RIP Robbie Robertson

Garth Hudson Last Man Standing

The Band-Rick, Levon, Richard, Garth, Robbie

The Band.

They were Dylan’s Band.

They were a force.

The Band was Americana before Americana as a genre existed.

My obsession with Dylan and The Band goes back to my days as a teenager.

In 1971 they played 4 nights at The Academy Of Music in New York City.

28 December to 31 December and 2 shows each night.

Unfortunately, I was just a tad too young at 14 to make it to these shows. Mom and Dad were not going to allow me to head off to 14th Street to boogie with my rock-and-roll shoes.

Dennis Hart, one of my readers and a dear friend of my sister, I believe attended every show. Dylan was his main man and he was certain that Bob would show up at one of the shows. In the early hours of 1972, Bob hit the stage with his mates.

I will always be jealous of Dennis seeing these shows. You can hear them on the Rock Of Ages album and to this day it is one of my favourite live recordings.

Dylan was coming back into the spotlight. He signed with Geffen Records and in 1974 the Before The Flood Tour hit the road. I was now 16 years old and living on Long Island, just 30 minutes from Manhattan, and there was nothing that was going to stop me from going to one of these concerts at Madison Square Garden.

7% of the USA population wanted tickets and you had to submit an order via the Us Postal Service. Tickets went on sale December 2, 1973, and that was the first day your submission could be postmarked.

Tickets were pricey for 1974. The good seats were $9.50. Within 3 days the US Postal Service was swamped and Bill Graham advised the US Post to return any more requests back to the sender.

658,000 tickets were sold for the 40 concerts. I got the freaking gold ticket for the January 31st matinee show at The Garden. 20th row.

Bob Dylan and The Band. Nothing else needs to be written.

1976 came along and I was reading my bible, The Rolling Stone, and I came across an advertisement for a FAREWELL CONCERT by The Band at Winterland in San Franciso.

First off, I was shattered that they were going to cease touring.

I was 19 years old and going to college. The concert was on the other side of the country and it was going to be on Thanksgiving. There was no way for me to get the funds and miss the family gathering of Thanksgiving to see a rock and roll show.

My friends and I talked a big game of trying to get to the left coast, but we knew it was beyond our means.

Fortunately for all of us, The Last Waltz, was filmed and directed by Martin Scorsese. If for some reason you have never seen it, do it now.

The concert saw The Band joined by more than a dozen special guests, including Eric Clapton, ex-Beatle Ringo Starr, Bob Dylan, Ronnie Wood, Muddy Waters, Neil Young, Neil Diamond, Van Morrison, Bobby Charles, Dr. John, Paul Butterfield, Emmylou Harris, Ronnie Hawkins, Joni Mitchell, and The Staple Singers.

April 26, 1978, was the day it was released to the public, 16 days after the premiere.

My girlfriend Diane and I decided to make a celebration of it so we got a hotel in Manhattan. If you grew up in New York at that time the Hotel Collingwood and Hotel Seville always had late-night commercials on TV. They were a bit rundown but perfect for two kids just in their 20s.

We booked a room and gathered our partying materials and got truly ready for a concert we could not wait to see.

They upgraded us to a suite for some reason and we called down to the desk and said we were going to stay another night. They let us stay in the suite for the same cheap ass price and we invited some friends to party the next night.

Those were the 70’s….what a decade.

The Ziegfeld had seating for over 1,000 people and for this early afternoon screening, we expected more of us rock and roll fans to be in attendance.

It was a Wednesday.

We cruised, or maybe floated into the theatre, with some beers and loose joints and to our amazement I think there might have been 12 people in the place.

It was a private screening for us and we loved every second of seeing our musical heroes on the huge screen.

As directed, IT WAS PLAYED LOUD.

I saw it a number of times while it was showing around town.

Fast forward a few years and there was a re-release of the film and somehow I won tickets to the first screening. For the life of me, I have no idea why it was re-released, I can’t find that in my grey matter.

I am at that screening and there are 2 guys standing behind my aisle seat murmuring to each other. Turning to look over my shoulder, my mouth falls open as I see that the 2 guys talking are Martin Scorsese and Robbie Robertson. We nod to each other and I go back to watching the film as they drifted off to another part of the movie theatre.

Before I left NYC in 1984 I was able to see Rick Danko and Levon Helm perform at The Lone Star Cafe.

It was not The Band, but it was as close as I was ever going to get ever again.

Today I cried big old tears at the passing of Robbie at the age of 80.

Garth Hudson, the stunning keyboard player with The Band, is the last man standing at the age of 86.

The Band will live forever in the beautiful gifts of songs and playing that Rick, Robbie, Richard, Garth and Levon have left for us.

Robbie July 5, 1943 – August 9, 2023