A great, great talk by Robbie Robertson on all things The Band.

@bdp24 , @tomcy6

I watched "Once Were Brothers" last night.

If Dominique Robertson is to be believed, Robbie and Garth struggled manfully to keep the band from swerving off the tracks for quite awhile while Levon, Rick and Richard indulged in heavy drug use that compromised their ability to fully contribute musically.

Watching this has actually made me reassess Levon. He now appears to have been a less reliable/credible witness than I’d previously believed, given the fact that his perceptions were filtered through the blurry lens of heroin usage. I can easily see how Robbie’s role as a father/husband would necessarily put him on a different trajectory from those in the group who just wanted to keep living the partying single’s life.

And it came as a surprise to hear Robbie assert the plan was for the band to take a break following The Last Waltz, then get back together. Contrast this with Levon’s sarcastic remark -- something about a "going-out-of business concert".

Maybe Robbie wasn’t the bad guy, after all.

@bdp24

You are far more better informed than I am regarding Robertson’s financial machinations. I have no reason to doubt what you’ve said. Before watching that movie, I always thought Robertson was quite slick and egotistic. Maybe I was right, after all.

Granted, there are some radically creative re-imaginings of tunes out there, but in most cases, in Rock/Pop, I’d argue writing a tune is a bigger challenge than arranging a tune.

I wasn’t in the room when it was all going down so I have no way of knowing just how "skeletal" Robbie’s original parts were. Unless Levon was significantly involved in composing the main melodies and chord changes, I don’t see how he could justify writing credits. Perhaps the degree to which changing a drum part constitutes "writing" is inevitably going to be a point of contention between drummers and guitar players. ;o)

As for harmony vocals, which is more difficult -- coming up with a main melody or adding a harmony? I vote for the former.

I saw The Band with Weider. Can’t recall who played piano. Johnny Winter and Roy Buchanan were also on the bill. Also saw Little Feat without Lowell. Both shows were OK, not great. 

@bdp24

I’d much rather listen to an average singer sing a great song than a great singer sing an average song.

Amen to that, brother!

RE: "No Time To Cry", what an ironic title. I’m not embarrassed to admit the mere sound of Iris’s voice makes me tear up. It’s as if she has a direct line into the very heart and soul of the human experience.

@onhwy61 

I agree that the personal stuff is just a distraction but in terms of the factors involved in producing succesful artistic/musical interactions, I'm very interested. Not that a line can easily be drawn between the two...