The Last Waltz

[Moss]

Yeesh, touchy people here.

[caliber66]

[Skian]

what talent? seriously? robbie robertson? am i missing a joke here?

 

one of the great songwriters of our generation

 

This is a myth. He is credited with this only because he applied for the copyright in his own name. But all the great songs he said he wrote were a collective effort by The Band. He just so happened to weasel the credit away from the others.

[Lammycat]

And "Caravan" was your favorite moment? Seriously? That boggles the mind.

Aw, c'mon man. It's an enigmatric, spirited, up-beat, and heart-felt rendition. The guy's fun to watch, too.

[caliber66]

This is a myth. He is credited with this only because he applied for the copyright in his own name. But all the great songs he said he wrote were a collective effort by The Band. He just so happened to weasel the credit away from the others.

I don't think anyone denies that he wrote the majority of the songs. That they were collaboratively developed doesn't mean that he didn't come up with the ideas. It just means he's a dick (as has been established) for taking all the credit for himself.

 

Yes, I've read the Levon Helm book.

[Synthesizer Patel]

This is a myth. He is credited with this only because he applied for the copyright in his own name. But all the great songs he said he wrote were a collective effort by The Band. He just so happened to weasel the credit away from the others.

 

i'm not entirely sure where you're getting this from, but i always find it funny that people said he stole the credit when you look at who gets credit on the first 2 albums - there's a lot of co-writes, and then interestingly enough when danko, helm and manuel started living the rock and roll life-style on the subsequent albums robbie must have taken advantage of the heroin hazy and taken all their songs they were pumping out at break-kneck pace, without them looking. (manuel wrote 3 songs on the first album, plus dylan/manuel 1, robertson 4, and dylan/danko 1, just for example - that's hardly robertson stealing song credits in my eyes)

 

i also find it funny that people talk about him like the other members are part of THEIR family. to be quite honest i couldn't give too much of a fuck who stitched who up, as the people have nothing to do with me - it doesn't really change the music. and robbie robertson is a brilliant guitar player - in a musical world where lots of people want to play the guitar, making him pretty good actually. there are plenty of nice people that make shitty music, it doesn't make me like it any the better. oh, and levon helm was the one that walked out on the dylan 66 tour cos he didn't like the booing etc... - so that gives us a little insight into his character, at least.

[Guest Jules]

Wow, guess I'm in the minority here but then again I always thought Van Morrison was over rated except for maybe astral weeks.

You've obviously never heard Spanish Rose

[bjorn_skurj]

Don't tell TheMaker, but the Staples Singers' version of "The Weight" is one of the holiest things I have ever heard in my life and almost singlehandedly made me believe in God again.

[Moss]

Actually I have never heard "Spanish Rose" but I will check it out so thanks for the tip. I'm always up for good music. I will be the first to admit I have not heard much Van Morrison because I have never heard any that really appealed to me enough to dig deeper. My experience has been people yelling at our band in bars to "Play brown eyed girl" (which I'm sad to report we have). I have done acoustic shows where we played "Into the Mystic" and that's a great song. Other than that, not much experience. There seems to be some love for him here so that's enough for me, I could be way off. I just never liked that song in the Last Waltz but I do agree it's "an enigmatric, spirited, up-beat, and heart-felt rendition".

 

Not that it matters but in keeping with the theme of Robbie Robertson, isn't Van Morrison supposed to be kind of a douche? He never comes across well in interviews I have read.