Bryan - though Robbie sang, I think, one song on the debut record, he DIDN'T sing after that: it was only Danko, Helm and Manuel after that on the records. Clearly RR sings on Last Waltz but, in general, I think it was the other 3 who were the primary vocalists. Steve Goldstein may have more on this...
Robbie sang lead on To Kingdom Come on Big Pink and something called Out of the Blue, a studio track on the Last Waltz soundtrack. He may have sung something on the final contractual obligation record, Islands. Not sure about that. Robbie shared lead vocals on Bessie Smith and Ain't No More Cane on the Basement Tapes LP. I think that's about it. I've read that Levon wrote in his book that Robbie sang into a mike in The Last Waltz way more than he usually did just to hog the camera and that, in any event, his mike was turned off. Levon was apparently pretty upset that Robbie cut them all loose with The Last Waltz. Robbie had his songwriting royalties flowing and didn't need to slog from arena to arena anymore with the other guys. I did like Robbie's second solo record, Storyville, when it came out in 1991. But now I can't listen to it, for similar reasons why I can't listen to EC's Mighty Like a Rose. Maybe that's the true test of a record. I can still listen to Sinatra's Only the Lonely and, of course, the first two records by the Band, despite whatever the context was when listening to them in the past.
billboard.com has the heading:
ReplyDelete"Family Asks for Prayers for The Band's Last Surviving Vocalist"
Hey, Robbie Robertson ain't dead yet!
Bryan - though Robbie sang, I think, one song on the debut record, he DIDN'T sing after that: it was only Danko, Helm and Manuel after that on the records. Clearly RR sings on Last Waltz but, in general, I think it was the other 3 who were the primary vocalists. Steve Goldstein may have more on this...
ReplyDeleteI stand corrected.
DeleteBack when I was young enough to get emotional about music, I sure loved Robertson's 1987 album.
I remember EXACTLY when that album came out and you playing it for me up at your place in Felton, CA...
ReplyDeleteRobbie sang lead on To Kingdom Come on Big Pink and something called Out of the Blue, a studio track on the Last Waltz soundtrack. He may have sung something on the final contractual obligation record, Islands. Not sure about that. Robbie shared lead vocals on Bessie Smith and Ain't No More Cane on the Basement Tapes LP. I think that's about it. I've read that Levon wrote in his book that Robbie sang into a mike in The Last Waltz way more than he usually did just to hog the camera and that, in any event, his mike was turned off. Levon was apparently pretty upset that Robbie cut them all loose with The Last Waltz. Robbie had his songwriting royalties flowing and didn't need to slog from arena to arena anymore with the other guys. I did like Robbie's second solo record, Storyville, when it came out in 1991. But now I can't listen to it, for similar reasons why I can't listen to EC's Mighty Like a Rose. Maybe that's the true test of a record. I can still listen to Sinatra's Only the Lonely and, of course, the first two records by the Band, despite whatever the context was when listening to them in the past.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Steve...
ReplyDeleteWe took a trip with two young women once and played Mighty Like a Rose as we crossed the Bay Bridge heading east, did we not?