Howdy. I've not been around here, and I'm aware that this will have
been discussed before, so fi you're sick of it please just leave it
alone.
I've been having a small spiritual crisis today and last night,
related to the Band, so I thought I'd toss this out there to see what
the "The Band Community" has to say- what the differing opinions are,
and so forth. Anyways- a brief background.
My favorite album all through college (I'm 22) was The Band's second
album, the self-titled Brown Album. Robbie Robertson has for five
years now been one of my favorite guitar players and one of my biggest
influences as a player and songwriter. I whor****pped nearly every
sound made by each member on every one of their albums- they're just
so great; but I really felt a connection to Robbie as a guitar player
who didn't front the group but who wrote great stuff while hanging out
of the limelight. Not knowing enough about their background, I wanted
to learn more, so when I found out about Levon's autobiographical
story of the Band, "This Wheel's On Fire," I got it when I could and
read it over the past week.
It's just pretty tough to hear the first member of the group, a man I
respect tremendously, calling one of my rock idols a cheat. Levon Helm
alleges that Robbie Robertson hogged the writing credits on the first
two albums, which led to the rest of the group's declining to
participate as much in the creative process subsequently. He ended up
making tons of money off the Band, and the rest of them ended up
working little joints on a long circuit for meager wages in the '80s,
where Richard Manuel killed himself. He further states that The Last
Waltz was a egotistical farce controlled and ruined by Robertson and
his pal Scorsese from which none of the other members of the Band ever
got any money.
The feeling fini****ng that book gave me reminded me of my parents
fighting before they split up- it just feels really bad. How do you
pick a side or know who to believe? I immediately went to the Band
fansite (which is wonderful) and read magazine articles trying to find
out more to resolve the issues it brought up. I also reviewed the Last
Waltz under the new light that Levon had cast on it.
I decided, thereafter, that while in the traditional sense of writing
(composing the actual melody and words of a song) Robbie would
probably have been the legal author of most of the Band's early
catalogue, the spirit of the group was one of community and sharing,
and they certainly worked together on the creation of the material. So
while he had a de jure prerogative to claim credit, he had a de facto
responsibility to share it more than he did. Particularly the
crediting on the Basement Tapes seems ridiculously exclusionary to me.
At the same time, I think Levon places more blame on Robbie for the
breakdown of the group than he deserves, because it is evident that
Richard Manuel was too much of a mess after 1971 (just from pictures,
if nothing else) to contribute that much; and Danko was at least as
interested in his solo career, which never really went anywhere.
Levon himself was pretty screwed up on heroin for afew years in there-
but he makes the point that it wasn't just drugs that brought everyone
down. Garth always tried to remain buddy buddy with everyone, and
played on Robbie's solo records, and anyways he was older and had
other interests. It seems likely that when the drugs and success came
in and stupified the group, Robbie's status as the guy who pushed
recording when the others were happy to lounge around, get laid/high,
etc created an ego clash with Levon, who was the first member and
original leader of the group, but who had forfeited his leader****p
title by ditching them before Dylan's world tour. I also think the
confrontational nature of his book (and of Levon himself) make his
work a little less trustworthy, just because he is not considering it
from a detatched position, but rather from a very emotional one.
Even if I completely thought Levon was a liar, though, which I do not,
my view of the Last Waltz (the "great" rockumentary) and the Basement
Tapes (one of my most beloved albums) has really been trampled by
things he says about them that were easily verified elsewhere. Robbie
did a lot of production on the Basement Tapes and totally doctored it
up- overdubs, track selection, credts, you name it. The Last Waltz...
I can't watch it the same way. Robbie might still be on my top tier of
writers and players, but I cannot say now that he's a guy I think very
highly of. The Last Waltz, the Band retiring... all at his say-so,
forced on everyone else, and filmed with numerous closeups of him
singing into a microphone that is not on, while generally ignoring
Richard and Garth (and some of the guests), throughly overdubbed and
generally ****ed with.
Finally, the most damning thing Levon levels at Robbie is a matter of
record. They had a wonderful thing that really mattered, and he just
walked away from it. Right after a gem of an album too. And for what?
His solo records are good, in their way, but they are a pale and
pathetic shadow of the Band. Soundtracks which by their own nature
limit the value of the music. I'd rather listen to Jericho, High on
the Hog, or Jubilation, which reunite pretty much everyone else-
including John Simon, the sixth member of the group for their two best
albums, who agrees with some of Levon's accusations, as did Danko.
Robbie preferred to make a bunch of money doing soundtracks and making
sub-quality solo records, and especially owning both the songwriting
and publi****ng rights to the Band material (he bought the others out,
for some reason, right after the Last Waltz). Maybe he played it safe,
and maybe he didn't break any actual rules, but he appears to me to be
something of a coward. Not a rock n roll warrior. The others let their
own personal interests get in the way of the music and each other at
times, but they always came back- except Robbie. Count one rock and
roll hero off the list. Ouch.
So if anyone read that book-length commentary and is still down here
with me, what is your understanding of the Band's dynamic? What do you
think brought the Band down? What do you think of Levon and his
accusations- and what do you think of Robbie Robertson? I'm kinda
shattered (I'm in tatters) a bit, just trying to make sense of it; any
wisdom will be appreciated.
Aaron
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