TORONTO 鈥 The Band's lead guitarist and songwriter who in such classics as 鈥淭he Weight,鈥 鈥淯p on Cripple Creek鈥 and 鈥淭he Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" mined and helped reshape American music, died Wednesday at 80.
Robertson died surrounded by family in Los Angeles 鈥渁fter a long illness,鈥 publicist Ray Costa said in a statement.聽
In lieu of flowers, the family asked that donations be made to the Six Nations of the Grand River in southern Ontario to support a new Woodland Cultural Centre. Robertson's mother was raised on Six Nations.聽
Tributes from fellow Canadians included actor Kiefer Sutherland, who tweeted the loss was "heartbreaking" and that "Canada has lost an icon, and music has lost a poet and a scholar."聽
Musician Ron Sexsmith praised Robertson's lasting impact, tweeting that he "changed the direction of music in the late '60s from psychedelic to a more roots based-approach."
From their years as masterful backing group to their own stardom as embodiments of old-fashioned community and virtuosity, The Band profoundly influenced popular music in the 1960s and '70s, first by literally amplifying Dylan鈥檚 polarizing transition from folk artist to rock star and then by absorbing the works of Dylan and Dylan's influences as they fashioned a new sound immersed in the American past.
鈥淟ong before we ever met, his music played a central role in my life 鈥 me and millions and millions of other people all over this world,鈥 Martin Scorsese, Robertson's close friend and frequent collaborator, said in a statement. 鈥淭he Band鈥檚 music, and Robbie鈥檚 own later solo music, seemed to come from the deepest place at the heart of this continent, its traditions and tragedies and joys.鈥
The Toronto-born Robertson was a high school dropout and one-man melting pot 鈥 part-Jewish, part-Mohawk and Cayuga 鈥 who fell in love with the seemingly limitless sounds and byways of his adopted country and wrote out of a sense of amazement and discovery at a time when the Vietnam War had alienated millions of young Americans. His life had a 鈥淐andide鈥-like quality as he found himself among many of the giants of the rock era 鈥 getting guitar tips from Buddy Holly, taking in early performances by Aretha Franklin and by the Velvet Underground, smoking pot with the Beatles, watching the songwriting team of Leiber and Stoller develop material, chatting with Jimi Hendrix when he was a struggling musician calling himself Jimmy James.
The Band began as supporting players for in the early 1960s and through their years together in bars and juke joints forged a depth and versatility that opened them to virtually any kind of music in any kind of setting. Besides Robertson, the group featured Arkansan drummer-singer and three other Canadians: bassist-singer-songwriter Rick Danko, keyboardist singer-songwriter Richard Manuel and all-around musical wizard Garth Hudson. They were originally called the Hawks, but ended up as The Band 鈥 a conceit their fans would say they earned 鈥 because people would point to them when they were with Dylan and refer to them as 鈥渢he band.鈥
They remain defined by their first two albums, 鈥淢usic from Big Pink鈥 and 鈥淭he Band,鈥 both released in the late 1960s. The rock scene was turning away from the psychedelic extravagances of the Beatles' 鈥淪gt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band鈥 and a wave of sound effects, long jams and lysergic lyrics. "Music from Big Pink,鈥 named for the old house near Woodstock, New York, where Band members lived and gathered, was for many the sound of coming home. The mood was intimate, the lyrics alternately playful, cryptic and yearning, drawn from blues, gospel, folk and country music. The Band itself seemed to stand for selflessness and a shared and vital history, with all five members making distinctive contributions and appearing in publicity photos in plain, dark clothes.
