When you listen to Robbie Robertson--legendary guitarist, lyricist and one of the founding members of The Band--tell a story, you just know there are a million more where that came from. For example: "I've had the opportunity to sit with Chuck Berry and say okay, on Tuesday it was Teresa Brewer and Patti Page singing popular music. On Thursday, something happened and there you were and Little Richard and Fats Domino. Were you guys just waiting behind the curtain? How did rock & roll explode that quickly? What happened? And Chuck Berry said because the real father of rock and roll had taught us something we couldn’t wait to share with everybody, and that guy's name was Louis Jordan."
On Saturday at BEA, an enthusiastic Downtown Stage crowd heard Robertson share a few stories as he joined his son, Sebastian, and music journalist Alan Light for a conversation about Legends, Icons & Rebels: Music that Changed the World (Tundra Books/Random House of Canada, October), which the Robertsons wrote in collaboration with music managers Jim Guerinot and Jared Levine.
"It felt like it was amazing that nobody's already done this. It felt like it was long overdue," said Robbie, adding that he believes the book, aimed at 8- to 13-year-old readers (and their parents), "sets a taste factor in place." As young people enjoy the music of today, they can also get "a sense of where that lineage is."
The illustrated edition (with two CDs) features short profiles chronicling the personal stories and achievements of 27 legends whose innovations changed the landscape of music, including Ray Charles, Johnny Cash, Aretha Franklin, Chuck Berry, Bob Dylan and Carole King. Robertson also shares personal anecdotes about these artists and their influence on his own musical journey. "What they really have in common is their music is timeless," he said. "All of these artists pulled a rabbit out of their hat and changed music forever."
Sebastian described the selection process, which took place during regular meetings at his father's studio, as intense but fun and somewhat nostalgic: "We'd come to the meeting place and everybody would say, 'We've got to have this person! Listen to this song!' It took us back to that point in our lives when your best friend came over with the new vinyl or cassette or CD, whatever it is in your life, and you go, 'Oh my God, man, you gotta check out this new song!' And we got to relive that; got to see the importance of that."
In response to a question about the potential bonding process between parents and their children over music, Robbie observed that it was a critically important factor in their decision to write the book. "This connection between a parent and a kid, and that we can do something that is so strong musically that the parent can be relieved of trying to feel like they're forcing this on the kid," he said, adding, "But if you could do it and make it so magical and so beautiful and so understandable that this is something that is a treasure in your life. And that you can carry this with you forever... Hopefully, we are making a beautiful connection between parents and their children." --Robert Gray
