Robbie Robertson on Why He Still Calls Jimi Hendrix "Jimmy James"
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- Опубликовано: 8 окт 2024
- Robbie Robertson talks about how he first met Jimi Hendrix and why he calls him Jimmy James. Robertson was interviewed for The House of Blues Radio Hour.
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Robbie, is one of the best creative musicians in rock & roll,,!!!!!
Robbie is a legend. He knows how to write songs as well as anyone. He is in the top level of songwriters. On that highest plateau
If I find out Robbie rob wrote Foxy Lady I'm dead lol 😆
The coolest guy ever in rock and roll! I could listen to Robbie all day talking ,and want more. So informative, precise,and knows exactly when to cut to the chase. Storyteller extrordinaire! To be in that man's company having a beer ,must have been brilliant!
I grew up listening to and being influenced by the Hawks in Toronto Canada..back in the 60,s...everyone imitated them.Robbie. Levon. were icons in those days..its a cutting business and to survive i think it takes tolls on people..for sure...but those early days were fantastic .ya man!! Lol
Levon is and always will be one of my musical hero's he was also a brilliant actor. Played a small part in shooter (Mark wahlberg) and completely stole not just the scene but the entire movie
when every musician on the planet seems to dig Robbie, I figure there's gotta be something to this guy :)
Tore Buch he plays a 335 always a sign of great taste.
He knows how to tell a story, something people have seem to forgotten nowadays
Robbie’s Rolodex of musicians stops at no one!!!
THE BAND
Nice if all interviews are done in a studio like this. Such perfect audio, rarely found on YT.
Jimmy James and the Blue Flames
" Sir Jimi James Allen Hendrix " ⚡️⚡️⚡️🎸⚡️⚡️⚡️🇺🇸
wow! what a jam that would be Jimi, Robbie, and RJ! Only in blues heaven...
Love Robbie's "Somewhere Down The Crazy River" from the moment l heard it several decades ago to this day
This was awesome!
Night Parade is one of the great love songs of our era. 'that's when the fever would rise…and oh what a look in her eyes'
The whole Storyville album is a great piece of work.
'from the moment that she blows out the light...we'd be lost in the forever night' the song is actually 'hold back the dawn' but yes a great album i agree
@@silverlight2004db you have a great ear for lyrics...that is probably a better example than mine.
Steve Earle is another great musical poets that does not get the attention I think he deserves.
This is informationl and should be taken as that. There will always be comparisons of who, what, where and when regarding an artisit or a style of music. All bands go through changes, members come and go and unfortunately they break up. That is nature of the business.
Robertson received more revenue than the others because he was the main songwriter for The Band.
Buddy Holly to Brian Jones to Jimi...Robbie knew everybody.
wow ..so many brawls in the comment section .....relax ...Jimi new the value of song writing and Robbie wrote some good songs ...Jimi listened to Dylan records on loop at times
When Hendrix was around, in the 1960s, the portable tape deck was an 8-track player, about the size of a kids lunchbox, and it had a switch for "1-play" or "loop." The 8-track program could be weird at times(the tapes would divide an album into 4 parts, and would divide some songs badly). It sure was cool to be able to play albums, and later, mix tapes, on your car stereo!
Nice rug, dentures and glasses, man. Your comments are as authentic.
the john hammond cds, with the hawks/band are great
All those negative comments are so horrible. Is this the human race?
great stuff here! thanks very much!
Robbie knew Brian Jones
Wow. Great interview
Robbie knows everyone
@@jimmyjames9752 everyone knew everyone
If The MAN Was Handing Out Free Humble Pie, Robbie Wouldn't Be Hungry...
On his very first hand drawn notice at his first gig at the Hillside club its got Jimi Hendrix Experience on the top i just had a look at it to make sure
What a cool time that was hanging out in the village...bar hopping on Bleeker Street....going to the Fillmore....Joshua Light Show. Later at Max's. Who knew that we were at the center of the universe......
The gig in question that Brian Jones went to, and later Chas Chandler, was at Cafe Wha?
Another thing; Jimi took from Robbie the guitar parts for LIke A Rolling Stone. Jimi took them to another level when he added his own flourish. Show some respect!
