Added: 11 months ago
From: TheHour
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  • That man is a genius but I can't believe he didn't give ANY credits to the others

  • But....they did a Band reunion and some albums without Robbie Robertson. Yet he says here they all agreed to get back together. ????

  • They went on tour again you just didnt join them! Also he pushed for the last waltz to happen contrary to the others wishes

  • I think it is the duty of the fans to put the bullshit fighting about the past aside and ask Robbie and Levon to bury the hatchet and get back together w/ Garth to play a few shows & have the opportunity to enjoy their undeniable musical chemistry once again before one of them dies a bitter old man. How nice would that be? So sad that the fans feel the need to keep this 30+ year old grudge alive by taking sides on the internet. Rick and Richard deserve better.

  • Uhh yea robbie, I bet you were sad, until you got all those royalty checks from putting your name on every song. Fuck You....Should've gave the others credit.

  • @LonelyHippie420

    The others got the writing credits for songs they wrote. Levon wrote Jemimia Surrender and Manuel wrote a few amazing songs on Big Pink but that was pretty much it. This is the way the world works in publishing buddy. You can only get paid for what you do.

    Robertson begged the others to write but it never happened. Manuel retired from writing after Big Pink due probably to alcohol issues.

  • @colbyraffthelegend I am sure I read he is from Canadian native stock who originated in Asia, so he kinda is.

  • HAHAHAHAHAHAHA he looks asian

  • BS what an Idiot

  • @tawnie1957 What the hell do you know about it?

  • Robbie took the money and ran.

  • the band never got the songwriting credits they deserved...richard manuel was so broke he was cooking steakums on an iron before he died...robertsno's voice was so bad that they turned off his microphone on stage...this didn't stop him from pretending he was singing...that says it all about this guy

  • @larkjd Richard Manuel took his own life in 1986 (or was it 84) while they were touring, without Robertson, in Europe. As Mr. Helm said: He choose to leave early, and I respect him.... Sad!!!!

  • Cmon, Levon's telling the truth, Robbie ain't - obvious

  • Does anyone care about this anymore ? Especially anyone under 40 . The Band were great but we heard all this crap 1000 times .

  • robbie was a good student of Albert Goldman-divide and conquer

  • it was never "the break of up of the band" it was more like "the band taking a break and robbie never coming back"

  • @themasterofmovies exactly

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  • I have to agree with most of the posters here. Yeah, Robbie would do anything with them at the drop of a pin so he could steal the publishing rights. Only thing pal is no one ever called cause you ripped them off big time. What a jerk, I have no respect and I come from the same town and musician stock as Manual and the rest of the boys have been friends of the family. Robbie bites.

  • I can't trust old men that color there hair like they're 35. God bless Jimmy Page for actually being honest enough to look like a 65 year old man.

  • and everyone came back...after you pumped them in the chuff box robbie.

  • Pathetic liar! 

  • uhhhhh the band continued to tour after the last waltz but robertson never joined them. BS that they didnt come back together pshh robbie's still a genius though but i believe levon over him any day

  • @scrumbulent is he a genius tho? or did the other members help him right everything?

  • @scrumbulent I guess since you were a member of the BAND you would KNOW EXACTLY what happened RIGHT????PLEASE keep that insinuation to yourself

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  • @cubangal1 Do not imply that you are some sort of expert because you read a book or two about The Band....another wanna be who makes judgements on a man he doesn't even know

  • @cubangal1 youre the one acting like an expert and getting personally offended by any negative comments about yoru man crush robbie grow up and face the facts

  • "❤♫•*❤♫•*❤♫•*❤He is full of bull, he destroyed THE BAND, "❤♫•*❤♫•*❤♫•*❤

  • people need to sort out the hatred they seem to have. i read levons book and i still believe levons account a hundred percent, and i used to despise robbie aswell, mainly for the royalty buying business, which is probably the worst thing he apparently did, if it wasnt actually just all his lawyers and hired hands doing it without his knowledge. but take into account that the guy simply wanted out, and he was in that fucking cocain haze of the seventies. its also obvious that he wrote the music

  • @elstroshitnonstop so wait, you believe Levon's story but you say its obvious he wrote the music. so you're believing both sides? huh? you said he stole the song writing credits but then you said it's obvious he wrote the music..

