R.I.P. Robbie Robertson

That original generation of rock stars are all entering their 80s, so get ready for a lot more of these. It's a bummer. For those of us of a certain age, they provided the soundtrack to our lives.

 

Shane MacGowan outlasts another one!

 

Winter Park, I think he had played a gig at the old Villa Nova lounge near Lee Rd

 

My roommate was a Jewish guy from Miami Beach as am I. And we were listening to Neil Young and the Band (among others) in our dorm during those same years. Great music then, a lot of it energized by the Vietnam and post-war era.

 

Probably 1970, there was a billboard on 13th Street: The Band plays The Music

 

Before my time, but like @BigCypressGator1981 , I picked up on them later.

Great music is great music. Once you hear it, you know.

 

It’s always great to discover someone new, even if they’re just new to you. You have to keep freshening the mix

 

Spotify has been a godsend for a music lover like me.

 

Absolutely. And it makes me wonder what to do with hundreds of CDs that don’t get played

 

Damn, I thought every boomer parent had The Last Waltz in their record collection, mine did. But I didnt fully get into it until college either, so I get it.

 

I still play The Weight today regularly. It’s also an easy song to play on my guitar and sing to (even though my singing sucks).

They were different and distinct which for me makes a band even better.

 

I finally broke down a couple years back and got rid of most of mine. (200 probably)...Keeping just 15-20. Even those never get played anymore.

Just asking my phone/car/Alexa to play Tom Petty is much more convenient.

 

I just got around to reading the NYT obit on Robertson. I guess I hadn't thought about it in exactly those terms, but I think it does capture the essence and appeal of The Band's music.
Despite the fact that Robertson and most of the band was from Canada, they had an almost uniquely American feel of the past that didn't feel old.

Robbie Robertson, 80, Dies; Canadian Songwriter Captured American Spirit

 

Well Levon Helm was from Turkey Scratch Arkansas. That’s pretty dang American.