Product: Classic Albums: The Band - The Band (1997)
Rating: 5.0
Note to 50s Sci-Fi Fan
The Band is awesome. No doubt about it, but that's just it. They were a BAND. Robbie Robertson (spelling correct) somehow fooled the other Band members into letting him have songwriting credit (and Robertson got them to particiapte, against their better wishes, in "The Last Waltz" concert and accompanying film). Take a look at Band drummer Levon Helm's book, "This Wheel's on Fire," and he explains that Robertson and someone in the Band's management talked the group into giving Robertson sole (or majority) songwriting credit, so they all could supposedly benefit financially. Robertson got rich, while the others didn't. It's a shame, since Helm, keyboardist Richard Manuel (RIP) and bassist Rick Danko (RIP) all had better voices than Robbie's.There's also a great photo in Helm's book that has Helm showing Robertson how to play something on Robertson's Stratocaster. Great picture. It shows that it was a group effort, but Robertson and "The Last Waltz" film erronneously claim Robertson as the leader and chief talent. "The Last Waltz" concert was filmed by Martin Scorsese, Robbie's buddy. If Robertson truly was the lone genius of The Band, don't you think his solo work would have been much better?Also, in the words of the Arkansas-born Levon Helm himself, "Do you really think a guy from Canada (Robertson) wrote 'The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down' all by himself?'"