Robbie Robertson
Track List
VERY CHEAPShowdown at Big Sky
Broken Arrow
Sweet Fire of Love
American Roulette
Somewhere Down The Crazy River
Hell's Half Acre
Sonny Got Caught in the Moonlight
Testimony
ALBUM INFO: October 27, 1987
Produced by Daniel Lanois and Robbie Robertson
Musicians: Robbie Robertson, vocals, guitar, keyboard
Daniel Lanois, guitar, percussion, bass, vocals
Bill Dillon, guitar
Manu Katche, drums
Terry Bozzio, drums
Larry Klein, bass
Hans Christian, bass
Abraham Laboriel, bass
Tony Levin, bass
Eluriel Tinker Barfield, bass
Garth Hudson, keyboards
Rick Danko, vocals
Maria McKee, vocals
Ivan Neville, vocals
Sammy Bo Deans, vocals
Gil Evans, horns
Peter Gabriel, vocals, keyboards
Bono, vocals, bass, guitar
Adam Clayton, bass
The Edge, guitar
Larry Mullen Jr., drums
Always wondered what that weird structure on the cover of Robbie’s eponymous debut was/is. Anyone know?
Ocasionally, you come across a collection of music, that greets you like a friend. You listen to them, they add meaning to your life, you fall in love with them and they wholly enrich your life. I was already a huge fan of the Band when this incredible release was born. I remember being completely floored that the rich landscape coming from my stereo speakers was conveying a world familiar, that I had not been to. Stories I knew the parable of, but were not in my own tounge. Literally hanging off my chair awaiting the next note, the next song, flip the album, and simply devoure every piece offered.
Standing with an unbelievable cast of performers, this album ebbs and flows where time itself bends, this combined with the mystery of an artist who for time and again retreats into the shadows, always comes back with a gem to share.
As a person with ears, I believe it is a requirement to feed your mind and soul with this album.
When I was living in San Francisco, I was playing guitar on Haight Street late at night. I played Broken Arrow to two guys who said it was the best song they had ever heard.
Robertson’s debut solo album in 1987 struck with a sudden impact, ending years of quietude and marking his brief entry into the hard rock dimension. With help from U2, Peter Gabriel and The Bodeans, it was a crashing departure for the leader of a band whose music in the late 1960s and early 1970s could aptly be described as “folk rock rustic.”
The album is infused throughout with a sense of vaguely-defined longing. Robertson draws on his own identity as a Christian and Native American to vet a Biblical lyricism that, in some places, sounds almost too personal for publication. But when he tells the late Band member Richard Manuel in Fallen Angel that “some day we will meet again,” we hear the kind of phrasing that has more than proven its emotional half-life through decades of rock and roll. And on Broken Arrow, the artist delivers a synthesis of Canadian heritage and New Testament imagery that is rendered in words which seem to define a spirtual resting place he quests for, beyond the ether.
Among the three singles released in tandem with this album, Showdown at Big Sky stands out for its soaring refrain and call-response structure. At a time when the United States and Soviet Union were signing treaties that predated the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Bodeans invested this cut with an especially youthful tonality, underscoring its glory-of-faith message. Although the song rings out as a paean to the concept of hope, its theme phrase also makes it somewhat evocative of the Mountain West, an effect Robertson has always managed to pull off with ease, almost in spite of his interview references to Southern influences.
Side one ends with Sweet Fire of Love — a catharsis of confession. Arranged as a singing flirtation between Robertson and Bono, its middle verse hosts a transcendent scream from the songwriter that wells up from a hard core place he had not spoken from in his years with Bob Dylan and The Band. This embrace of a thing previously shunned staked out one more fork in Robertson’s artistic road. The signpost was further punctuated by his pinched guitar harmonics of old, but cranked a bit louder this time around.
Ushering in side two is American Roulette, a eulogy to three former icons of American celebrity, and, once again, a tune whose sexual octane could not have been achieved without a Bodeans assist. Robertson has been quoted as saying he wanted a dry, airy sound on the track. The tune accelerates slightly near the end in a way that feels something like an automatic overdrive catching in at high speed. This thrusting motion stands in stark contrast to the song which follows. Somewhere Down the Crazy River has been widely lauded for its mesmerizing stream of narrative consciousness. It’s droning vagabond story sounds in the ear with the monotone of something halfway dreamed, like a 3:30 a.m. message from the alter ego to the brain on a restless night.
Robertson comes back to the purest stripped down dialect of rock and roll crunch in Hell’s Half Acre, where he tells the story of a Native American who finds himself dazed and lost in the hubris of a white man’s war. This same concept of desperation in a hail of harm finds a somewhat different context in Sonny Got Caught in the Moonlight, a tune that could have been about anybody, but which carries a universal expression of love and empathy.
A disco-informed song called Testimony ends the record. It rings out as very nearly an out-of-kilter signoff for a songster admired in large part for his ability to pen cinematic, earthy musical landscapes. Yet it does not offend the ear, especially when we are reassured that the half breed Indian is once again “wailing like the wind” after being away for far too long.
The graceful raucousness of Robertson’s wake-up record is distinctive for its lonely position as the only truly hard rock offering in his discography. High end production from Daniel Lanois helps make it appear easy for him to break the more subdued bounds of his earlier work, and leaves the listener hoping for a little more of the same. And not only because of its unapologetically populist, overdriven sonic. For if there is single element responsible for the power of this album, it is its sense of pained ambiguity, and the feeling of a spiritual journey not quite arriving at a closure.
Robbie Robertson’s return to quieter tones and to his own native birthright in Storyville, Music for the Native Americans and Contact from the Underworld of Red Boy do something to obfuscate the contextual meaning this great 1987 record as an entry in his still-evolving catalogue. Fans can only hope that these songs represent something more than a temporary recalibration of musical bearings.
Still one of my favorites. I wish he would have included Between Trains which I think would have fit well.
Recently pulled this out to listen to again and I fell in love with it once more. No one else can tell a story the way Robbie can – the evocative imagery, the haunting melodies, the powerful arrangements and the meaningful and thought-provoking lyrics all come together to touch the soul in a manner in which no other artist comes close. A phenominal and timeless work of art.
Rod, a great overview of the album with fresh perspectives. I don’t hear Testimony as an out of place disco song. I hear a gospel song that fits right into the spiritual themes of the entire album.
Like Mary, I pulled this album out to give it an uninterrupted listen, and when “Somewhere Down the Crazy River” came on, I was immediately there, in the song…it is the kind of song that one has to have a full moon out, warm summer’s night, and it brings me strait back to a weekend up on the Delta here in Cali. His songs all transport me to fantastic places, be they real or imagined! I teach yoga, and this song is a MUST for my class soundtrack. It is pure voodoo. Thank you, Robbie, for putting out what the universe intended for you to do in the physical on this planet, in this life time. Namaste
The drums in ‘Fallen Angel’ are incredible. I was drawn to the drumming in ‘Contact from the Underworld of Redboy’, and ‘Music for the Native Americans’ . Two days ago those two albums were the only ones I owned. After listening to samples on Reverbnation and Amazon, I bought ‘Storeyville’ and ‘Robbie Robertson’.
These two albums are impeccably produced. Today I was driving while listening to this particular album. I had my JBL speakers cranked up ; my low rolling resistance tyres, coupled with the rolling music, made me feel like I was driving at light speed.
Thank you, Robbie, for your keen attention to detail, and talent, which seems to come effortlessly to you. Looking forward to driving down my winding roads and listening to ‘How to Become Clairvoyant’. Cheers!
“10 albums to have on a deserted island” – this is one of them.
U2, Peter Gabriel, and Ivan Neville’s contributions make this album legendary!
This is in my top 10 albums of all time. Not a week goes by that I don’t listen to the entire album and it’s always fresh, beautiful and soul stirring. Perfection!
If you don’t own this album, what the heck are you waiting for?? Go buy it, NOW!!
This is a fantastic album. It’s the only record I have that I listen to from beginning to end. I usually pull out the songs I like, but this is a different animal. Thank you Robbie Robertson, for your amazing artistry. You have touched many lives with your music.
Possibly my favourite album of all time.
Like previous contributors, I cannot say enough about this album. Yes, it would most definitely be in my top ten desert island picks! The writing lyrically, and musically, catches Robbie Robertson at his peak. Sonically, the album is magnificent! Lanois and New Orleans influences permeate throughout. The album flows perfectly from cut to cut. But underlying it all is that mysterious deep soul of Robbie’s, which always communicates undeniable authenticity. That anchors it all and probably explains the extraordinary cast of musicians who contributed so beautifully to it’s realization. As good as it gets.
Tim asks what is on the cover, it is the west bound – Chicago- passenger platform of the NY Central train terminal in Buffalo,NY. which closed down in the late 70`s, was looted into a shambles in the 80`s. It has since been privately held and slowly been cleaned for public events. Yuo can look up their website ,NY CETRAL TERMINAL .COM
I won this album in 1987 with a quiz on a radiostation. On vinyl. 15 years later i bought the cd, still a favorite in my car. The track “somewhere down…” became a big hit in the netherlands!
One of my most favorite cd’s . . I even found one made of gold . . however it cracked . . still have all the pieces . . No one can do Broken Arrow like Robbie can . . no one ! Wish they would stop trying to cover songs . . just not as good as the original . .
Love this album it has been with me since the eighties and very much enjoyed, Thank-You. First heard it on Q107 in Toronto when album released and have been through several copies since. I would like to request this album be remastered in 24 bit 96/192 khz stereo and multichannel. I think it would be a perfect candidate for high resolution audio. Waiting for the day….