the Sound is Fading

I get that I am now of "that age" where the artists I grew up with are not just aging along with me, but dying. 

These last few weeks have kind of proved that. Even Randy Meisner's death went pretty much unnoticed. 

Yesterday though, it was Robbie Robertson. 80.

Bummer. 

Robertson was a founding member and one of the main songwriters of the Band. That group was widely known as the band that took Dylan electric. They had their own body of work too - much of it notable, but still, backing Dylan for a few years was a big deal. 

When the Band ended in 1978 (?), Martin Scorsese directed their last concerts and released the Last Waltz, which is still regarded as a classic rock movie. Robertson would partner with Scorsese and score 6-7 of his movies. 

Robertson was Canadian, a Jew and Native American......well, native to Canada. He would incorporate much of the latter into his solo work. He even wrote pieces specifically for the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian. 

He was well spoken, interesting man and artist. 

His first solo disk didn't appear until a decade after the Band's demise. But the self-titled album was a good one. Scorsese even directed the video for the initial single, "Somewhere Down the Crazy River". 

The video was beautifully shot, and lit. My friend Jon is no fan of it.  Me?  I'm a big fan. Of the song and video - which incudes Maria McKee and Sam Llanas from toe BoDeans.  Tony Levin and Daniel Lanois almost make appearances. I featured it several years ago in a My Music Monday, but I'm repeating it here..........on a Thursday. 

I found Robertson untraditionally handsome. But 80 is a good life. And he made a lot of it. 

Song by: Robbie Robertson