http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-weight-by-the-bands-robbie-robertson-1480436811
‘The Weight’ by the Band’s Robbie Robertson
How the much-covered classic sprang from European movies; was it ‘Annie’ or ‘Fanny’?
One of the highlights of Martin Scorsese’s “The Last Waltz,” which documents the Band’s farewell concert in 1976, is a performance of “The Weight.” Rather than use the concert version, the director shot it on an MGM soundstage with the Staple Singers joining in for a rousing, roots-gospel rendition.
The enigmatic song about a traveler, the characters he meets and the burdens he assumes first appeared on the Band’s 1968 album “Music From Big Pink.” Since then, hundreds of artists have recorded “The Weight,” including Aretha Franklin (with Duane Allman), Jackie DeShannon, Mavis Staples and the Grateful Dead.
The Band performs ‘The Weight,’ featuring the Staple Singers, in ‘The Last Waltz’
Robbie Robertson of the Band, who recently released his memoir “Testimony” (Crown Archetype) and a companion music anthology (UMe) along with a 40th anniversary edition of “The Last Waltz” (Rhino), talked about the standard’s evolution and a resolution to the longstanding question of whether it is “take a load off Annie”—or “Fanny.” Edited from an interview:
Robbie Robertson: I wrote “The Weight” in late 1967 in a house I was renting in Woodstock, N.Y. All of us in the Band had been living up there while playing and recording the “Basement Tapes” with Bob [Dylan]. We played at a pink house in nearby West Saugerties that we called Big Pink.
Prior to moving to Woodstock, I lived at the Chelsea Hotel in New York. Poet Gregory Corso, who was staying there, urged me to check out the Gotham Book Mart on West 47th St.
The bookshop was a dusty, funky place owned by Fanny Steloff that sold used and new books. After looking around, I found that the store also stocked movie scripts. I loved film, and had long wondered how plot elements in a film fit together. These scripts were like blueprints.
The script that punched me between the eyes was Ingmar Bergman’s screenplay for his 1957 movie “The Seventh Seal.” Luis Buñuel’s scripts for “Nazarín” and “Viridiana,” which examine the impossibility of sainthood, also captivated me.
Up in Woodstock in ’67, images from all these scripts were stirring around in my head. The Band was just finishing up with Bob and we had already written enough songs for “Music From Big Pink.” But I wanted one more as a fallback, just in case.
Our drummer and singer Levon Helm had just returned after spending nearly two years away from the music business. I wanted to write a song that Levon could sing better than anyone in the world.
One night in Woodstock, upstairs in my house in a workspace next to my bedroom, I picked up my 1951 Martin D-28 acoustic guitar to write a song. I turned the guitar around and looked in the sound hole.
More in Anatomy of a Song
There, I saw a label that said “Nazareth, Pennsylvania,” the town where Martin was based. For some reason, seeing the word “Nazareth” unlocked a lot of stuff in my head from “Nazarin” and those other film scripts.
Once I had a few chords written, I sang, “Pulled into Nazareth, was feelin’ about half past dead.” I didn’t have any grand story planned. I don’t even know where the melody came from or the chord structure.
As for the words, I just knew I wanted characters to unload their burdens on the song’s main character in each verse. The guy in my song starts by asking the first person he sees in Nazareth about a place to stay the night, a biblical concept.
The chorus I came up with was, “Take a load off Fanny”—not Annie, as many people think. I’m not sure I had the Gotham’s owner in mind when I used “Fanny.” But her name was certainly buried back there in my imagination. “Fanny” just felt rhythmic.
“Take a load off and put it right on me” also was pure Buñuel. Once you lend a hand and assume someone else’s burden, you’re involved. “Carmen and the devil walkin’ side by side” is from “The Seventh Seal” and the chess game with Death.
As the song’s words came to me, I wrote them on my portable typewriter. I got used to typing lyrics from Bob [Dylan]. I never saw him write anything with a pen or pencil. He’d make little corrections on his typed pages, but everything he wrote initially went through his typewriter.