Mike Bloomfield was the guitarist on Bob's "Like A Rolling Stone " ... Just as- the far superior to Al Kooper on Organ- Garth emulated Kooper's recorded acc. I could say that live w Dylan Robbie would have to do the familiar end of verse lines played by Bloomfield......Funny, though, I recall writer Jim Delehant's interview with Bloomfield for ';Hit Parader Magazine back in '68 when he mentions Dylan would introduce him to people as: "the greatest guitarist in the world"...." and when Bob introduced me to Robbie Robertson (who I already knew) he said 'meet [Robbie] the greatest guitarist in the world'......I think that was what Dylan was all about :'loyalty'.." concluded Mike. Bloomfield was offerred a permanent gig w Dylan but he turned it down because :"I was a blues guitarist and I had loyalty to Butterfield" ..(Albert Grossman managed both Dylan & Butterfield ). .in other words backing Dylan he could never stretch out his soloing brilliance and variety of modes beyond blues etc. which Robbie eschewed .... Live, Robbie and The Hawks were a much better fit....
The Band is NOT forgotten my friend.
I got the privilege of seeing Levon Helm,and Rick Danko play at a small club. Not until then did I realize just how much those two were the "voice" of The Band. Since the first time I heard " The Weight " ( just after it was released ) it's been one of my all time favorite songs. The only time I got to see the entire band was at summer jam in 1973,and the sound wasn't that good.
When will older men learn that dark hair dye just makes them look older.
It looks like a wig.
Ronald Reagan was way ahead in this particular fashion .
Doug Johnson a brilliant rejoinder!
Doug Johnson time for a haircut and time to ditch the dye. You aren't fooling us.
Jeremy Lyons, it’s their life. I am 64 and my hair is only getting a few gray hairs but completely empty in the front so I shave. What’s really funny to me is when people go from salt and pepper to super black in one night...no little bit at a time...
Cool It, no bad talking to musicians here, it's a tight peaceful community of respect, so just let it go.
His hair is perfect!
Agreed. He never should have stuck that rug on it.
He sleeps with it in a jar next to his bed.
Robertson wrote songs all the way back when he and Levon were in The Canadian Squires. Levon was a great guy, but he was also a heroin addict who wrote almost no songs, before, during, and after The Band. Just because it's in his book doesn't make it true.
Exactly.
In the Last Waltz he was like, everywhere, in every shot. Wtf.
Scorsese hardly took the camera off him. Ronnie Hawkins said at the screening (paraphrasing) it was brilliant , just needed a few more close ups of Robbie.
I read a comment years ago on yt which was something along the lines of "It's great to see Robbie mumbling into a disconnected mic" still makes me laugh.
He was a very talented guitar player and song writer. Shame he got so arrogant
It was the flowering of Scorsese's and Robertson's love affair with one another (brotherly love...no homo) they even became roommates after both got divorced and became best buddies and cokeheads!
@@eargasm1072 Robbie separated from his wife, but they got back together, because when THe Band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in 1994 he thanked her for putting up with him for 27 years, eventually they did get divorced perhaps around 2000 or so.
check out the interview with Robertson and Chuck Berry Photo Album some time! Two egos playing chess with words except Chuck Berry gets the check mate!The Band was a rare colective of talented. not individual artists but without each other there was no magic
So was neil young, so was bono, so was a slew of others. Anybody that thinks RR isn't a rare talent hasnt seen much of it. Ironically any of hte blues guys talk the same way and its all right. Hell, rappers talk with ego on their first song and don't get called out. But heaven forbid a guy who grew up making music with anyone and everyone starting when they were fifteen and oh my god its what an ego! This guy knows how to write songs, play geetar and even sing in a weird dylanesque way. Thats magic no matter what you think of his personality, of which few people know. @Any One
There's the answer to a fun trivia question - Who introduced Brian Jones to Jimi?
He was picking your brain because Jimi LOVED Bob Dylan...
Mr. Robertson is a great artist.