Through the 鈥淏asement Tapes鈥 they had made with Dylan in 1967 and through their own albums, The Band has been widely credited as a founding source for Americana or roots music. Fans and peers would speak of their lives being changed. Eric Clapton broke up with his British supergroup Cream and journeyed to Woodstock in hopes he could join The Band, which influenced albums ranging from The Grateful Dead鈥檚 鈥淲orkingman's Dead鈥 to Elton John's 鈥淭umbleweed Connection.鈥 The Band's songs were covered by Franklin, Joan Baez, the Staple Singers and many others. During a television performance by the Beatles of 鈥淗ey Jude,鈥 Paul McCartney shouted out lyrics from 鈥淭he Weight.鈥
Like Dylan, Robertson was a self-taught musicologist and storyteller who absorbed everything American from the novels of William Faulkner to the scorching blues of Howlin' Wolf to the gospel harmonies of the Swan Silvertones. At times his songs sounded not just created, but unearthed. In 鈥淭he Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,鈥 he imagined the Civil War through the eyes of a defeated Confederate. with its lead vocals passed around among group members like a communal wine glass, he evoked a pilgrim's arrival to a town where nothing seems impossible:
鈥淚 pulled into Nazareth, was feelin鈥 about half past dead / I just need some place where I can lay my head / Hey, mister, can you tell me where a man might find a bed? / He just grinned and shook my hand, 鈥楴o,鈥 was all he said.鈥
The Band played at the 1969 Woodstock festival, not far from where they lived, and became newsworthy enough to appear on the cover of Time magazine. But the spirit behind their best work was already dissolving. Albums such as 鈥淪tage Fright鈥 and 鈥淐ahoots鈥 were disappointing even for Robertson, who would acknowledge that he was struggling to find fresh ideas. While Manuel and Danko were both frequent contributors to songs during their 鈥淏asement Tapes鈥 days, by the time 鈥淐ahoots鈥 was released in 1971, Robertson was the dominant writer.
They toured frequently, recording the acclaimed live album 鈥淩ock of Ages鈥 at Madison Square Garden and joining Dylan for 1974 shows that led to another highly praised concert release, 鈥淏efore the Flood.鈥 But in 1976, after Manuel broke his neck in a boating accident, Robertson decided he needed a break from the road and organized rock's ultimate sendoff, an all-star gathering at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom that included Dylan, Van Morrison, Neil Young, Muddy Waters and many others. The concert was and the basis for his celebrated documentary 鈥淭he Last Waltz,鈥 released in 1978.
Robertson had intended The Band to continue recording together but 鈥淭he Last Waltz鈥 helped permanently sever his friendship with Helm, whom he had once looked to as an older brother. In interviews and in his 1993 memoir 鈥淲heel on Fire,鈥 Helm accused of Robertson of greed and outsized ego, noting that Robertson had ended up owning their musical catalog and calling 鈥淭he Last Waltz鈥 a vanity project designed to glorify Robertson. In response, Robertson contended that he had taken control of the group because the others 鈥 excepting Hudson 鈥 were too burdened by drug and alcohol problems to make decisions on their own.
鈥淚t hit me hard that in a band like ours, if we weren't operating on all cylinders, it threw the whole machine off course,鈥 Robertson wrote in his memoir 鈥淭estimony,鈥 published in 2016.
The Band regrouped without Robertson in the early 1980s, and Robertson went on to a long career and soundtrack composer. His self-titled 1987 album was certified gold and featured the hit single 鈥淪how Down at Big Sky鈥 and the ballad 鈥淔allen Angel,鈥 a tribute to Manuel, who was found dead in 1986 in what was ruled a suicide (Danko died of heart failure in 1999, and Helm of cancer in 2012).
Robertson, who moved to Los Angeles in the 1970s while the others stayed near Woodstock, remained close to Scorsese and helped oversee the soundtracks for 鈥淭he Color of Money,鈥 鈥淭he King of Comedy,鈥 鈥淭he Departed鈥 and 鈥淭he Irishman鈥 among others. He also produced the Neil Diamond album 鈥淏eautiful Noise鈥 and explored his heritage through such albums as 鈥淢usic for the Native Americans鈥 and 鈥淐ontact from the Underworld of Redboy.鈥
The Band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994; Robertson attended, Helm did not. In 2020, Robertson looked back and mourned in the documentary 鈥淥nce Were Brothers鈥 and in the title ballad, on which Robertson sang 鈥淲hen the light goes out and you can鈥檛 go on / You miss your brothers, but now they鈥檙e gone.鈥
Robertson also won several Juno Awards and was honoured twice by Canada鈥檚 Walk of Fame. He's also been inducted into the Canadian Songwriters鈥 Hall of Fame, made an Officer of the Order of Canada, and received the Governor General鈥檚 Performing Arts Award.
Robertson married the Canadian journalist Dominique Bourgeois in 1967. They had three children before divorcing.
Jaime Royal Robertson was born in Toronto and spent summers at the Six Nations of the Grand River reserve where his mother Rosemarie Dolly Chrysler grew up. He never met his father, Alexander David Klegerman, who died before he was born and whose existence Robertson only learned of years later. His mother had since married a factory worker, James Robertson, whom Robbie Robertson at first believed was his biological parent.
Music was an escape from what he remembered as a violent and abusive household; his parents separated when he was in his early teens. He would watch relatives play guitar and sing at the Six Nations reserve, and became 鈥渕esmerized鈥 by how absorbed they were in their own performances. Robertson was soon practicing guitar himself and was playing in bands and writing songs in his teens.
He had a knack for impressing his elders. When he was 15, his group opened for Hawkins at a club in Toronto. After overhearing Hawkins say he was in need of new material, Robertson hurried home, worked up a couple of songs and brought them over to his hotel. Hawkins recorded both of them, 鈥淪omeone Like You,鈥 and 鈥淗ey Boba Lu,鈥 and Robertson would soon find himself on a train to Hawkins' home base in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Over the next few years, he toured with Hawkins in the U.S. and Canada as members left and the performers who eventually became The Band were brought in. By 1963, Robertson and the others had grown apart from Hawkins and were ready to work on their own, recording a handful of singles as the Canadian Squires and stepping into rock history when mutual acquaintances suggested they should tour behind Dylan, then rebelling against his image as folk troubadour and infuriating fans who thought he had sold out.
In 1965-66, they were Dylan's co-adventurers in some of rock's most momentous shows, with Dylan playing an acoustic opening set, then joined by the Hawks for an electric set that was booed so fiercely, Helm dropped out and was replaced on the road by Mickey Jones. As captured in audio recordings and in footage by filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker seen decades later in the Dylan documentary 鈥淣o Direction Home,鈥 the music on stage for such Dylan songs as 鈥淛ust Like Tom Thumb's Blues鈥 and 鈥淏allad of a Thin Man鈥 more than equaled the fury of its detractors, culminating in a May 1966 show at Manchester, England, when one fan screamed out 鈥淛udas!鈥
鈥淚 don't belieeeeve you," Dylan snarled in response. 鈥淵ou're a liar!鈥 Calling on the Hawks to 鈥漰lay f----ing loud," he led them through an all-out finale, 鈥淟ike a Rolling Stone.鈥
鈥淎 kind of madness was percolating,鈥 Robertson wrote in his memoir. 鈥淭he whole atmosphere was heightened. I adjusted the strap on my Telecaster so I could release it with a quick thumb movement and use the guitar as a weapon. The concerts were starting to feel that unpredictable.鈥
Later in 1966, Dylan was badly injured in a motorcycle accident and recuperated in the Woodstock area, where The Band also soon settled. Under no contractual obligations or any sort of deadlines, Dylan and his fellow musicians stepped out of time altogether. They jammed on old country and Appalachian songs and worked on such originals as 鈥淭ears of Rage鈥 and 鈥淚 Shall Be Released鈥 that were originally intended as demo recordings for other artists. 鈥淭he Basement Tapes,鈥 as they were eventually called, were among rock's first bootlegs before being released officially 鈥 in part in 1975, and in a full six-CD set in 2014.
Working and writing with Dylan encouraged The Band to try an album of its own. 鈥淢usic from Big Pink鈥 featured the Dylan-Danko collaboration 鈥淭his Wheel's On Fire鈥 and Dylan-Manuel's 鈥淭ears of Rage,鈥 along with such Band originals as Manuel's 鈥淚n a Station鈥 and Robertson's 鈥淐aledonia Mission.鈥
In his memoir, Robertson remembered the first time their old boss listened to 鈥淢usic from Big Pink.鈥
鈥淎fter each song, Bob looked at 鈥榟is鈥 band with proud eyes. When 鈥楾he Weight鈥 came on, he said, 鈥楾his is fantastic. Who wrote that song?鈥" he wrote. "鈥楳e,鈥 I answered. He shook his head, slapped me on the arm, and said, 鈥楧amn! You wrote that song?鈥"
-With files from The Canadian Press
The Associated Press, The Canadian Press
