Uncut UK – October 2019

OCTOBER 2019 • UNCUT• 57

Rick[Danko,bassist/singer]
calledme,“Listen,allofthe
guyswannagoandplaygigs
andmakesomemoney.”ButI
knewnothinghadchanged.I
said,“Ican’tdoit.I’mafraid
somethingbadis goingto
happenoutontheroad.”Sure
enough,Richard[Manuel,
singer/piani st] died.Then some
years later, Rick died.

There’sa lineinthesong
“OnceWereBrothers”:“We
alreadyhadit outbetween
theNorthandtheSouth/
Whenweheardallthelies
comingoutofyourmouth.”
Doesthatrefertothe
accusations[drummer]
LevonHelmmadeabout
youinhismemoir,This
Wheel’sOnFire?Levon’s
storywasn’tgoingtheway
hethoughtit wasgoingto
go.HeusedtoblameAlbert
Grossman,accountantsand
lawyers.It wasalwayssomebodyelse’sfaultwhensomething
happenedhedidn’tlike.Finallytheywereallgoneandit wasme.I
wasn’tsurprised.Tosayit wasn’thurtfulwouldn’tbetrue.I knew
someofthethingshewassayingweremadeupandridiculous.I
neverresponded.Atthatpoint,I feltlikethebrotherhooddidn’thave
hope.Theguysweredying;it wasjustheartbreakingtome.When
Levondied– andI gottherebeforehedied– it toremeinhalf.Hewas
theclosestthingI everhadinmylifetoa brother.I didn’tneed
anythingfromhim.I hadwhatI neededyearsearlier.I wasnever
angrywithLevon.Solikeyouweresaying,partofthatis inthe“Once
WereBrothers”track.It was just a way of me expressing how much I
miss the brotherhood.

DoyouthinkmuchaboutRichandRichard?Yeah.I thinkabout
theguysallthetime.Wespenta lotoftimetogether,andmadea lot
ofmagic.Garth[Hudson,keyboardist] hashishealthproblems,and
sodoeshiswife.I’mafraidaboutGarth.I justwanthimtobeOK.I
lovehim.ThestoryofTheBandis incrediblyupliftingonsomelevels,
incredibly sad on others. But that’s the way The Band’s music is, too.

WhendidyoulastseeGarth?ThelasttimeGarthandI metwas
whenTheBandwereinductedontotheWalkofFameinToronto.I’d
liketoseehimagain,buthe’sa bitofa recluse.He’snotjusthanging
out.I’vegottoplana goodoccasiontogovisithim.I’vespokentohim
onthephonesince.Wedon’ttalkaboutstufffromlongago.Wetalk
aboutnow.Hehadmovedintoa newplace,stillupintheWoodstock
area.I wasaskinghimaboutthenewpadandhewastellingme
aboutsomenewequipmentthingshewasworkingon,andjusthow
hewasdoing.ButGarth’sgetting up there in years. We all are, and
I hope he’s going to be OK.

DylanwasthereatthestartofTheBand

• andtheend,too.Whenwereyoulast
  intouchwithhim?Lastweek!Bobsawthe
  documentary,andhecalledmeandtoldme
  thathelovedit.Andthenwetalkedabout
  somenewsongwritingthatwemightwork
  ontogether.I wasleavingthedayafterhe
  called.SoI said,“I’llgiveyoua shoutas
  soonasI getback,andwe’lltakeit from
  there.”We’llsee.Youcouldn’tmakeupthe
  storyoftheexperiencethatI’vehadwith
  Bobovertheyears.It is priceless.I hope we
  get to cause more trouble together.

HowdoyoubalancemaintainingThe

Band’slegacyandtheneedtomove

forwardwithnewwork?I don’ttake

upa lotoftimeonyesterday.I’minthe

moment,thechallengesoftheworkI want

todokeepmeoccupied,andthereareso

manydiscoveriesgoingon.Toacceptthe

challengethat’sonnextreallykeepsthe

bloodmoving.I’m just not bogged down

in the past.

RobbieRobertson’sSinematic is released

on September 20 by UMC

ROBBIE ROBERTSON

ARCHIVE PHOTOS/GETTY IMAGES; JIM SPELLMAN/WIREIMAGE

“ANIMPOSSIBLE

RELATIONSHIP...”

Wetakea sneakypeekatthe

newBand documentary

“T

HEfilmis a spiritual

adaptationofTestimony,”

saysDanielRoher,director

ofOnceWereBrothers:Robbie

RobertsonAndTheBand. “It’sall

specificallythroughRobbie’slens:

thissuper-ambitious,visionarykid

whocamefroma singlemumin a

suburbofToronto.ButRobbiewanted

tomakesurethatI understoodthat

RichardManuel,LevonHelm,Garth

HudsonandRickDankohadvoicesto

contributetothisstory.”

TheBandarerepresentedthrough

archivefootage,buttherearenew

interviewswithMartinScorsese,Eric

Clapton,BruceSpringsteenandVan

Morrison(BobDylandeclinedtotake

part).Robertsonhimselfreturned

toOntario’sSixNationsreservation,

findinghiscousinstilllivingin the

househeremembersvisitingasa

child.Pilgrimagesweremade,too,to

BigPinkdeepin thewoodsofWest

Saugerties,upstateNewYork.

AnattempttoincludeGarthHudson

didn’tworkout,althoughRohersays

hedrovetoWoodstock’sKingston

Diner for a midnight rendezvous with

theorganist.“Garthdidn’tarrive

untilnearly2.30,”Roherrecalls.

“Heis gettingolder,andthatwas

apparent.ButwhatI neverreally

understooduntilI methimis that

Garthcommunicateswiththeworld

throughhismusic.Weweren’table

toputGarthasheis nowin thefilm.It

is challengingtohavea conversation

withhim.Buthehasa professorial

presencethatI washumbledby.It

wasquiteawesometobewithhim.”

Roher– whowas 23 whenhe

directedthedocumentary– says

thefilmis “aboutbrotherhoodand

thenatureanddifficultyofcreative

collaboration.BruceSpringsteen

toldmethatbeingin a bandis an

impossiblerelationship.Imagineguys

youwerehangingoutwithwhenyou

were 16 yearsold– andthosearethe

guysyou’restillhangingoutwith...

“I grewupwithTheBand.Theywere

myheroesaskid.WhatI learned

makingthefilmis thatthey’renot

reallyheroes.They’rejustfivefragile,

woundedyoungmenwhoare

sufferingfromtheirowninsecurities

and issues and problems.”

Swansong:TheBand’s

farewellconcertatthe

WinterlandBallroom,

November 25, 1976

“He’sa bitofa

recluse”:with

GarthHudson,

April 10, 2002