  • @ldobranon That Colonel Trautman quote: "it's over Johnny..." is actually from 'First Blood'...... well said though.

  • Hard to believe this guy !!! Got all the credits for their songs but none of them would have the

    identity that they do if it wasn't for the rest of the group as they related their musical talents to his songs. A song is only as good as the Artist who projects its mojo to the audience.

  • robertson looks like a lesbian

  • Holboroman's assessment: 14/15

  • Robbie's a liar and a prick!

  • @sometimescharlie / why is that???

  • Men as you get older: Never dye your hair...women get away with it, not men...it always looks

    creepy. Men as you get older: Never get a face lift...again, it's just weird and creepy looking. This one goes for women too..."they" haven't figured out how to do a good facelift yet.

    Robbie's face is all pulled back but his neck is flapping away. Doesn't look right.

  • i still find the words of Robbie talking about what the road can do to a man, and how the road has taking many of the greats really eerie as if he foreshadowed richards death.

  • He sounds like a politician who's just spinning away. He had so many opportunities to rejoin The Band since 1977, or play with some of the members in other venues but through the years he's done none of that. He says he would play with them again at the "drop of a pin" but Danko & Manuel are already dead. Hey, Robbie, pick up your damn guitar, take a limo up to Levon's Midnight Ramble in upstate NY. Maybe they'll let you sit in on a tune or two. If nothing else, maybe they'll welcome you home.

  • This interviewer is really good. He doesn't beat around the bush - he just puts it out there and lets them anwer. Good job.

  • Robertson is so full of crap here. He walked away, and made darn sure he got total songwriting credit and the royalties. Read Levon Helm's book to get 'the rest of the story'.

  • @buckfan1969 Yeah, but then that's just Helm's version, doesn't mean it's correct. Seems Robertson was a little overbearing & hogged the spotlight, but I think Helm may have a case of sour grapes that he couldn't write lyrics or music.

  • @tcanders123 The Band music was collaborative. What's Robertson written in the last 30+ years since he left the group? I loved The Band; the total was much greater than the sum of its parts. Robertson always thought he was the stud. Turned out he wasn't much without the rest of the group. But those royalty checks keep rolling in anyway...now he's into revisionist history. To hell with him.

  • @buckfan1969 somewhere down this crazy river and showdown at big sky were pretty good. But he says no one came back yet the four others reunited which he wouldn't join. I do agree that hes not as good without richard, rick, garth and levon with him.

  • @buckfan1969 You're pretty close about the Band's music. After that, Robbie has released 5 excellent albums, so what are you talking about? If you don't like them, that's entirely up to you. Since the Band split up, Robbie has been writing his own music, not the Band's music.

  • @buckfan1969 What's he written? What planet have you been living on?

  • Well spoken Robbie!!!

  • I miss Rick and Richard terribly

  • I saw them 27 times, no one in the USA loves them more than me. But this isn't true. The other 4 wanted to continue

  • He looks like my grandma, only with less facial hair.

  • HE LOOKS TERRIBLE

    

  • robbie..when did you realize you were a lesbian?

  • Love you Robbie!!

  • LOL so ugly by so fucking good

  • Robertson was quoted in the early 90's as saying that all the good ideas in music were used up. Kind of unfortunate that he felt that. Helm and Danko continued for a while making some pretty good music. Makes you wonder what could have been.

  • robbie robertson and jimmy page both have that strange CHINESE thang goin on! no humour eludes from this!!

  • You can see the Mohawk in his face ... that's the secret sauce my friends, mix a Mohawk with a northern European, and you get some pretty stunning looking kids.

  • @CusterFlux yeah good one dumb ass....remember each to his own.Wanna mongrel go to dog pound

  • @altoona701 ... or call up Liv Tyler .

  • If he still wanted to play with The Band why do you think every member reunited for another tour and he was the only one that didn't??

