The last pages of Robbie Robertson’s new biography, “Testimony”, are a wonderful epitaph of his remarkable and unmatched musical journey with The Band.  An avid reader of rock music biographies, I enjoyed the honesty and point of view of this book as it presented the incredible highs and lows of being one of rock’s most celebrated music pioneers with honesty and a humble, yet confident, voice. Most importantly, the book provided enormous insight to the relationship Robbie had with some of the era’s most creative talents… Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Andy Warhol, Van Morrison, John Lennon, and Bob Dylan. The dinner at Salvador Dali’s house sticks out in my mind.

Although Dylan wanted just him to join his band on an electric tour, Robbie insisted his band (not yet known as “The Band”) came as a whole package.  (See Levon Helm to the right of Bob above. He was already a bad ass.)   Dylan and Robertson were musical compadres. They became real friends through the years.

The Band’s fast ascent from the teen years into rock and roll’s most “revered by is peers” was unique in that the public sought their attention too… they were featured on the cover of Time Magazine on Jan. 12, 1970 to start the new decade for damn sake!  


The bootleg recordings of their famed Basement Sessions in Woodstock’s Big Pink house (click here for more on these sessions) and their early preference to be a “recording band” and not tour, only added fuel to the fire that was brewing the red-carpetesque reputation of The Band.  


Although The Band’s journey was unlike any other rock music group, its fall to the demons of the road was all too common. The tragic portion of Robertson’s tale is very somber and sad. Lucky for readers there are countless tales of The Band’s behind the scenes testimony (pun intended) to keep the pages fun and fast. 


The book is very emblamatic of Robbie Robertson’s life… it’s always about the music. The party and glory are something to enjoy now and again along the way. 

Reading other books by Bob Dylan and Levon Helm, as well as seeing the “Last Waltz” and “Festival Express” movies, creates a detailed picture of this period of time for these musicians. (Note: I am writing a piece on Eric Clapton that also covers this. I will upload the link when complete.)  


For The Band fans, I suggest you drop everything and order “Testimony” on Amazon Prime right now, then put on “Don’t Do It” really loud and get your “back beat groove on”, Levon style. 


“Don’t Do It” was the only encore played at their final concert known as The Last Waltz on November 25, 1976 (click here to read Vanity Fair story). The movie actually opens with this track. (click here to watch). Perhaps embellished, but its romantic to hear Robbie talk about this final song by the guys as one of the best renditions and passion-filled songs they ever played. A tribute to his brother Levon and the music.

The best part of the book is reading about the relationships Robbie had with so many interesting creative types. The stories are still swirling inside my head a few days after finishing the book during a trip to Quebec City include…


1) Robbie’s relationship with Bob Dylan was much more profound than I ever imagined. I always pictured Dylan as being a loner and musical elitist. From early on, Robbie was Bob’s musical guru… the guy he trusted to validate the freshness and texture of the music. 


Robertson was part of Dylan’s inner private circle. The idea that Dylan would turn the mixing of their music over to Robertson with full creative control was a big surprise. That kind of trust was rare for Dylan and says much about Robertson’s talent.

2) The early meeting and friendship Robbie had with Jimi Hendrix, known as Jimmy James at the time, while he was playing in lower NYC clubs. The book ties in a later meeting between the two at Woodstock when they were both told by promoters that they would be the festival closing act.  Jimi won the battle, but Robbie won the war. It seems that Robbie had Jimi’s early respect as a guitar man.


3) The insane short timeline and events surrounding The Last Waltz.  Rarely do planned “Farewell” tours (or show in this case) go off so well.  Here is a link to one of late nights jams from that show. The musicians were obviously fried and Neil was stilling grinding his jaw for more.


4) Robbie and The Band created an incredible song writing workshop for themselves in Woodstock and later Los Angeles. The process of meeting every day at Big Pink and the madness it led them too was reveled in a new light by Robbie in the book.  


It was very clear in the book that Robbie was trying to provide context and “his side” to the idea that he stole the music rights (and the publishing money) from Levon and the other members.


5) Robbie’s early fascination with movies that led to his later interest in movie soundtracks.


6) The lessons that Ronnie Hawkins taught them on the road were most entertaining.


The stories are countless…


Rather than me go on, read the book y’all.