There was no magic to this process. It was just that Bob knew how to type. He had taken typing in school.
Robbie Robertson performed at Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival on April 13, 2013, at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Robbie Robertson performed at Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival on April 13, 2013, at Madison Square Garden in New York. Photo: Charles Sykes/Invision/AP
“Crazy Chester” was based on someone I saw in Fayetteville, Ark., when I was 16. There was this guy in a wheelchair who was kind of nuts. He’d roll into the town square, and when girls went by, he’d call out, “Hoocha, baby, hoocha.” It was like a tic.
Chester was stuck in my head. The only major change I made in the entire song was the name of Chester’s dog. Originally, I named the dog “Hamlet,” after [bassist] Rick Danko’s dog at Big Pink. I changed it to “Jack” because Hamlet didn’t sing right.
When the Band got together to rehearse at Big Pink in late ’67, I had a basic chord structure, a melody and words. I taught that to everybody. At some point during rehearsals, I stumbled across Levon adjusting his drumheads and the sounds they made. I had him loosen the heads so when he hit them, the sound would slide to another tonality.
The only tricky part came at the end of each chorus, when I wanted the guys to sing “and, and, and—you put the load, you put the load right on me.” The harmony parts took a few minutes for everyone to feel.
We recorded “The Weight” in early 1968 at New York’s A&R Studios. We set up in a circle. We couldn’t record in isolation booths with headphones—we needed to look at each other and lock in. We were used to sitting around playing together in Big Pink’s living room and basement, and hearing everybody at once.
Our engineer, Don Hahn, warned us we’d sound terrible in a circle, since our instruments and voices would bleed into each other’s microphones. [Producer] John Simon asked if the studio had mikes that would pick up only what was in front of them.
Don suggested the Electro-Voice RE15. It was a directional mike that wouldn’t pick up anything around you. They put RE15’s on just about every instrument, and the result sounded really good.
I decided to open the song with my Martin D-28, playing these Curtis Mayfield-like licks before the band came in. But the Martin D-28 can be a little boomy, so we moved my mike behind the guitar, to give it an old, nasally sound.
In the studio, my decision to have Rick step forward to sing the Crazy Chester verse came out of nowhere. It just seemed like a refreshing change to have a new character voice enter the narration. I sang it for Rick so he’d know what I was thinking, and he got it.
At the end of the verse, Levon jumped back in with a “yeah!” and sang the last verse—“Catch a Cannonball now, to take me down the line”—with Rick singing background on certain words, which picked things up to another level.
Our original intent was to have the song end abruptly on an unexpected chord. It created suspense and felt fresh. In some ways, the ending was cinematic, like those movies that end in a freeze frame. The listener is forced to hear the final chord that isn’t played.
At the Woodstock festival in August 1969, we performed on Sunday, the last day, at 10 p.m. I’d never seen anything like it. There were a half-million people out there in the dark rootin’ and tootin’. They wanted excitement. Our set was more subdued.
When we played “The Weight” toward the end, you could feel a beautiful somber mood come over the place. It felt like we caused the audience to feel nostalgic for period they never actually experienced.
I’ve lost track of how many cover versions of the song there are. The funny thing is nobody knows what the song is about. So why other artists would bother to record it has always mystified me.
My favorite version was the one the Staple Singers recorded for Stax in ’68 soon after “Music From Big Pink” came out. The way their voices came together, it was like a train in the distance.
‘The Weight’ by The Staple Singers in 1968
Before we performed with the Staples for “The Last Waltz” documentary in ‘76, Pops Staples asked me, “Robbie, what’s this song actually about?” I said, “Pops, you know as well as I do.” He looked at me, laughed and said, “Go down Moses.”
As we performed, Pops sang by sliding to the notes and his daughters’ voices slid right behind his. That was beautiful. It was like doing God’s work. And maybe that’s what motivated the song in the first place.
[Edited on 12/6/2016 by porkchopbob]
Thanks for the cool read, Robbie sure wrote some great songs...
Very cool
Great story about a great song. I've got to read the book.
"The Weight" is one of my favorite songs of all time. The singing and harmonies are incredible. I still have my "Music From Big Pink" album. I have a question about the harmony part on the "then, then, then" part. Is it Rick, Levon then Richard in that order? Did Robbie ever sing harmony or background on any of the recordings? I remember seeing him sing on a video of one of their shows, but I don't think he ever sang on any of their studio recordings?
"The Weight" is one of my favorite songs of all time. The singing and harmonies are incredible. I still have my "Music From Big Pink" album. I have a question about the harmony part on the "then, then, then" part. Is it Rick, Levon then Richard in that order? Did Robbie ever sing harmony or background on any of the recordings? I remember seeing him sing on a video of one of their shows, but I don't think he ever sang on any of their studio recordings?
I believe it's "and, and, and" but glad this article puts to rest "Fannie vs. Annie". I can't really hear Robbie's voice in the harmony mix on the studio version. He might be singing and just not have been miced. He's definitely singing into the mic on the Woodstock footage, but likely his mic is pretty low in the mix. I feel like I remember reading that Robbie didn't like the sound of his voice, which doesn't surprise me - it is unique, to say the least, and he had tremendous stage fright just as a guitar player. Especially compared to Levon, Rick, and Richard. You can hear Robbie take a verse on "Ain't No More Cane" from the basement tapes and "To Kingdom Come" on Big Pink.
thanks.
Is the big pink house still there?
"The Weight" is one of my favorite songs of all time. The singing and harmonies are incredible. I still have my "Music From Big Pink" album. I have a question about the harmony part on the "then, then, then" part. Is it Rick, Levon then Richard in that order? Did Robbie ever sing harmony or background on any of the recordings? I remember seeing him sing on a video of one of their shows, but I don't think he ever sang on any of their studio recordings?
I believe it's "and, and, and" but glad this article puts to rest "Fannie vs. Annie". I can't really hear Robbie's voice in the harmony mix on the studio version. He might be singing and just not have been miced. He's definitely singing into the mic on the Woodstock footage, but likely his mic is pretty low in the mix. I feel like I remember reading that Robbie didn't like the sound of his voice, which doesn't surprise me - it is unique, to say the least, and he had tremendous stage fright just as a guitar player. Especially compared to Levon, Rick, and Richard. You can hear Robbie take a verse on "Ain't No More Cane" from the basement tapes and "To Kingdom Come" on Big Pink.
Two bands with the best three part harmony (in no particular order)
1 - Beatles - Because they all sound so similar
2 - The Band - Because they all sound so different
thanks.
Is the big pink house still there?
You bet:
Cool.
There is a framed "Music From Big Pink" album cover in the hallway of course. The camera didn't single it out, but you could see it off to the side.
"The Weight" is one of my favorite songs of all time. The singing and harmonies are incredible. I still have my "Music From Big Pink" album. I have a question about the harmony part on the "then, then, then" part. Is it Rick, Levon then Richard in that order? Did Robbie ever sing harmony or background on any of the recordings? I remember seeing him sing on a video of one of their shows, but I don't think he ever sang on any of their studio recordings?
I believe it's "and, and, and" but glad this article puts to rest "Fannie vs. Annie". I can't really hear Robbie's voice in the harmony mix on the studio version. He might be singing and just not have been miced. He's definitely singing into the mic on the Woodstock footage, but likely his mic is pretty low in the mix. I feel like I remember reading that Robbie didn't like the sound of his voice, which doesn't surprise me - it is unique, to say the least, and he had tremendous stage fright just as a guitar player. Especially compared to Levon, Rick, and Richard. You can hear Robbie take a verse on "Ain't No More Cane" from the basement tapes and "To Kingdom Come" on Big Pink.
i'd have to pull out the musical history boxset to be sure but robertson sings on these songs at least
to kingdom come
out of the blue
ain't no more cane
knockin lost john
there are a handful of live tunes and basement tape tunes and songs added to expanded editions of the bands albums that he sings backing on. there is also a demo of "twilight" he sings the vocal
As a journalist, I try to get subjects to open up and reveal their secrets... but some things should just remain mysterious.
