Robbie Robertson, Lead Guitarist And Chief Songwriter For The Band, Dies At 80

Robbie Robertson (Photo: Art Babych / Shutterstock.com)

JAIME ROYAL “ROBBIE” ROBERTSON, the CANADIAN singer-songwriter and guitarist, best known for his work in ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME inductees THE BAND, passed away after a long illness at the age of 80.

In a statement, ROBERTSON’s manager of 34 years, JARED LEVINE, said “ROBBIE was surrounded by his family at the time of his death, including his wife, JANET, his ex-wife, DOMINIQUE, her partner NICHOLAS, and his children ALEXANDRA, SEBASTIAN, DELPHINE and DELPHINE’s partner KENNY. He is also survived by his grandchildren ANGELICA, DONOVAN, DOMINIC, GABRIEL and SERAPHINA. ROBERTSON recently completed his 14th film music project with frequent collaborator MARTIN SCORSESE, ‘Killers Of The Flower Moon.’ In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be made to the SIX NATIONS OF THE GRAND RIVER to support a new WOODLAND CULTURAL CENTER

ROBERTSON, whose songs include such classics as “The Weight,” “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” “Up On Cripple Creek” and “Broken Arrow,” among others, also collaborated with MARTIN SCORSESE on several motion picture scores, including “Raging Bull,” “The Color Of Money,” “Casino,” “The Departed,” “Gangs Of New York” and, most recently, “Killers Of The Flower Moon.”

Born JULY 5th, 1943, in TORONTO, ROBERTSON’s mother ROSEMARIE MYKE CHRYSLER, was MOHAWK, born and raised on the SIX NATIONAL RESERVTION, while his father was a JEWISH professional gambler who died in a hit-and-run accident when ROBBIE was a child. ROBERTSON took his surname from his stepfather, JAMES PATRICK ROBERTSON, who adopted him. ROBERTSON’s earliest musical experiences came at SIX NATIONS, where he spent summer with his mother’s family. 

By the time he was 15, ROBERTSON was performing in a variety of groups around TORONTO, including LITTLE CAESAR AND THE CONSULS, ROBBIE AND THE ROBOTS and THUMPER AND THE TRAMBONES. In 1959, he first met singer RONNIE HAWKINS, whose band THE HAWKS recorded a pair of early ROBERTSON songs, “Hey Boba Lu” and “Someone Like You,” which appeared on his 1960 album, “Mr. Dynamo.” ROBERTSON played lead guitar with THE HAWKS – which included future THE BAND members LEVON HELM, RICHARD MANUEL, RICK DANKO and GARTH HUDSON -- on the road before they all left in 1963, by which time, according to BRITISH writer HOWARD SOUNES, “he was a guitar virtuoso.”

Calling themselves LEVON AND THE HAWKS – rejecting such names as THE HONKIES, THE CRACKERS and THE CANADIAN SQUIRES, given to them by their record label, which they hated – they finally settled on THE BAND.

BOB DYLAN had hired THE HAWKS for his controversial electric tour in ’65-’66, with ROBERTSON’s distinctive leads a foundation for the once-folkie’s new rock direction. DYLAN dubbed ROBBIE, “the only mathematical guitar genius I’ve ever run into who doesn’t offend my intestinal nervousness with his rearguard sound.”   ROBERTSON went on to play guitar on DYLAN’s 1966 album, “Blonde On Blonde.”

Moving off on their own with classic albums like “Music From Big Pink” (1968) – named for the WOODSTOCK house where they recorded it, along with DYLAN’s fabled “Basement Tapes” – and “THE BAND” (1969), the group quickly made a name for themselves. While ROBERTSON left most of the singing to HELM, DANKO and MANUEL, he served as the group’s primary songwriter and leader, credited as JAIME ROBBIE ROBERTSON until he dropped his first name for “Cahoots’ (1971). 

By 1976, burned out on touring, ROBERTSON planned a final concert at the WINTERLAND BALLROOM in SAN FRANCISCO, filmed by MARTIN SCORSESE – who ROBBIE had hand-chosen on the basis of his use of music in “Mean Streets” – and released in theatres in 1978 as “The Last Waltz.” The concert featured friends and influences, including RONNIE HAWKINS, MUDDY WATERS, PAUL BUTTERFIELD, DR. JOHN BOB DYLAN, ERIC CLAPTON, VAN MORRISON, NEILDIAMOND, JONI MITCHELL, THE STAPLE SINGERS, NEIL YOUNG, EMMYLOU HARRIS, RON WOOD and RINGO STARR.  ROBERTSON and SCORSESE went on to become good friends and collaborators in the ensuing years, even living together during the editing of “The Last Waltz,” an arrangement the rest of THE BAND felt exaggerated ROBBIE’s role within the group in the movie. 

