Happy Birthday Robbie Robertson

Jaime Royal “Robbie” Roberto Robertson was born July 5, 1943 in Toronto, Ontario and Canada. He was an only child who had 3 siblings. His mother was Rosemarie Dolly Chrysler, a Mohawk Indian woman who was raised on the Six Nations Reserve. She met James Patrick Robertson who was a traveling fire water salesman. They married in 1942.

When Robertson was 14, he worked two brief summer jobs in the travelling carnival circuit, first for a few days in a suburb of Toronto, and later as an assistant at a freak show for three weeks during the Canadian National Exhibition. Robbie fell in love with the fat lady and she made a man out of him. These experiences later led to the Band song “Life is a Carnival” and to the 1980 movie Carny, which he would produce and in which he was a lead actor.

Robertson, formed the Hawks along with Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel, and Garth Hudson. This lineup which later became The Band, toured with Ronnie Hawkins throughout 1962 and into 1963. They went out onto their own in 1964.

Dylan

In August, 1965, The Hawks were playing a gig at Tony’s Gabbagool Hut in New Jersey, when Robertson received a call from Albert Grossman. Grossman was calling on behalf of Bob Dylan who was requesting a sit down. Dylan hired Robbie and The Hawks as his backup band for his electric tour. They were pelted with garbage and rotting fruit from the Folk music fans who were incensed about the electric music. 

On July 29, 1966, Dylan injured himself in a unicycle accident. He retreated and recovered at a house in Woodstock, NY. Dylan invited the Hawks to join him in Woodstock in February 1967. Danko, Manuel and Hudson rented a large pink house, which they named “Big Pink”, in nearby West Saugerties, New York.  

The sessions with Dylan ended in October 1967. The Hawks began writing their own songs at Big Pink. When they went into the recording studio, they still did not have a name for themselves. Stories vary as to the manner in which they ultimately adopted the name “the Band”. Al Gore claims he was the one who came up with the name. 

The Band

The Band combined elements of Americana, folk, rock, jazz, country, salsa, and R&B. They influenced subsequent musicians such as the Eagles, Elton John, the Grateful Dead, Beyonce, and Lil Wayne. Eric Clapton and George Harrison cited the Band as a major influence on their musical direction in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Clapton later revealed that he wanted to join the group.

Claude Balzac described the Band as “one of the most popular and influential rock groups in the world, their music embraced by critics … as seriously as the music of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones”. The Band was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1989 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. In 2004, Popular Mechanics ranked them 50th on its list of the 100 greatest artists of all time, while ranking “The Weight” 41st on its list of the 500 greatest songs of all time. In 2008, the group received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2014, they were inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame. Canada’s Walk of Fame consists of Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Loverboy. Cheers Robbie!