Robertson wrote most of the lyrics and music for The Band. Manuel was adept at writing early on but lost it for reasons that do not need explanation. A few years after the group broke up, The Band reunited and recorded a few albums of covers and songs by outside writers. And Levon's records as great as they were did not feature him as author on the songs. And as with the Band, Robbie's solo outings have him writing the songs. Is there a pattern? I think so. There was definitely resentment on the part of Levon and the others, for Robbie pulling the plug after the Last Waltz. I suspect the reason for this was that Robbie was by and large their meal ticket, coming up with original material for them and generally keeping it all together. And let's not forget that Levon had been the leader in earlier pre-Dylan days before quitting for a while, and upon returning would witness the younger upstart assuming the mantle, as much out of necessity as ambition. Let's not forget that Levon had his problems with drugs as well and was in no position to assume or re-assume a leadershop role, outstanding musicianship notwithstanding. I was as disappointed as anyone else when the original Band fell apart, but then again Robbie was not their parent for life and had every eight to pursue his own interests after the better part of 2 decades with the group. Like him or not, The Band and their wonderful music would not have existed without Robbie Robertson.
Well said! I agree with you 100% from a major fan.
Lets not forget that The Band were regurgitating the same tired old country rock clichés and their songwriting efforts had completely stalled. That's probably the main reason why they broke up.
Garth Hudson was an unsung hero of The Band. He came into the band with more musical knowledge in his pinkie than Robertson had in his whole body. People for some reason fixate on the song lyrics and forget about the arrangements and overall sound which is, in reality, where the magic really comes from. Robertson was integral to The Band, but so were all the other guys.
I think the some of the resentment Levon felt towards Robertson is the fact that Robertson wouldn't do any reunion tours with band. Many of the band members were hung up with money problems and they felt that a full reunion tour would have helped them out a bit.
Yeah we all know that. But if your a fan of The Band, you probably know few people sing as well as Levon, Rick Danko or R Manuel. The fact is that many of The Bands best songs are Dylan covers, when i paint my masterpiece, i shall be released, Tears of Rage, This wheels on fire, etc. Yeah, Robbie wrote the songs but he couldn’t sing a lick. Levin was the best drummer/singer in rock and roll and Rick Danko is so underrated as a singer because he was next to Levon. There would be no Band without them.
Gayle Wardlow once approached me and my street band talking about “RL,” by which he meant Robert Johnson.
Robert Leroy. I know Johnson called himself different names in different towns in Mississippi that he'd travel to and I think he referred to himself as Robert Leroy in some towns. Leroy may have been his middle name. I think I got this information from Mack Mcormick who was a Johnson authority and biographer.
The core of what Robertson is saying is most likely The Truth, although (as is sometimes the case with situations recalled 50+ years later) the details may be a bit, uh, Hazy! Many thanks, Robbie! (Just for the record: John Hammond, the legendary singer/guitarist/harmonica player, is not Junior, he’s John PAUL Hammond; his father, the legendary record producer, was John HENRY Hammond the 2nd - so it seems that actually his father was Junior. Maybe one could refer to them as “the younger” and “the elder”?)
Yes the Hammond's name thing is overlooked all thew time .... On Hammond's electric records Garth is listed as "Eric" Hudson his first name ... Robbie smokes on those records !!!
What was wrong with these comments of Robertson's? I know the whole Band break-up thing, but, still, I don't see anything but lightly jokey respect for Hendrix.
Robbie is a preaty good guitar player him self
I'm going to talk about Jimi Hendrix: me me me me me me me me me me me me - Jimi and Me
Hah, compare this story to Chris Squire's story about seeing Hendrix for the first time. Anyway, as a friend once said about Sting many years ago: "He's an asshole, but he sure does write good songs."
he did write the songs
he sounds like he was headquartered in nyc during 1966 wouldn't he have been upstate ny working on music from big pink?
No that was a little later.
👊🏾
Sorry for the typo..before somebody trolls...i meant to write artist...
He's kinda of wanting to say he taught Hendrix how to write songs but he hasn't got the balls to say that. Just as well really seeing as Hendrix was a far better songwriter (as far as I'm concerned).
Really? What about Wind Cries Mary, Bold as Love, Castles Made of Sand, Burning of the Midnight Lamp, Little Wing, and, well I could go on and on, but if you have not heard those you should. Talk about classic!!@Rick B
@@bzbzob Something Jimi did as a songwriter was use the style of horns in r'n'b,
and use shots for verses, just as he did with organ sounds, also getting operatic with it.
You have to see Jimi as a corporate and government response to the British Invasion.
The up-welling of new illegal drugs and the Kennedy assassination created social upheaval,
and look who decided to take advantage of that, as arranged, Americas' British partners.
Both wrote fantastic songs that were singular and unique in composition, tone, style and imagery...what's with all the comparisons "who's better who's best" jazz
I like both. But I would give the edge to Robbie in the songwriting dept.
An incredible songwriter and a decent songwriter? Which one???
How can he make talking about Hendrix and Brian Jones and Robert Johnson sound so annoying?
He's always like that. I can understand his frustration, considering the bands he's been in,
when he was never considered a lead guitar rock star. You say annoying, yes, he can be that,
but I see him as glomming on to whatever is being done that he's not doing that's making it big.
He could be due for a hit song. Where are all these "native" friends he talks about?
(Remember) Hendrix "Lived & Died" In London, he was made there, before,... he could not play anything but the chitlin circuit in the U.S. ... Hendrix was too great of a musical force, This World and It's Boundaries could Not contain him, and so it had to let him Free!!! - Just My View, ( backed By the True facts Of The Ages) - ~ L/W ~ Peace !!!
Hendrix credited Robbie as the MAN in 1964 as a guitarist.
Jimmi James and the blue flames
I knew Jimi
Anyone more surprised that he casually brings up Brian Jones
Robbie Robertson probably still talks about Cassius Clay
Not a speck of grey hair !!! My mom used to have that same hair color.:p
Mud Sh-sh-shark
Yeah, I catch the same flack from the guys at work.... Just turned 64 and no gray (except the beard).
Y'all are just jealous!
You're right they are not but if you ask people today who is Robbie Robertson? Most people wouldn't be able to tell you, while in the 60's I'd say most people would have known the name.
I've never been more disappointed in a musician in my life as with Robbie Robber...tson.
Maybe humility.
sounds like you got sucked in by levons book....
Al and the Cyclones were playing behind their heads, on their knees, whatever, on the Ted Mack Amature Hour in Los Angeles in 1960.
Here he's borrowing Levon Helms legacy. Levon was the one that knew all those old blues players, he used to go to the radio station from his home in Arkansas when possible and get in and listen to the King Biscuit hour, live. Not giving him shade, just give credit where it's due.
Good thing it's not all about you, "RR".
he is so arrogant
So "Jimmy James and the Vagabonds" was a different "Jimmy James".
RR: give The Band their money
rj . ... what's talking the talk about that?
as much as i want to give robbie his dues,,, probably not an interview to gain fans
I wonder if the wind just kinda....blew this story to him.
maybe the traffic lights did turn blue on his street...
He may as well catch the wind!
Hold Back the Dawn is as good. Neither of these got the attention they deserve.
you want your 2:28 back too don'cha...
Anyone wanting the truth about Robertson need look no further than Crossroads 2007. Robertson and his guitar had nothing that day. Nothing. The man is all talk.
Remember what happened to Floyd Patterson when he insisted on calling Muhammad Ali Cassius Clay? If Jimi were alive the same thing would happen to Robbie Robertson.
Yeah, Jimi would dance around the stage, slashing at Robbie with that lightning left, putting together combinations to the face and swaying backwards to avoid Robbie's feeble counters. He'd tie him up in the clinches and call him an Uncle Tom, all the while brutally extending the number by refusing to play the coda until finally the emcee stepped in and said the show was over. That's what would happen, alright.
Boxing fans make poor music critics.
This story is bullshit. When Jimi was playing in the village as Jimmy James he never played for John Hammond as his guitar player. He had his own band called Jimmy James and the Blue Flames with Randy California on rhythm guitar. Jimi knew Hammond from hanging in the village and was aware of Robertson from a Hammond album Robbie played on. He never went to see him at this time with Brian Jones. It was Keith Richards girlfriend, Linda Keith who was living in NY while the Stones were on an American tour who saw Hendrix playing at the Cheetah and couldn't believe that no one saw what she saw in Hendrix. She made it her mission to get him signed and finally succeeded when she convinced Chas Chandler to see him at the Café Wah. Brian Jones didn't meet him until he was already in England. Jimi was in love with Dylan's writing and music and was convinced to sing by saying that if Dylan could do it he might as well try. What Robbie has right is that he would be interested in Robbie because of his connection to Dylan. But that shit about calling Robert Johnson RJ being something guitar players do to show how "in the know" they are is Robbie talking out his ass. As the other members of the Band knew, Robbie was never shy about trying to make everything about him and being creative with the truth to that end.
Like George Costanza used to say, "It's not a lie if you believe it".
Kenneth Nielsen yeah I never heard that either, only read about Jimi playing with his own band
Not so sure about that, brother...Robertson, despite his young age, was already an old hand when they met cause he came up with the Hawks in 1960 and had met a lot of old timers playing the circuit with Ronnie Hawkings who recruited him when he was only 15...He is referring to T-Bone Walker (who was a major JH influence) who did all of that stuff (guitar behind the head, picking with his teeth, etc) and is talking about a brief (two week period) when Jimmy(Jimi) and Randy backed Hammond (in late August and September) at the Village's Cafe au Go Go: Jimmy was broke and stranded in New York and Hammond offered him the gig after Jimmy asked him if he knew anyone who needed a guitar player...Anyway, That's where he met Brian Jones, among others, and where Linda Keith introduced him to Chas Chandler who "discovered" him... and then brought him over to England( Randy's parents didn't want him to go, as he was only 15)...So you at least got that part(Chandler) right...In case you're interested, JH also played with Hammond (John P., not his father who is the guy who signed Dylan) and - believe it or not - E. Clapton at the Gaslight, in New York...
Interesting, wish there was tapes, or are there?
Jimi Hendrixx Well, Hammond jr. hasn't given anyone reason to believe those gigs at the Gaslight Café were recorded anywhere other than in the ether but I can tell you that they were one year after the Café au Go Go gig. Hendrix had made a big splash in England but "Hey Joe" could'nt get airtime on american radio and he ended up on the Monkees tour when he came back...Clapton was in town with Cream and dropped-in on John P. Hammond at the Gaslight at the same time Hendrix was sitting in.
please .... who cares? me me me me me me always me with this guy
come on thats a bit harsh
Prior to being discovered by the English, Hendrix had a band in New York called Jimmy James and the Blue Flames. From the tone of the conversation, RR met Hendrix after he was "discovered" in England, which makes me wonder if his story is made up. Then again, WTF do I know?
This story is about the same time as Jimi was approached by Chas Chandler to come to England, so would be early to mid 1966. Brian Jones found out about Hendrix that day, and fellow Stones guitarist Keith Richards' girlfriend told Chas Chandler about Jimi. Chas brought Jimi over to London in September that year under a management deal. First gig here was not at Blazes as claimed elsewhere, but at The Cromwellian where Jimi played on stage with The Brian Auger Trinity in front of Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Steve Winwood and others who would become regular visitors to his gigs.
The man's name was Jimi Hendrix he used Jimi James before he became famous a total lack of respect on his part as for songwriting Jimi had no problem with that now that he's no longer with us you all wanna talk shit about him.
Robbie and Jimi had something in common, and they laughed about it when they found out. None of them used their given name. Robbie's real name is Jaime Royal Robertson.
Does the answer contain "because I am a pretentious tosser"?
Exactly what I thought
in 1966 RR had no deal, or only a tiny deal and no catalog of songs of his own..what could he offer JMH?
They were taling about writing songs, Robbie mentioned how Dylan would just sit at the typewriter and write song after song. Robbie wrote his first songs when he was 15, but at the time when he was living at the Chelsea hotel and meeting Jimi Hendrix, he had not written any of his famous songs.
Is that a wig?
Sounds like Liberace
Hendrix was asking Robbie how to write songs? Robbie was asking Levon..lol.
Meeeeeeee meeeeeeeee meeeeeeee meeeee. As bad as Randy Bachman
When he says "song writing" it seems he's talking about lyrics.
One of my criticisms of Led Zeppelin and SRV is that they wrote terrible lyrics. Zep is all borrowed blues cliches, and Stevie was 1950's Chuck Berry throw back lyrics. Neither wrote anything original or new. Stairway is total nonsense BTW.
Jimmy wrote stuff like castles made of sand and machine gun... Interesting, non-sexual, philosophy. He was thinking hard about big questions, not always, but often. Anyway...just my opinion. If there's a bustle in your hedge row?
He does have a smug thing about him, doesn't he. Seems self-important. If it's true stuff, I'll let him go....
I'd like to dislike the guy but it's probably true. As for his hogging the songwriting credit I have no idea. The music industry is cut-throat. He did say something about him and Eric Clapton jamming and trying to make each other cry with the beauty of their playing -- that did sort of induce vomiting!