"I pulled into Nazareth feeling 'bout half past dead" has deep religious resonance... saying "I saw the name Nazareth in my guitar" kinda kills the buzz.
I live not too far from Big Pink.
I don't feel that way Alan concerning the "pulled into Nazareth " lyric. That tidbit has been public knowledge for sometime. I think it's kinda cool. Well ... because a nice HD 28 is a religious experience. 😉 However, even if Robbie wrote everything and arranged it and told Levon, Rick, Richard and Garth what to sing and play, he comes off as a arrogant prick so much so to me that it taints my appreciation of the music. 🙁
he comes off as a arrogant prick so much so to me that it taints my appreciation of the music. 🙁
That would make for a lot of tainted appreciation of music since the personalities and characters of those who write some great music are pretty flawed and human..like all of us.
he comes off as a arrogant prick so much so to me that it taints my appreciation of the music. 🙁
That would make for a lot of tainted appreciation of music since the personalities and characters of those who write some great music are pretty flawed and human..like all of us.
I don't think he comes off as very arrogant in this interview, to me it's a great window into the creative process of one of the greatest songs of the 20th century (though I do find his rehearsed overly-poetic interviews with Marty in the Last Waltz hard to watch, but people forget that's a film, not a documentary).
Regardless, I agree, dad, love the art, not the artist.
F#%* Robbie, He would've been nothing without The Band. He gets far toooo much credit for this song and others. Lyrics and chords tweaked by the "whole". Aside from their vocals qualities Levon and Danko excelled at their instruments and the true musical genius was Garth. Ronnie Hawkins had Roy Buchanan try to teach the sniveling little Robbie some guitar tricks when the others were in his Hawks. He was carried, he did not lead. The others virtually died penniless while he prospered rather handsomely. I 1st saw the Band (sans Robbie) on 3/22/86 when Dickey and Gregg opened up for them in NJ. Richard Manuel had health issues and committed suicide on 3/6/86. They were actually late for the show. GA and DB's solo bands united and played for a bit longer before having to split. I always wondered what if and why. I saw the personnel differently after Richard's passing. Levon had a lot to say about the way things went down. I know there's other instances of rights to songs and material gains, but C'mon. I see Chris Robinson in much the same light on similar issues. I side with Levon, Richard, Rick, & Garth. I know Garth is still with us, but may the others Rest In Peace.
F#%* Robbie, He would've been nothing without The Band. He gets far toooo much credit for this song and others. Lyrics and chords tweaked by the "whole". Aside from their vocals qualities Levon and Danko excelled at their instruments and the true musical genius was Garth. Ronnie Hawkins had Roy Buchanan try to teach the sniveling little Robbie some guitar tricks when the others were in his Hawks. He was carried, he did not lead. The others virtually died penniless while he prospered rather handsomely. I 1st saw the Band (sans Robbie) on 3/22/86 when Dickey and Gregg opened up for them in NJ. Richard Manuel had health issues and committed suicide on 3/6/86. They were actually late for the show. GA and DB's solo bands united and played for a bit longer before having to split. I always wondered what if and why. I saw the personnel differently after Richard's passing. Levon had a lot to say about the way things went down. I know there's other instances of rights to songs and material gains, but C'mon. I see Chris Robinson in much the same light on similar issues. I side with Levon, Richard, Rick, & Garth. I know Garth is still with us, but may the others Rest In Peace.
