FEATURED JOBS
Comments (0)More than three decades since “The Last Waltz,” Robbie Roberston, he of Jewish and Mohawk lineage, is still grappling with the break-up and lasting legacy of The Band.
Robertson, 67, who recently came out with his first album in 13 years, “How to Become Clairvoyant,” says he didn’t draw the curtain on his old group, contrary to public perception.
“That’s not what happened,” he tells Associated Press. “It was a situation in which everybody played a part. It was a group of people where everybody played a vital role, and it needed all cylinders going to do what it did. If not, then it wasn’t capable of doing its best work.
“I’m not trying to set the record straight or anything like that. It’s just what I felt emotionally at the time, to explore that because this record seemed to be becoming more personal. The deeper in I got, the more personal it got. I thought, `OK, then let’s really feel our way through this.’ It wasn’t so much a heady experience as it was an emotional experience.”
Of the contemplative tone of his new disc, which grew out of songwriting sessions with Eric Clapton, Robbie says, “There was something to reflect on, for one thing. It was all happening then and you’re kind of caught up in that. With some time, for me at least, it just became more comfortable to reflect upon those things and think, `That was beautiful — an exciting team, or a dangerous time or a revolutionary time.’”
Does Robbie think contemporary listeners will like the new album? “I don’t know about that part. I’m just sending it out there,” he says. “I have no idea how it’s going to work in this day and age. All I know is that I can sleep well at night and say that I think I did a pretty good job on this, and I know there is some good work in there.”