Robbie Robertson
Jaime Royal "'Robbie" Robertson' was a Canadian musician, composer, and producer. Robertson was the onetime lead guitarist for Bob Dylan's backing band. He was also the guitarist and primary songwriter of the Band from its inception until his 1976 departure. In his later solo career, Robertson released six albums.
Robertson's work with the Band was instrumental in creating the Americana music genre. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Canadian Music Hall of Fame as a member of the Band; he was also inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame, both with the Band and on his own. Robertson is ranked 59th in Rolling Stone magazine's 2011 list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. He wrote "The Weight" and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" with the Band and had a solo hit with "Somewhere Down the Crazy River". He was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Songwriters.
Robertson collaborated on film and television soundtracks, usually with director Martin Scorsese. His soundtrack work began with The Band's farewell rockumentary film The Last Waltz and included dramatic films such as Raging Bull, The King of Comedy, The Color of Money, The Irishman, and Killers of the Flower Moon, the last of which was dedicated to his memory and garnered him a posthumous nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Score.
Early life
Jaime Royal "Robbie" Robertson was born on July 5, 1943. His mother, Rosemarie Dolly Chrysler, was born on February 6, 1922. Chrysler was Cayuga and Mohawk, and was raised on the Six Nations of the Grand River reserve southwest of Toronto near Hamilton. Chrysler later lived with an aunt in the Cabbagetown neighbourhood of Toronto and worked at the Coro jewellery plating factory. She met James Patrick Robertson there and married him in 1942.James and Rosemarie Robertson continued working at the Coro factory, and they lived in several Toronto neighbourhoods while Robbie Robertson was a child. An only child, Robbie Robertson often travelled with his mother to the Six Nations reserve to visit family. Here he was taught guitar, particularly by his older cousin Herb Myke. He became a fan of rock and roll and rhythm and blues through the radio, listening to disc jockey George "Hound Dog" Lorenz play rock on WKBW from Buffalo, New York, and staying up to listen to John R.'s all-night blues show on WLAC, a clear-channel station in Nashville, Tennessee.
When Robertson was 12 years of age, as his mother was in the process of obtaining a divorce from James Robertson, she told him that his biological father was Alexander David Klegerman. Klegerman was a Jewish-American gambler with whom Robertson's mother had been involved before her marriage to James Robertson. Klegerman had died in a hit-and-run accident on the Queen Elizabeth Way before Robbie Robertson was born. Robertson's mother arranged for her son to meet his paternal uncles, Morris and Nathan Klegerman. Robertson later stated that his uncles "quickly pulled me into their world and went out of their way to make me feel like family".
Early career
When Robertson was 14, he worked two brief summer jobs in the travelling carnival circuit, first for a few days in a suburb of Toronto, and later as an assistant at a freak show for three weeks during the Canadian National Exhibition. He later drew from this experience for his song "Life is a Carnival" and the movie Carny, which he both produced and starred in.The first band Robertson joined was Little Caesar and the Consuls, formed in 1956 by pianist/vocalist Bruce Morshead and guitarist Gene MacLellan. He stayed with the group for almost a year, playing popular songs of the day at local teen dances. In 1957, he formed Robbie and the Rhythm Chords with his friend Pete "Thumper" Traynor. They changed their name to Robbie and the Robots after they watched the film Forbidden Planet and took a liking to the film's character Robby the Robot. Traynor customized Robertson's guitar for the Robots, fitting it with antennae and wires to give it a space age look. Traynor and Robertson joined with pianist Scott Cushnie and became The Suedes. At a Suedes show on October 5, 1959, when they played CHUM Radio's Hif Fi Club on Toronto's Merton Street, Ronnie Hawkins first became aware of them and was impressed enough to join them for a few numbers.
With Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks
Robertson began shadowing Hawkins after the Suedes opened for the Arkansas-based rockabilly group Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks at Dixie Arena. One afternoon he overheard Hawkins say he needed some new songs since they were going into the studio to record the next month. Hoping to ingratiate himself, Robertson stayed up all night and wrote two songs, "Someone Like You" and "Hey Boba Lu", and played them for Hawkins the next day. The showman was impressed and recorded both of them for his new album, Mr Dynamo. Hawkins brought Robertson to the Brill Building in New York City to help him choose songs for the rest of the album.Hawkins hired pianist Scott Cushnie away from the Suedes and took him on tour in Arkansas with the Hawks. When the Hawks' bass player left the group, Cushnie recommended that Hawkins hire Robertson to replace him on bass. Hawkins invited Robertson to Arkansas, and then flew to the UK to perform on television there. Left in Arkansas, Robertson spent his living allowance on records and practised intensively each day. Upon returning, Hawkins hired him to play bass. Cushnie left the band a few months later. Robertson soon switched from bass to playing lead guitar for the Hawks. He developed into a guitar virtuoso.
Roy Buchanan, a few years older than Robertson, was briefly a member of the Hawks and became an important influence on Robertson's guitar style: "Standing next to Buchanan on stage for several months, Robertson was able to absorb Buchanan's deft manipulations with his volume speed dial, his tendency to bend multiple strings for steel guitar-like effect, his rapid sweep picking, and his passion for bending past the root and fifth notes during solo flights."