Yeah, that's enough to be sick...
Robbie wrote some great songs for The Band but he likes to think it was The Robbie Robertson Band and it wasn't. He had three other guys singing and Garth Hudson adding his magic. Since The Last Waltz , Robbie has done next to nothing. He's only had one solo album that was even worth mentioning. It's not hard to see why Levon Helm got fed up with him because he does have a very condescending tone and inflated sense of self.
@@ericcampbell6370 levon needed to find another songwriter for himself.
Yes, he took songwriting credit on tunes everybody in The Band wrote. He seems like a Saturday Night Live parody of a doddering old lady. I read Levon's book; I was ready to kick Robbie's ass!
And ofc Levon Helm's view is completely the objective, unquestionable truth.
As good as anybody that was there!
You don't know WTF you're talking about - first show I ever saw in the Village was Robbie backing up John Hammond (I think in late 1965) on JH's So Many Roads record (which Levon also played on). I saw a rather late in the evening jam session at the Cafe Au Go Go with JIMMY JAMES in 1966 - he might have been the 3rd best guitar player in the room. Levon had left the Hawks for 1-2 years to paint houses in Arkansas and in doing so, it was no longer Levon & the Hawks. Meanwhile, irrespective of Levon's bitch, the songwriting credits are with Robbie - except for a few written by Richard Manuel, Danko or a few or collaborations with Dylan. I don't think there's one Band song in the 1st 3 albums where Levon is credited and by the 2nd album (The Band), it was becoming evident that Robbie was not only the leader, but the guy whoes songs dominated the records. Levon certainly didn't make his claims at the time and not until years later.
Levon's complaint is that while the whole band was contributing to the songs Robbie took songwriter's credit. The songs were more of a group effort even if the were 70/30 in Robbie's favor he took 100% credit. All the stuff in the Village, etc... has nothing to do with songwriting. Being a decent guitar player doesn't make him a good songwriter. As I said, I read Levon's book.
John Kiene
Beg to differ with you - although I HAVEN'T read Levon's book I am very familiar with his arguments and HIS version of the facts. Unfortunately for Levon, his arguments are dead wrong under contract & copyright law as they pertain to authorship and to the carve-up of royalties in music, which is highly regulated and very complicated. Robbie Robertson didn't invent those rules of the game and neither did Levon Helm. In the absence of a contract that states otherwise (Lennon/McCartney being the most famous example), songwriting credits are NOT considered collaborative. The Band (as a group) were paid royalties on sales of their albums and I imagine those were split evenly per unit sold. However, when it comes time for payment of royalties as to public performance (their own, by another group, on the radio), that is done on a song-specific basis.
If you are familiar with the NY music scene in the early - mid 60s, EVERY artist of note (who went on to commercial success) was managed by Albert Grossman - Dylan, Phil Ochs, Peter Paul & Mary, Gordon Lightfoot, (I think) the Blues Project & John Hammond, ultimately the Hawks/The Band and probably several others. The placement of ANOTHER artist's work on an album was a very routine approach & strategy utilized by AG - PP&M was a stitched together group literally bred for the market and in their early work included introducing the world to Gordon Lightfoot (Early Morning Rain & For Lovin' Me); Dylan covered Early Morning Rain - this put money in the pockets of other artists without compromising quality. At the same time, you had songwriters (like Carole King/Gerry Goffin) who were NOT performers - they made their living producing material for others. The bottom line is that's the way the system was set up - you can criticize it all you want but if you had aspirations of making records, that's how it was done.
wow, lotta hate for Robbie in the comments. I was never a big fan of the band, but the last waltz is well worth watching. maybe levon didnt like him, levon was certainly the least of the band and I wouldn't read a book he wrote even if he did learn to write just to do it. naw, he probably dictated it to someone who can understand his stupid hick accent.
+ronald reagan As fine a musician as Levon was, his sour grapes diatribe has been discredited by John Simon, who was there as participant in the recording process and affirms that RR did indeed come up with the song lyrics, melodies, and most of the vocal phrasing.
Levon was the least of the band!!!!!! Fuck me you're deaf.
@@renjay3743 he was a killer and still underrated drummer, never played an obvious drum part or fill
there's a bobbling sausage with glasses on my screen just babbling on and on?
