Robbie Robertson: "Somewhere Down the Crazy River" (1987)

Robbie Robertson was born Jaime Robert Klegerman in Toronto, Canada. His father was Jewish and mother Mohawk. After his father died, his mother remarried and took the name Robertson and so did Robbie.

 

He grew up playing in a number of local bands and met Ronnie Hawkins, who performed sever songs Robbie had written. He played lead guitar in Ronnie's band know as the Hawks and by the time he had left the band in 1963, he was known to be a guitar wizard. 

 The rest of the Hawks, (Levon Helm, Richard Manuel, Rick Danko, and Garth Hudson) left as well and would together form The Band. The Band would back Bob Dylan for years and they would be famous of their own accord as well until the stopped touring in 1976. Their final concert "The Last Waltz" was filmed by Martin Scorsese and is a concert film classic. Ronnie Hawkins and countless stars appeared as guests in the concert. The most interesting moment for us is on "Further On Up the Road", where Eric Claptons's guitar strap falls off just as he was going into the opening lead. Robbie took the lead and didn't miss a note until Clapton was re-strapped.

Robertson released his first solo album in 1987 cleverly called "Robbie Robertson".  

According to Wikipedia: "When asked about the inspiration for the album's single "Somewhere Down the Crazy River", producer Daniel Lanoithes commented: "Robbie Robertson was describing what it was like to hang out in Arkansas with Levon Helm in his old neighborhood. He was telling me about the hot nights and fishing with dynamite, and was asking someone for directions for someplace somewhere down the crazy river. ... I had presented him with this instrument that Eno introduced me to called the Suzuki Omnichord, like an electric autoharp. He found a little chord sequence with it that was sweet and wonderful. As he was developing his chord sequence I recorded him and superimposed his storytelling, which I was secretly recording, on top. That was the birth of 'Somewhere Down The Crazy River.' It's kind of like a guy with a deep voice telling you about steaming nights in Arkansas.”

 

Robertsons narration led to some film work and he would wind up narrating,acting or composing music for over 20 movies.

"Wait, did you hear that?
Oh this is sure stirring up some ghosts for me
She said "There's one thing you've got to learn
Is not to be afraid of it."
I said "No, I like it, I like it, it's good."
She said "You like it now,
But you'll learn to love is later."

Robbie composed some very famous songs including "The Weight", "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", "Up On Cripple Creek", and "Broken Arrow".

A few things to watch for in this excellent video. The bass player is playing a fret less bass. The autoharp the song was composed on is visible in a few shots as well. Also watch for Sam Llanas, from The BoDeans, who provides a unique backing voice on the song. The BoDeans were featured on this blog in 2012.



King Biscuit Boy: "You Done Tore Your Playhouse Down Again" (1971)

King Biscuit Boy was the stage name of Richard Alfred Newell, a Canadian blues musician noted for his harmonica playing. The name was taken from the 'King Biscuit Flower Hour' an early American blues broadcast and was given to him by rock 'n' roll musician Ronald "Ronnie" Hawkins while he was playing as part of his backing band. Some of you may remember that members of what would become The Band backed him up at one time as well. Hawkins would later appear in their movie "The Last Waltz" and sings "Who Do You Love"?

King Biscuit Boy was very popular in his native Canada and made the playlists in the U.S. as well. In 1971 he realeased the album "Gooduns" which was wraped in burlap the same way flour was packaged in the old days (get it?). "You Done Tore Your Playhouse Down Again" is the first cut on the album. It was written by Newell and starts out slow and shifts gears into a complete rocker. I like that formula and Newell rolls in his harmonica to perfection.
This passage from Green Man Revue says it best: "Gooduns" starts with a slow buildup, Rick Bell's solo piano leading into one of the most stunning displays of boogie woogie I've ever heard, and then the band starts, Biscuit's harp, slide guitar from Ray Lanthier, and "Oohoooooooohooooooooo Little girl, little girl...." "You Done Tore Your Playhouse Down Again" is a song "about a hard drinkin' woman," the liner notes tell us. "You were last seen headin' up Highway 27 with a bottle of gin in your right hand..."

A buddy of mine turned me on to this in 1979 and the song just stunned me. Some songs are so good that you rember exactly where you were when you first heard it.

Turn the volume up on this one...