Robbie Robertson existed in a world of his own: a bandleader who didn’t front his band; a songwriter who needed the voice of others to bring his creations to life; someone who was intimately involved as first Bob Dylan and then the Band reached the zenith of their artistry, helping to reconfigure the possibilities of rock’n’roll twice within three years, without ever being quite as celebrated as artists who plainly regarded him as their peer.
His legacy will endure as a songwriter, above all. Robertson was fortunate to have Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel and Garth Hudson to interpret the songs he wrote for the Band, especially across their stellar opening trio of albums: Music from Big Pink, The Band and Stage Fright. Robertson, a Canadian, captured in both his musical and lyrical choices an imagined American South – one that could have been captured only by someone besotted with, but not born of, the complications of history.