Uhm, he doesn't say what he thought about Jimi's music at the time (1966, I presume): he concentrates on the antics. And he doesn't say (and that would be even more interesting) what Brian Jones thought of the fella at the time, considering the Stones wouldn't be impressed enough (in spite of Linda Keith's efforts) to sign him for Immediate. And Jones would act as MOC at Monterey for Hendrix, saying he was the greatest guitar player he ever saw. F...this interviewer.
Brian Jones obviously spoke about Hendrix on his return to the Stones because it was Keith Richards' girlfriend who passed on the contact to Chas Chandler that Jimi was playing in Cafe Wha in the village. This would be summer of 1966 and Jimi came over to London in September.
Andrew Loog Oldham turned down Hendrix when Linda Keith brought him . Likely ALO had his hands full in 66 with The Stones and couldn't take on anyone else ....She then contacted Chas Chandler.
I don't consider RR as I like to call him an ax man..very limited player at best...
You would not know your ass from a hole in the ground. Rolling Stone has him as 59th greatest guitar player of all times. Very limited indeed.
His style was perfect for The Band however. A Jeff Beck or Carlos Santana type would never have fit in. Robertson can certainly burn up the fretboard when he wants to, but by and large the Band's approach was to play for the song, keeping a tight rhythm with more fills and fewer soloes.
+Howard is a Bell End Rolling Stone wouldn't know their own asses from holes in the ground. Dreadful magazine. And yes, Robbie Robertson IS rubbish.
You'll never hear a Guitarist say anything bad about RR playing style. He was very unselfish playing style.
Rolling Stone! Hah!
Absolute bore
Robbie Robertson says Hendrix wanted to talk about song writing, not guitar playing. Well obviously, Hendrix isn't going to talk guitar about guitar playing with some average guitar player like Robbie.
That's because Robbie was a better guitar player than Hendrix - and at the time, considered by pretty much everyone in NY as 2nd only to Mike Bloomfield. There wasn't any style that Robbie hadn't mastered from acoustic, bottleneck blues to stright kick-ass R&R but he used guitar as a background in support of the song and its lyrics, whereas Hendrix is the opposite (and IMO was incapable of writing lyrics that actually told a story). Hendrix might have been a great showman, but he was considered very sloppy as a technician and the fact is it was when he went to England, that he completely reinvented himself.
Gary Wolgang are you kidding? robbie 2nd only to Mike Bloomfield?... I would say Bloomfield is premier league, robbie is second division
kerans74
Don't think you fully got the context of what I was saying, but from your comments on "premier league" and "second division" it sounds if you're English or Irish - no offense, but a whole bunch of this requires one to be American.
My response to PFB was first and foremost to someone who didn't know shit about what he was talking about, including dismissing Robbie's "version" of his meeting Hendrix - at Hendrix's request -- to talk about songwriting
Secondly, unless you were hanging out in Greenwich Village in 1965 - 67 you weren't there to hear what was being said by those who were. I'm not a musician - couldn't play more than some chords - but I do know music quite well and the opinions expressed, including some amount of provincialism in the admittedly small self-contained world of NY/Greenwich Village, came from the cream-of-the-crop PEER level musicians, who I had the privilege of seeing not only in club settings of 150 - 300 seats, but also at least occasionally in after hours sessions playing with guys from other groups.
Thirdly, as far as my comments praising Mike Bloomfield (and taking note he was a Chicago guy and fairly removed from NY), I saw him twice with the Butterfield Blues Band at the Cafe-Au-Go-Go (the 300 seat club) and once later at the Fillmore after he left BBB. HIs rep was well-deserved, and I still (50 years later) think he was the best overall guitar player I ever saw as far as truly commanding the guitar, etc., although he was essentially limited to blues with some amount of jazziness appearing in East-West. His later work (although I loved Electric Flag) dropped off rapidly (because of his drug use). He was an original tortured soul and wasn't into the trappings of fame - he turned down touring with Dylan in large part because of that and also because he wouldn't have been able to be much more than a back-up guy.