Drummer/singer Levon Helm was already a member of the Hawks and soon became close friends with Robertson. The Hawks continued to tour the United States and Canada, adding Rick Danko, Richard Manuel, and Garth Hudson to the Hawks lineup in 1961. This lineup, which later became the Band, toured with Hawkins throughout 1962 and into 1963. They also hired the saxophone player Jerry Penfound and later Bruce Bruno, who were both with the group in their intermediary period as Levon and the Hawks.
Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks cut sessions for Roulette Records throughout 1961–1963, all of which Robertson appeared on. The sessions included three singles: "Come Love" b/w "I Feel Good" ; "Who Do You Love" b/w "Bo Diddley" ; and "There's A Screw Loose" b/w "High Blood Pressure".
With Levon and the Hawks
The Hawks left Ronnie Hawkins at the beginning of 1964 to go on their own. The members of the Hawks were losing interest in playing in the rockabilly style and favoured blues and soul music. In early 1964, the group approached agent Harold Kudlets about representing them, which he agreed to do, booking them a year's worth of shows in the same circuits as they had been in before with Ronnie Hawkins. Originally dubbed The Levon Helm Sextet, the group included all of the future members of the Band as well as Jerry Penfound on saxophone and Bob Bruno on vocals.After Bruno left the group in May 1964, the group changed their name to Levon and the Hawks. Penfound stayed with the group until 1965. Kudlets kept the group busy performing throughout 1964 and into 1965, finally booking them into two lengthy summer engagements at the popular nightclub Tony Mart's in Somers Point, New Jersey, at the Shore. They played six nights a week alongside Conway Twitty and other acts.
The members of Levon and the Hawks befriended blues artist John P. Hammond while he was performing in Toronto in 1964. Later in the year, the group agreed to work on Hammond's album So Many Roads at the same time that they were playing the Peppermint Lounge in New York City. Robertson played guitar throughout the album, and was billed "Jaime R. Robertson" in the album's credits.
Levon and the Hawks cut the single "Uh Uh Uh" b/w "Leave Me Alone" under the name the Canadian Squires in March 1965. Both songs were written by Robertson. The single was recorded in New York and released on Apex Records in the United States and on Ware Records in Canada. As Levon and the Hawks, the group cut an afternoon session for Atco Records later in 1965, which yielded two singles, "The Stones I Throw" b/w "He Don't Love You" and "Go, Go, Liza Jane" b/w "He Don't Love You". Robertson also wrote all three of the tracks on Levon and the Hawks' Atco singles.
With Bob Dylan and the Hawks
1965–1966 World Tour
Toward the end of Levon and the Hawks' second engagement at Tony Mart's in New Jersey, in August 1965, Robertson received a call from Albert Grossman Management requesting a meeting with singer Bob Dylan. The group had been recommended to both Grossman and to Dylan by Mary Martin, one of Grossman's employees; she was originally from Toronto and was a friend of the band. Dylan was also aware of the group through his friend John Hammond, whose album So Many Roads members of the Hawks had performed on.Robertson agreed to meet with Dylan. Initially, Dylan intended simply to hire Robertson as the guitarist for his backing group. Robertson refused the offer, but did agree to play two shows with Dylan, one at the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium in Forest Hills, New York, on August 28, and one at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on September 3. Robertson suggested they use Levon Helm on drums for the shows.
Robertson and Helm performed in Dylan's backing band, along with Harvey Brooks and Al Kooper for both shows. The first at Forest Hills received a predominantly hostile response, but the second in Los Angeles was received slightly more favourably. Dylan flew up to Toronto and rehearsed with Levon and the Hawks September 15–17, as Levon and the Hawks finished an engagement there, and hired the full band for his upcoming tour. Robertson thus became Dylan's guitarist as Dylan entered his "legendary electric period".
Dylan and the Hawks toured the United States throughout October–December 1965, with each show consisting of two sets: an acoustic show featuring only Dylan on guitar and harmonica, and an electric set featuring Dylan backed by the Hawks. The tours were largely met with a hostile reaction from fans who knew Dylan as a prominent figure in the American folk music revival, and thought his move into rock music a betrayal. Helm left the group after their November 28 performance in Washington, D.C.
On November 30, 1965, Dylan cut a studio session with members of the Hawks, which yielded the non-LP single "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?" Dylan completed the Blonde on Blonde album in Nashville in mid-February 1966, employing Robertson for one of these sessions, which took place on February 14.
Dylan and the Hawks played more dates in the continental United States from February to March 1966 of Bob Dylan's 1966 World Tour. From April 9–May 27, they played Hawaii, Australia, Europe, and the UK and Ireland. The Australian and European legs of the tour received a particularly harsh response from disgruntled folk fans. The May 17 Manchester Free Trade Hall show is best known for an angry audience member audibly yelling "Judas!" at Dylan; it became a frequently-bootlegged live show from the tour, but was eventually released officially as The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert.