A great, great talk by Robbie Robertson on all things The Band.
This is a 26:40 recording of Robbie Robertson talking (no video, no interviewer questions, just Robbie’s voice) about all aspects of The Band, his traveling from Canada to Arkansas at age 16 to join Levon Helm in The Hawks, his songwriting, the extreme talent of Rick Danko and Levon Helm, The Last Waltz, and many other musical matters. And his love of movies (The Band included "Third Man Theme" on their Moondog Matinee album). He puts into words better than I have ever before read or heard what made The Band the model of musical quality they were, and so respected by all the best musicians, singers, and songwriters in Rock ’n’ Roll. In Jazz too.
Even if you are sick of hearing about The Band, I do believe you will be very glad you’ve listened to this.
https://youtu.be/IF690sDgb6M?si=rbr7DFR7Mh7YP5OH
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. |
@stuartk: I couldn’t agree with you more about Iris, my favorite living songwriter and singer. I made the mistake of taking her My Life album (on CD) to the CES in Vegas one year in the mid or late 90’s, and had Jerry Crosby play "No Time To Cry" on his QUAD ESL loudspeakers. I embarrassed myself by breaking down when she sang the final couplet.
I made it through the last verse, which goes:
"I sit down on the sofa, and I watch the evening news There’s a half-a-dozen tragedies from which to pick and choose The baby that was missing, was found in a ditch today And there’s bombs a-flyin’, and people dyin’, not so far away."
But when she sang the couplet that followed (see below), I found myself with tears streaming down my face.
"I take a beer from the refrigerator, and go sit out in the yard And with a cold one in my hand I'm gonna bite down and swallow hard."
Merle Haggard also thinks highly of the song, and this live version by him is awfully good:
https://youtu.be/QBOvKGsouPc?si=YWxYH2fGdh_2XCHy
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Bands should be treated as "black boxes" with no insight to their inner workings, otherwise it distracts from the music. Within wide limits I just don't care what type of person the musician is or whether they get along with each other. As long as they make great music I'm okay. Still, every now and then something comes out that surprises me. George slept with Ringo's wife Sam & Dave deeply despised each other Joni Mithcell in blackface Nobodies perfect! |
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