what a silly post. lets not forget levon had a bad drug habit and had a fire at his house that helped bankrupt him. could that caused him to have little money? robertson has stated many times he really didn't start making a lot of money until he started doing movie soundtrack work. he also bought the other members out except for levon because they wanted drug money, not garth. levon has a lot to say but several people who worked with levon in the 90's have a lot to say too. that is he can't compose a tune to save his life and wanted writing credits for arranging already created work
you also seem to forget that around 1966 levon left the rest of the guys. no one ever mentions that either. helm was that happy being a backing guy. he came back in late 1967
robertson played the piano too and his great guitar tone and playing is clearly heard on the band albums.
what a silly post. lets not forget levon had a bad drug habit and had a fire at his house that helped bankrupt him. could that caused him to have little money? robertson has stated many times he really didn't start making a lot of money until he started doing movie soundtrack work. he also bought the other members out except for levon because they wanted drug money, not garth. levon has a lot to say but several people who worked with levon in the 90's have a lot to say too. that is he can't compose a tune to save his life and wanted writing credits for arranging already created work
you also seem to forget that around 1966 levon left the rest of the guys. no one ever mentions that either. helm was that happy being a backing guy. he came back in late 1967
robertson played the piano too and his great guitar tone and playing is clearly heard on the band albums.
Silly?, What dribble you offer with this reply. Piano? Robbie was on bass until he was guided. Mr. Helm was Ronnie Hawkins Arkansas buddy. Levon not a lead guy? Levon has sold solo albums successfully in multitudes and given music fans much to celebrate post Band, While Robbie couldn't sell water in the desert. His solo work and the resulting sales and empty seats tell the facts. Levon was The Man.
what a silly post. lets not forget levon had a bad drug habit and had a fire at his house that helped bankrupt him. could that caused him to have little money? robertson has stated many times he really didn't start making a lot of money until he started doing movie soundtrack work. he also bought the other members out except for levon because they wanted drug money, not garth. levon has a lot to say but several people who worked with levon in the 90's have a lot to say too. that is he can't compose a tune to save his life and wanted writing credits for arranging already created work
you also seem to forget that around 1966 levon left the rest of the guys. no one ever mentions that either. helm was that happy being a backing guy. he came back in late 1967
robertson played the piano too and his great guitar tone and playing is clearly heard on the band albums.
Silly?, What dribble you offer with this reply. Piano? Robbie was on bass until he was guided. Mr. Helm was Ronnie Hawkins Arkansas buddy. Levon not a lead guy? Levon has sold solo albums successfully in multitudes and given music fans much to celebrate post Band, While Robbie couldn't sell water in the desert. His solo work and the resulting sales and empty seats tell the facts. Levon was The Man.
huh? levon was unhappy backing dylan and even tiny tim so he left the guys in 1966 and came back in 1967. that has nothing to do with his solo career AFTER the band was famous. he was the lead guy in the hawks and didn't like taking a backseat.
low sales and empty seats? robbie robertson is the only member to have a solo album go gold and has never ever done a solo shows so what empty seats info are you talking about? robertsons second album also is around the gold selling level and needs to be certified. no one else in the band or even the band albums released without robertson in the 90's have gone gold. maybe you should find some facts before you post.
can robbie robertson play piano? the answer is yes. you states he was barely able to play guitar and not as skilled as the other guys.
here is robbie on piano for his demo of "twilight"
sounds like he plays it too me.
Robbie's income comes from the Band. 40th Anniversary Last Waltz has money grab all over it. As far as drug addictions go, Robbie had a pretty healthy one while he was co-habitating with Scorsese. What was that about? And the only time Robbie came to see Levon was when he was on his death bed and couldn't say anything. Who was that for? Also it will always be the monkey in the room that most of the Band feels he screwed them.
[Edited on 12/8/2016 by Charlesinator]
This is a sad conversation about a sad story. To some extent, everyone is right. No one really understood the finances of publishing and songwriting at the time. The Allman Brothers Band have had a lot of the same issues, which were mitigated by their ability to come back and make all the touring money over last 25 years. I believe the Band's problems on this front were severely compounded by RR abruptly ending things when no one else wanted to. And it took them a long time to realize they had the right to perform without him and could do so quite well. I don't think those guys got a fair shake, but that does not diminish Robbie's genius as a songwriter.
Genius as in Kanye's kind of genius? What ever he brought to the table was reworked and enhanced by the others, The men in the Band were the talent and they were swindled. I read the Robbie story of The Weight and there's more "I's" in it than a potato field in Idaho (eyes). "I told him how to sing this and I told them to do that and how to adjust his drum kit? WTF? Kanye got nutin' on this fool! I am not now nor will ever be a fan of Robbie.
There's loads of info that tells the story. When 4 stories jive and only one stands alone, I have to believe the 4 over the 1.
This small info grab tells the story of the money grab. I kept it intact though it's more than I intended to focus on.
In 1970, Manuel acted in the Warner Bros. film Eliza's Horoscope, an independent Canadian drama written and directed by Gordon Sheppard. He portrayed "the bearded composer," performing alongside Tommy Lee Jones, former Playboy Bunny Elizabeth Moorman, and Lila Kedrova.
During this period, Manuel's "Blues for Breakfast" (an early Woodstock composition) was covered by Cass Elliot on Dream a Little Dream (1968); shortly thereafter, Joan Baez performed an a cappella arrangement of "Tears of Rage" on Any Day Now (1968) and Karen Dalton included her rendition of "In a Station" on In My Own Time (1971). However, he was credited to writing only three songs ("When You Awake," "Whispering Pines," and "Jawbone") on The Band (1969) and two ("Sleeping" and "Just Another Whistle Stop") on Stage Fright (1970); all of these compositions were credited as collaborations with Robertson, who had assumed dominance in the group's affairs with Grossman. According to Helm,
When The Band came out we were surprised by some of the songwriting credits. In those days we didn’t realize that song publishing–more than touring or selling records–was the secret source of the real money in the music business. We’re talking long term. We didn’t know enough to ask or demand song credits or anything like that. Back then we’d get a copy of the album when it came out and that’s when we’d learn who’d got the credit for which song. True story.... When the album [The Band] came out, I discovered I was credited with writing half of “Jemima Surrender” and that was it. Richard was a co-writer on three songs. Rick and Garth went uncredited. Robbie Robertson was credited on all 12 songs. Someone had pencil-whipped us. It was an old tactic: divide and conquer. I went on to express [to Robertson] my belief in creating music with input from everyone and reminded him that all the hot ideas from basic song concepts to the mixing and sequencing of our record, were not always exclusively his. I complained that he and Albert had been making important business decisions without consulting the rest of us. And that far too much cash was coming down in his and Albert’s corner. Our publishing split was far from fair, I told him, and had to be fixed. I told him that he and Albert ought to try and write some music without us because they couldn't possibly find the songs unless we were all searching together. I cautioned that most so-called business moves had fucked up a lot of great bands and killed off whatever music was left in them. I told Robbie that The Band was supposed to be partners. Since we were teenagers, we banded against everything and anyone that got in our way. Nothing else–pride, friends, even money–mattered to the rest of us as much as the band did. Even our families had taken second place when the need arose. I said “Robbie, a band has to stick together, protect each other support and encourage each other and grow the music the way a farmer grows his crops.” Robbie basically told me not to worry because the rumors were true: Albert was going to build a state-of-the-art recording studio in Bearsville and wanted us to be partners in it with him. So any imbalance in song royalties would work out a hundred fold within the grand scheme of things. We would always be a band of brothers with our own place. No more nights in some company’s sterile studio...All we needed to do was play our music and follow our hearts. Well, it never quite worked out that way. We stayed in the divide and conquer mode, a process that no one ever seems to be able to stop to this day.[2] (from Wikipedia, not the greatest source, but handy and seeing original post was from WSJ.com I felt comfortable posting)
i don't need quotes from helm's book. his solo career of tunes not written by him shows he couldn't write tunes. telling people to remove lines of songs and arranging your drum part to already written material isn't writing a tune. the previous post even mentions reworked by the others. sorry thats arranging not writing. jim weider has no axe to grind in the helm/robertson feud and has made some pretty negative statements about helms ability to compose a tune or trying to grab credit for songs that he didn't write. funny that statement posted even talks about sequence of the songs and producing. john simon and THE BAND are the only names i see listed as producers of the 70's albums except the last waltz.
