuel • Garth Hudson • Levon Helm
Other members and related people
Studio albums
Live albums
Compilations
Songs
Related topics