The other members of THE BAND continued touring and recording after ROBERTSON left, with LEVON HELM blaming him for the group’s break-up in his 1993 autobiography, “This Wheel’s On Fire,” claiming ROBBIE conspired with record companies to prevent the rest of the group from getting its rightful songwriting credits. 

ROBERTSON went on to become a producer, solo artist and actor, working on NEIL DIAMOND’s albums “Beautiful Noise” and the live “Love At The GREEK.”  He co-starred with GARY BUSEY and JODIE FOSTER in “Carny,” in 1980, co-writing, producing and composing source music for the film.  He also created background music and produced source music for SCORSESE’s “Raging Bull.”

ROBERTSON served as music producer for SCORSESE’s 1983 film, “The King Of Comedy,” contributing his first post-BAND solo track, “Between Trains.”  He also scored SCORSESE’s “The Color Of Money,” in 1986, working with GIL EVANS and WILLIE DIXON, co-writing “It’s The Way That You Use It” with ERIC CLAPTON. He produced and played guitar on VAN MORRISON’s song “Wonderful Remark,” then signed to GEFFEN RECORDS for his debut solo album, with producer DANIEL LANOIS. 

ROBERTSON was a creative consultant for TAYLOR HACKFORD’s CHUCK BERRY tribute documentary, “Hail! Hail! Rock ‘n’ Roll,” interviewing the ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME icon and playing guitar while BERRY recited poetry.

ROBERTSON has released five solo albums starting in 1987, following up his self-titled debut (which included “Broken Arrow”), followed by “Storyville” (1991), “Music For The Native Americans” (1994), “Contact From The Underworld Of Redboy” (1998) and “How To Become Clairvoyant” (2011).  He also guested on JAPANESE musician RYUICHI SAKAMOTO’s album, “Beauty.” 

“Broken Arrow” was a hit single for ROD STEWART, who covered it on his 1991 album, “Vagabond Heart” and became part of the GRATEFUL DEAD’s live set in the mid-‘90s, sung by PHIL LESH, who later performed it with his own group PHIL LESH AND FRIENDS.  On his “Music For The Native Americans” album, he went back to his own roots, forming a NATIVE AMERICAN group, the RED ROAD ENSEMBLE for the recording, which accompanied a television documentary.   “How To Become Clairvoyant” featured guest appearances from ERIC CLAPTON, STEVE WINWOOD, TRENT REZNOR, TOM MORELLO, ROBERT RANDOLPH, ROCCO DELUCA, ANGELA McCLUSKEY and DAWES’ TAYLOR GOLDSMITH. 

ROBERTSON joined DREAMWORKS RECORDS in 2000 as creative executive, persuading NELLY FURTADO to sign with the company.  He recorded with JERRY LEE LEWIS for “Last Man Standing” on his own composition, “Twilight,” in 2006, and made a rare live appearance at ERIC CLAPTON’s CROSSROADS GUITAR FESTIVAL in BRIDGEVIEW, IL, in JULY, 2007.  That same year, he contributed a cover of FATS DOMINO’s “Goin’ To The River” to the VANGUARD RECORDS compilation, “Goin’ Home” A Tribute To FATS DOMINO.” 

With THE BAND, ROBERTSON was inducted into the CANADIAN JUNO HALL OF FAME in 1989, the ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME in 1994 (performing “The Weight” with GARTH HUDSON, RICK DANKO and inductor ERIC CLAPTON) and received a LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD from the NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SONGWRITERS in 1997. 

ROBERTSON is survived by his wife JANET, ex-wife DOMINIQUE BOURGEOIS, and their three children, daughters ALEXANDRA and DELPHINE and son SEBASTIAN, a children’s author (he collaborated with his dad, JARED LEVINE and JIM GUERINOT on “Legends, Icons And Rebels: Music That Changed The World” in 2013), musician, composer and studio engineer who performed on two of his dad’s solo albums, and was project coordinator on THE BAND 2013 box set, “Live At The ACADEMY OF MUSIC 1971.”

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