  • Robbie is indigenous native american, hence the features

  • He said they never came back. Robbie never came back. All of the rest of the guys Richard, Garth, Rick, and Levon were touring together and Robbie refused to come along! I can't believe him. Then he didn't even go to Richard's funeral. Ugh.

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  • "I loved working with those guys and would do anything with them again at the drop of a hat." That was good to hear. Too bad Levon is still bitter. Sad.

  • @rickhall832, Levon is bitter with good reason.

  • @BottleofDread Agreed.  Robbie taking all the writing credit, and the songs were clearly written collectively or some of them solely by Levon. You can tell a lot of the band's songs are about Levon's life and where he grew up.

  • Even Daniel Lanois couldn't save this guy's solo material.

  • @Mrsilenciobackgammon what's wrong with his solo material?

  • @oatstao Seriously? To each his own, I guess.

  • Life is too short. These guys need to bury the hatchet while they can.

  • his work(Robertsons) is among the best....it's obvious after all these years who had the real talent for writing, fuck handouts......make your own records....too many old hippy bandheads are piping in here about something they don't know shit about........go balance your own checkbook dipshit....

  • Robbie is now working comfortably - if he ever loses the music gig, he can always fill in as Jackie Chan's stunt double.

  • LEVONNNN

  • This is why I don't buy his solo albums - because he screwed the guys over and continues to lie about it.

    Also, for the most part, the albums suck.

  • @guitboy57 do you think it was him who was lying and not Levon?

  • @guitboy57 ...Were you, are you the unknown sixth Band member that nobody heard of. I mean you talk like you were with these guys back in the day, and have knowledge of how it went down. Or was your knowledge gained from a certain book that told only one side of the story. My point is the only ones who know what really happened are the orginal five members on The Band. Levon is a great story teller, but as is the case with a story sometimes not all the facts are shared....

  • If you go back and read interviews from others who were there,

    you'd see that Helm's version of the story gets a lot more corroboration.

    Robertson of course, denies breaking them up. He hinted in The Last Waltz

    and other places that they would continue as a studio band. But after it was

    all over, he was off to Hollywood.

    On top of that, Robertson's decision to hold onto all the songwriting

    royalties just because of an unfortunate glitch in their contract says a lot

    about the guy.

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  • icky

  • He's lying through his teeth about the reunion, Levon hates his guts and wouldn't even accept his R&R HoF award because Robbie was going to be there. Rewrite it all you want Robbie. People know what you stole from those guys.

    And yes, he looks like Yoko.

  • @failuremagnet

    I agree completely..he screwed his partners out of their share of royalties! Garth is struggling financially and Richard and Rick suffered from the deception as well. Levon has survived and is much loved here in Woodstock and around the world. Screw Robertson..he is the worst kind of scum.

  • i love theBand and robbie, but come on robbie quit lying.

    Richard, Rick, Garth, and Levon ALL wanted to continue.

    its really cool youre back robbie, but do not bash or lie about theBand so you can look better.

  • THEY yes They all came back... and THEY rocked Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel in prov. circa 83.......... great show! Manuel too.

    RR you greedy little peckerwood.

  • OFF KILTER is good in music...you greedy piece of shite.

  • Well in 82 the band reunited and Robertson was asked to join them and he said NO. He can dispute it all he want's but he was indeed the driving force behind The Bands breakup. He wanted to score and star in movies and he saw The Band as an obstacle to attaining his "true potential".

  • Acoording to Levon Helms Biography "This Wheel´s on fire" Robbie Robertson sat down with Levon with his lawyers and managers and said abruptly something like "it´s over and the Band will never be again, not in any form, and you cannot go on tour without me, I will not let it...". Levon got furious and slammed the door and left the room.

  • The movie answered why they were planning on breaking up. They had peaked, and record sales were going down. The first movie projects Robbie scored for Scorsese did have members of The Band on them. But they all did contribute some songwriting, just not as much as Robbie did. "Rock of Ages" almost was their "Last Waltz".

  • Robbie's a total class act. A great man and a timeless talent.

