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Takes one to know one

I find what one artist has to say about another fascinating. Here's what Eric Clapton has to say about one such:

"I met the genius of that outfit, who was Richard Manuel. He was as close to genius as I've ever met in a white guy---all the other geniuses I've met have been black Blues players, like B.B. and Buddy Guy. The reason I say they're geniuses is that they do what they do effortlessly with a gift that is so powerful that they don't need to engage in any kind of thinking to pursue it."

I would add Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, and even Robbie Robertson (somewhat begrudgingly ;-), the other members of The Band, to the list of geniuses. There has never been, and never again will be, a Group containing so much talent. I listen to their music every single day of my life, and have done so for years. Their debut and second album are in my Top 10 albums of all-time list. Both are available on LP and SACD from Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs. Ignore them at the cost of your own musical wealth!

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bdp24's avatar
bdp24 OP
9,949 posts
 
@dragunski, I heard Music From Big Pink when it was released, but didn’t "get" it---it was over my head. It troubled me that I didn’t, as the smartest guys I knew loved it. It wasn’t until I saw and heard Dewey Martin (drummer of Buffalo Springfield) play and sing in The New Buffalo (he being the lone BS band member left) in the Summer of '69 that I had my life-changing epiphany, right as I watched he and his bandmates perform. Dewey was the first studio musician (BS enticed him away from session work) I saw and heard live, and it was a real education. I gave MFBP another listen soon after, and now understood what all the fuss was about. Halleluiah, I had seen the light! When the second Band album came out, I was primed for it.
tomcy6's avatar
tomcy6
2,605 posts
 
Robbie KNEW that would be the case, and knowingly tricked, manipulated, John Simon into signing away his future royalties for what he, Robertson, knew would be very little.

I'm not defending Robbie in any way, but shouldn't someone in the music business this long have a lawyer?  After Robbie screwed his bandmates out of all their royalties, why would anyone trust him? 
bdp24's avatar
bdp24 OP
9,949 posts
 

Robbie didn't withhold John Simon's royalty payments, Capitol Records did. It's amazing how often that happens in the music business. When The Dixie Chicks had the number one album in the world, they weren't receiving their checks from Sony. Their lawyer was told in essence "We don't pay royalties. If you want your money, you'll have to sue us to get it." So they did, and got a real nice settlement, including their own boutique label. Bands that don't have the money to fight their record company get screwed ALL THE TIME. What you don't expect, is to get screwed by another artist.

John Simon hadn't seen the guys since he had done the brown album with them, seven years before The Last Waltz. He had no idea what Robertson had been doing in regards to songwriting credits, etc. Lawyers are expensive (no duh), and guys like John Simon, on the fringes of the music business, don't have a need for or the means to pay one. Guys like Robertson, savvy and selfish, know how to pull a con (a real good one can even get himself elected President of The United States ;-). It's easy to fault John Simon for letting Robbie take advantage of his naivete', but John had no reason to suspect he was being set up.

tomcy6's avatar
tomcy6
2,605 posts
 
Lawyers are expensive
  Not as expensive as not having one.  When you don't get your royalty payments for two years, you ask for them nicely and if Capitol tells you to screw off, you get a good lawyer and sue them.  I wouldn't wait two years.

I can't understand why anyone would trade his royalties for two classic albums that he produced for a piece of some project he had nothing to do with.  I find it hard to believe that John Simon could become a producer at Capitol and not know that if he gave anyone the chance to screw him, they would.  Don't let me interrupt the discussion of the albums, though.  We'll never really know what happened business-wise unless someone can get ahold of all the contracts.
 
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,256 posts
 
Bdp24, thanks for starting this thread.  The Band deserves all the accolades heaped upon them and more.  They truly were one of the greatest.  However, you do them a disservice by slighting some of their later albums.  "Stage Fright", "Cahoots" and "Northern Lights Southern Cross" are the equals of the first two albums.  The writing and performances are terrific.  You might want to re-listen.
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