fretsman just because you aren't a fan of someone no need to post incorrect statements about robbie's album sales and empty seats for tours that never happened. i saw you never said anything after i mentioned he never toured and is the only person in the band to have an album certified gold as a solo artist
F#%* Robbie, He would've been nothing without The Band. He gets far toooo much credit for this song and others. Lyrics and chords tweaked by the "whole". Aside from their vocals qualities Levon and Danko excelled at their instruments and the true musical genius was Garth. Ronnie Hawkins had Roy Buchanan try to teach the sniveling little Robbie some guitar tricks when the others were in his Hawks. He was carried, he did not lead. The others virtually died penniless while he prospered rather handsomely. I 1st saw the Band (sans Robbie) on 3/22/86 when Dickey and Gregg opened up for them in NJ. Richard Manuel had health issues and committed suicide on 3/6/86. They were actually late for the show. GA and DB's solo bands united and played for a bit longer before having to split. I always wondered what if and why. I saw the personnel differently after Richard's passing. Levon had a lot to say about the way things went down. I know there's other instances of rights to songs and material gains, but C'mon. I see Chris Robinson in much the same light on similar issues. I side with Levon, Richard, Rick, & Garth. I know Garth is still with us, but may the others Rest In Peace.
what a silly post. lets not forget levon had a bad drug habit and had a fire at his house that helped bankrupt him. could that caused him to have little money?
Cancer bankrupted Levon Helm. and Robertson didn't donate a cent or extend a helping hand in any way.
he had built back up his finances after the fire.
Robbie's income comes from the Band. 40th Anniversary Last Waltz has money grab all over it. As far as drug addictions go, Robbie had a pretty healthy one while he was co-habitating with Scorsese. What was that about? And the only time Robbie came to see Levon was when he was on his death bed and couldn't say anything. Who was that for? Also it will always be the monkey in the room that most of the Band feels he screwed them.
[Edited on 12/8/2016 by Charlesinator]
i never said robertson didn't have a drug issue too. helm made statements he would knock out robertson if they ever crossed paths. why would you go see someone who said that? he went and saw his old friend before he passed. happens all the time in this world. no big deal to me
re: the pissing contest between Robbie and Levon
I'm reminded of a saying by a sports reporter who said, when referring to great athletes,
"they are what they do"...meaning disregard all of the extraneous BS. The Band is best remembered by the music they made...not all of the petty stuff that happens when big money, drugs and ego
starts to blossom.
Personally I'm not really into taking sides
They were both great musicians and performers. And each member of the Band seemed to be a handful in their own unique ways with Garth being the exception.
We're very fortunate to be bale to listed to what they created.
Robbie's income comes from the Band. 40th Anniversary Last Waltz has money grab all over it. As far as drug addictions go, Robbie had a pretty healthy one while he was co-habitating with Scorsese. What was that about? And the only time Robbie came to see Levon was when he was on his death bed and couldn't say anything. Who was that for? Also it will always be the monkey in the room that most of the Band feels he screwed them.
[Edited on 12/8/2016 by Charlesinator]
i never said robertson didn't have a drug issue too. helm made statements he would knock out robertson if they ever crossed paths. why would you go see someone who said that? he went and saw his old friend before he passed. happens all the time in this world. no big deal to me
This is what he told the press, nobody saw him there at the hospital.
other than levon helms daughter amy backing up robertsons story that he visited a bit and she allowed him to enter levons room.
re: the pissing contest between Robbie and Levon
I'm reminded of a saying by a sports reporter who said, when referring to great athletes,
"they are what they do"...meaning disregard all of the extraneous BS. The Band is best remembered by the music they made...not all of the petty stuff that happens when big money, drugs and ego
starts to blossom.
Personally I'm not really into taking sides
They were both great musicians and performers. And each member of the Band seemed to be a handful in their own unique ways with Garth being the exception.
We're very fortunate to be bale to listed to what they created.
no one will ever change sides. you either believe helm or Robertson or you don't really bother with it like you. all I do is look at logic.
-the bands first album only 4 songs are credited to just Robbie Robertson and "the weight" is one of those 4. the other 7 tunes don't have Robbie credited at all. Robbie he stated he wanted to be a writing partner with manuel and manuel carries the load of the first album writing. there are also 7 bonus tracks on the re-lease that are songs not already on the album and Robertson wrote 2 of them and and writing co-writing credit on a 3rd. the rest are covers or manuel tunes. ok so Robbie has just 4 writing credits on the first album and we doubt his story about "the weight"? that seems odd since he clearly wasn't cheating people writing credits here.
-next Robbie says manuel didn't give as much material during the next album session but he had written enough that it would be ok. after this drugs started taking over pretty much ever member and manuel became distant.
-3rd album and its the band shortest release yet. 3 songs with writing help from others. Robertson has said the lack of any input from the others is why its the shortest in length and number of songs up to that point. originally the album stagefright was to be more upbeat material, as displayed by the first 2 songs, but when the other guys stopped helping Robertson has said all he had for lyrics was darker stuff.
-cahoots is longer but some subpar stuff which Robbie admits and says he was writing on fumes. it shows imo. no reason to think he was taking credit of subpar material.
-it was 4 years until the band released another album of original material. reason? Robbie said it took him that long to write enough tunes to make an entire album.
-islands is an odds and ends collection and really no reason to think people were being screwed here as others have writing credits.
-the bands pre first album material. the boxset A MUSICAL HISTORY contains a lot of this stuff and I see a lot of manuel and Robertson writing credits there. was he screwing the guys before the band was even called the band? again makes no sense to think he did it way back then. the boxset includes some track sketches too that show various songs being worked on by various members of the band. the sketch of "twilight" with just Robertson and a piano shows he was writing complete lyrics. melody and chords without other members.
-robertsons solo career has co-writing credits abound. also plenty of songs credit to just Robertson. who helped him compose these tunes credited to just him? "between trains" is amazing and sounds just like a tune the band would have done. "broken arrow" is lyrically also identifiable as a tune the band would do.
-levon helm has 6 solo albums and all together 2 writing credits on these 6 albums. if he was being cheated why didn't he provide tunes for his own career? this is the part I look at closely and wonder if the stories about him wanting a credit for arranging already completed songs is true.
what I see is more proof that Robbie wrote tunes than levon not getting credit. again that's just looking at whats in front of me. levon published his book in 1993, the same year the band attempted to make a studio album comeback without Robertson. seems to me it was tied together and helm said some of those things for two reasons. first to get attention for the band who were about to release their first non Robertson studio album. two because Robertson has some minor success as a solo artist and levon just didn't like that
[Edited on 12/9/2016 by matt05]
I don't look at it as a pissing contest, I see right and wrong, poverty and wealth, proper and improper. Brotherhood and douchebag. Without Mr. Helm's massive contributions in his vocals alone there would be no "Band" fame or wealth to swindle just a jackass with an ego problem.
Dirt Farmer and Electric Dirt are hands down the best post Band materials with both discs winning Grammy's. The real world knows what's what.
I will share 2 posts that I feel are worth a ponder. Both articles give a little credence to each side. I'm moving on.
http://popdose.com/when-good-albums-happen-to-bad-people-robbie-robertson-robbie-robertson/