  • When did he complete the sex change??--Holy Yoko...Batman!!

  • My god, he looks like an aging chinese woman

  • @Pippin76 what you see is the Native in his blood. oh and bad makeup.

  • @Pippin76 Luv him; but that's hilarious

  • @Pippin76 ..LMFAO!!

  • @Pippin76 I read he is part North American Indian

  • @gizzytiersen And facelifts are compulsory for native americans?

  • @Pippin76 He's had a facelift??? !!! Naaaah! OK he's dyed his hair. But his face is slidong off. Leave it aht guvna!

  • @Pippin76 Right you are, We look very young for our age, and I'm half Japanese

  • @Pippin76 If you had an iota of this mans talent we could let judgmental comments slide but lets just leave it at that shall we

  • @cubangal1 That time of the month?

  • @Pippin76 Like Robbie says "I don't carry it around with me....they were like brothers" everyone elses "comments" on this site are just that.....you weren't there you can make up whatever BS you want

  • @cubangal1 Look - I never ever commented on the content of what Robbie said, merely his looks. I think you got the wrong guy.

    For the record, I like Robbie, particularly his contributions to Dylans 66 tour. The Band Im not so interested in - I dont really have an opinion on their breakup etc.

  • @Pippin76 Apparently so. Either that or he's been embalmed, pre-mortem.

  • @Pippin76 LOL~! I have to agree. But I still appreciate him.

  • you can't come back!

    they had 16 amazing years and who in their right mind would even want to try for something impossible.

    everything changes and the money and the drugs make it something to get into more or run away from.

    if it was me, i would run and run far away and do my own thing.

    whats done is done, get over it and stop hating and look at the bigger picture.

    it's only rock 'n roll (life)

  • Robbie, Happy Birthday. You're a Canadian musical gem, but you left Levon, Richard, Rick and Garth penniless. NOT FAIR!

  • All the hair dye and plastic surgery in the world cannot contain or disguise the insincerity and douchebaggery within

  • @garygtr61 plastic surgery are you fucking kidding?

  • Rick Danko or maybe another member of the band remarked that Richard Manuel waited around for 8 years believing that the Band would reform and it would all be the same. Maybe what Robbie and the others hand in mind was to 'move on' to new possibilities. I love Levon but he had an axe to grind during the Band's active days, everyone who co-wrote with Robbie received royalties but they all have their own versions. Post Band Rick wrote some decent tunes but nothing even close to the quality of RR

  • I think it was 1986 when Manuel killed himself, and yeah the road is tough on bands. But I think what hurt these guys the most as far as a reunion with Robbie is that he got all the songwriting money after the break-up when the other members felt they had all contributed their own parts to each song. If they wrote as a group, he should have shared a little. Still, I really like his new record.

  • OMG I'm sure Robbie is sick of answering these same questions for so many decades. So many people still try to compare, judge, and hate him or Levon based on something that had nothing to do with them.

  • bullshit, everyone else came back

  • @Cahoonzie42 Exactly! They did come back but Robbie Robertson didn't. Who is he trying to kid? They were on tour in 1984 when Manuel died if I am not mistaken.

  • @sanQ In fact it was '86. It was said of him at the time that he had waited during the first 8 post Band years under the illusion that they would reform and it would all be the same. After realizing that it was over he descended into abuse oblivion. Note that Robbie has nothing but praise for the talent and musicianship of the other members. The Band were done as the Band. After 16 years they all needed renewal. A couple held on to bitterness. Scorsese says they all got paid for the Last Waltz

  • @sanQ They didn't come back until '83 as the Band. All of them had tried solo projects and realized they were part of something that they could not do on their own. That was 7 years after the Last Waltz. Remember the Beatles stopped touring in 66 but produced music for 4 more years.

  • They called it the Last Waltz - but they were coming back??? I don't get it. Certainly the likes of Clapton are convinced it was RR's grizzling about 'The Road' that drove the split: admittedly, Manuel was increasingly struggling to perform - so perhaps he was the 'malfunctioning piston'?

  • what a gentleman. I love his album.

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