I say this because Dylan then hired the Hawks to back him up - not coincidentally because Albert Grossman managed them (and almost everyone else in NY). Robertson's style, reputation and brilliance wasn't predicated on the notes he played; he' was more a minimalist characterized by the notes he DIDN'T play - very short, almost staccato riffs in support of the song, and very indicative of a guy who had both backed up others and supported himself as a studio musician. In that sense, one of the guys who was similar in many ways was Steve Cropper of Booker T., who didn't do ANYTHING fancy. As I mentioned, Robbie was not only flawless technically, but he could play ANY style. Whatever, if you think Robbie wasn't great, then turn to the guys at the time (late 60s - early 70s) who were considered the best: Clapton, Duane Allman, Jerry Garcia, etc (I'm not including Keith Richards/Brian Woods or some jazz virtuosos) - they seemed to think Robertson was the best and certainly world-class.
Gary Wolgang Sorry, but I've never heard anyone mention Robbie Robertson in context of players like Hendrix, Clapton, Duane Allman, Peter Green, Jimmy Page or any other of the big time rock guitarists of the late 60s. And that's why I stand by comment that of course Hendrix wouldn't want to talk about guitar playing with Robbie Robertson. Hendrix already knew all the stuff Robertson knew about guitar times 100.
I've heard lots of praise for The Band as an ensemble group of musicians, and Robertson's songwriting (although some of the other members of The Band think he got more credit on the songwriting than he deserved) . Robbie Robertson is certainly a good guitarist, but he's simply nowhere near a top level rock or blues guitarist, perhaps in one spot in NYC in 1966 he was one of the better guitarists, but not overall.
PFB 99
Didn't realize that it was necessary for anyone to check in with you on stuff you know nothing about - just love how you position your comments with "I've heard(s)". Personal taste is, of course, PERSONAL, and while you have every right to express yours, you really have ZERO right to dispute history - that's a particularly insidious form of revisionism, especially since what you (and others on this site babbling about Robbie Robertson & The Band) say is so laughably incorrect and so easy to prove wrong by simply looking at a calendar.
Great musicians (like most artists) aren't hatched out of a bottle - they learn to play by listening to others. Jimmy James/Jimi Hendrix was a dead broke guitar player, having supported himself previously playing as a BACKUP guy to the Isely Brothers; he was also an outsider to the NY music scene, which, whether you get it or not, was in fact the music capital of the world - and that's not me affecting a NY'ers superiority complex.
By ALL accounts, Hendrix was a pretty humble guy, VERY deferential to others, and extremely grateful for help given so it's more than dubious that he would have thought Robertson couldn't teach him anything. His ambitions aside, there was no marketplace for him (and there wasn't going to be one, no matter what you think) based on his instrumental skill - you needed to have SONGS to perform and you weren't going to achieve this purely by covering other artist's material. Quite bluntly, that was already being done with Chicago Blues artists (such as Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf and Lightning Hopkins) by guys like Mike Bloomfeld and being done quite a bit better than Hendrix could EVER have done. In any event, that's why he approached Robbie Robertson for advice on writing - as far as not asking for "lessons", there was only one guy I knew of who Hendrix MIGHT have approached, and that would have been Albert King - as a guy who also played guitar upside-down, which effectively eliminated all kinds of ability to utilize chord structures.
Whatever, it's factual history that Jimmy James subsequently went over to England where he was promptly repackaged as Jimi Hendrix - and that said repackaging included a radical makeover in dress & appearance as well as structuring his material to emphasize his performance skills.
So please, continue to go ahead and make a complete ass of yourself with statements such as your "standing by my comment". And next time you subjectively rank the great guitarists of the late 1960s, why don't you remember to include the guys that actual musicians thought were the best: Clarence White (ultimately with the Byrds), Frank Zappa, Roy Buchanan (who you would NEVER had heard of), Lowell George and the guys you missed, including Jerry Garcia, Robbie Robertson and Mike Bloomfield.
He desperately wants the narrative to be that he was the leader of the band. This is self-serving bullshit about a man who cannot respond. Go away.
EVERY MUSICIAN In the world hung out with Hendrix, and ALL of them saw him play for the first time. Yawn.
Now he's taking credit for teaching Hendrix how to write songs 😴 whatever next 🤣
why do you beiieve nonsense like that, did you read it in people magazine or some other gossip rag?
He means... John Hammond the Third...!
Seems like he turned more Jewish later than Indian side he used to have his mean stair like mean white people. I think the way natives have been treated is stupid
man does this guy eat chili dogs for every meal or what?
bla bla
Overrated and lucky. Hair --- come on - let the grey play! Like your Dylan stuff but hmmmm - lucky
Who cares?👎💩