January 20, 2021
"Robbie Robertson"
If you recall, back on December 12th of last year, I wrote about "The Band". This gentleman was a big part of that group, and so you get an idea of what his influence on music has been like over the last half-century and more.
Jaime Royal Robertson was born in Toronto, Ontario on July 5th, 1943. His father was a Jewish professional gambler...and his mother was a Cayuga and Mohawk woman who was raised on the Six Nations Reserve, southwest of Toronto. It was only when Robbie was in his teens that he was told by his mother that the man he had known as his father was actually his step-father and THAT was only when she was divorcing him. His biological father (the gambler) had been killed in a hit-and-run on the Queen Elizabeth Way highway, while he was changing a tire (I've had to do that, and it is a nerve-wracking experience at the best of times.)
It was about this time that Robbie saw that writing and performing music was his destiny, and began finding gigs with groups in and around the Toronto area. He was 16, when Ronnie Hawkins discovered him playing at CHUM radio's Hi Fi Club in 1959.
That was about the best wagon he could have hitched on to.
Hawkins' influence and connections opened up a whole new world for Robertson. In fact, it was likely due to this early influence that he is credited with creating the 'Americana' music genre - an amalgam of many musical influences - a Musical Melting Pot of pieces of folk, country, blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, gospel, bluegrass. Dare I say, a very Canadian way of looking at music and what it can do.
As I noted in the Band's essay, there is a huge volume of music and history connected to Robbie's influence - and it is well worth the investment of time. I would suggest taking an afternoon - ignore the Hallmark movies (they're all the same plot, and share a pool of a dozen actors - remind me to write about this) and delve into the life of Robbie Robertson.
One thing I have discovered is that he has had a 40 year history with movie director and producer Martin Scorsese. I had mentioned that he had produced the music for the recent movie "The Irishman", but what I didn't know is that he was also instrumental (see what I did there?) in proving the musical sounds for The Last Waltz, Raging Bull, Casino, The Departed and The Wolf Of Wall Street.
Welcome to the awards section of the day. Robbie's include:
-Juno Music Hall of Fame
-Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (as a member of The Band)
-Lifetime Achievement Award from The National Academy of Songwriters.
-Aboriginal Lifetime Achievement Award
-Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame
-Governor General's Performing Arts Award
-Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
-Canada's Walk Of Fame (TWICE, once as a member of The Band, and once on his own)
He is also an author, and has a prolific filmography as a producer, composer and performer. Thankfully, he has been sharing his many talents with us for 63 years, and he is still going strong.
Have a wonderful day everyone. Stay home, and stay safe.
#CanadaOnAShirt
Edit: Robbie Robertson passed away on August 9, 2023 at the age of 80.
Click or tap on the blue Facebook 'f' - to read what I wrote on Facebook on that day: