|
Toronto born Robbie Robertson was the son of a Jewish father and Mohawk mother. Robertson's first brush with live music came at the Six Nations Reservation outside Brantford, Ontario, -- his mother's girlhood home.
By age six he began taking guitar lessons from a cousin, and soon started writing songs. As his musical tastes evolved he dropped out of school and shortly before his sixteenth birthday, in 1958, he hooked up with rockabilly star Ronnie Hawkins with fellow sidemen Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Garth Hudson and Richard Manuel collectively known as The Hawks.
Legend asserts that The Hawks quit as Ronnie Hawkins' band due to money conflicts in 1963. They treaded water as The Canadian Esquires and then as Levon & The Hawks releasing several singles before coming to the attention of infamous manager Albert Grossman and his biggest act Bob Dylan.
Robertson joined Dylan on his headline making 'electric-folk' world tour in 1965-1966. One by one the members of The Hawks joined Dylan until The Band was conceived as a unit.
They left Dylan, struck out on their own and went on to record album after album of American heartland country-styled rock with R & B, cajun and soul influences. Their status became legendary as did their recordings including 'Music From Big Pink' (1968), 'The Band' (1969) through to their swan song -- 'The Last Waltz' - featuring an all star musical line-up (Neil Young, Joni Mitchell et al) and a Martin Scorsese produced feature length documentary by the same name.
Robertson's would soon begin an extended association with Scorsese scoring his soundtracks and acting in general; in 1980, Robertson produced and starred in 'Carny' with Jodie Foster and Gary Busey.
It was a busy year as he also composed the score to Scorsese's 'Raging Bull', which would be the extent of his musical output for several years. His next Scorsese collaboration was the 1983 satire 'King Of Comedy' followed by 1986's 'The Color Of Money'.
11 years after 'The Last Waltz' Robertson decided it was time to release a solo album. He signed a six-figure deal with Geffen Records and hooked up with Canadian production wunderkind Daniel Lanois who was career hot having produced the most recent hit albums by Peter Gabriel ('So') and U2 ('Joshua Tree').
With Robertson fresh off the 'Colour Of Money' soundtrack he was whisked off to Dublin to work with U2 -- and had no songs. U2 and Robertson tossed around ideas at the band's recording studio and Lanois recorded long jam session until he got enough momentum out of all parties to edit two songs "Testimony" and "Sweet Fire Of Love".
Upon returning to the US and holed up in Lanois' New Orleans studio, Robertson worked with a new studio band featuring the core of drummer Manu Katche (Peter Gabriel), bassist Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel, King Crimson), and ambient session guitarist Bill Dillon. The line-up would be augmented in recording by Maria McKee (Lone Justice), Peter Gabriel, The BoDeans, and former Band-mates Garth Hudson and Rick Danko.
The full cost of the album Robertson's 1987 self-titled debut was reportedly $1,000,000 according to 'Rolling Stone' magazine (a figure which Lanois denied) and produced the hits "Showdown At Big Sky", "Broken Arrow" (later to be a hit for Rod Stewart) and "Somewhere Down The Crazy River".
In 1991 Robertson released his not-as-long awaited follow-up 'Storyville' which had a definite zydeco and cajun flavour due mostly to its creation in New Orleans with the assistance of the Neville Brothers and Daniel Lanois once again at the helm. The album produced two singles: "Go Back To Your Woods" and "What About Now".
That same year a Japanese cable television production company asked Robertson to host and narrate 'The Full Moon Show' which was a retrospective look at the origins and continued popularity of various American musical genres. Robertson interviewed Willie Dixon, Sonic Youth, Dion and others.
In 1994, Robertson returned to his roots, teaming with the Native American group the Red Road Ensemble for 'Music For The Native Americans', a collection of songs composed for a television documentary series. He scored the soundtrack for 'Jimmy Hollywood' in 1994 as well and in 1996 he executive produced the soundtrack to John Travolta's 'Phenomenon'.
'Contact From The Underworld Of Redboy' followed in 1998 and marked a radical departure for Robertson. Enlisting the production aid of Howie B., on a recommendation from his old pals U2, Robertson began experimenting with drum loops and hip-hop rhythms to classic effect and leaving fans scratching their heads.
A PBS Special "Making A Noise: A Native American Musical Journey With Robbie Robertson" aired in November 1998 North American television.
Jan Høiberg and Rob Bowman
|
