Born in Toronto on the 5th of July, 1943, Robbie Robertson is without a doubt one of the premier songwriters of the rock era.
Not long after his fifth birthday, he began to take his first guitar lessons and started to write his first songs. His musical interest shifted gradually from country to big band to rock throughout the years and he eventually dropped out of school to pursue a career as a performer.
In 1958 he joined a band known as "The Hawks" which became the support unit on Bob Dylan's now-legendary 1965-66 world tour. The band later became known (ironically enough!) as "The Band" and after eighteen years together it dissolved following an all-star concert filmed by director Martin Scorsese.
This was just the beginning of Robertson's long affiliation with Scorsese (in 1980 he starred in a film called "Carny" which co-starred Jodie Foster and Gary Bushey and this in turn was just the beginning of his long affiliation with cinema in general).
A highly gifted composer, Robertson went on to write many film scores (many for films directed by Scorsese). Some of these include the music for "Raging Bull", "The Colour of Money" and more recently "Ladder 49."
Born of a Jewish father and a Mohawk mother, his origins highly influence his music allowing it to be highly original (this is especially visible in his album "Music for the Native Americans"). His self-titled solo debut, however, introduced a genre new to him, a fresher style if one may say so.
Soul, rock and blues intertwine and interact in this album to produce truly unique music and an album with an overall effectiveness like no other.
There has been some criticism of Robetson's voice which many find thin, weak, that of a back-up singer, but I rather like it and find that it's airy, hoarseness adds to the album's success.
Songs such as "Shine Your Light" and "Broken Arrow" are true masterpieces of modern-day music and are true highlights of the album. They are a delight to listen to and their melancholic strum, almost like humming, provides the listener with a sense of inner calm and well being. Intense but soothing, Robertson's works are sure to strike a cord in any listener.