Robbie Robertson was the guitarist and creative heart of The Band who found themselves at the centre of many significant musical events in the 60s and 70s. He grew up half-Jewish, half-Mohawk on the Six Nations Reservation in Ontario, Canada, then, at 16, left on a musical odyssey that saw him travel to the Mississippi Delta and elsewhere, playing music with a range of influential collaborators including Ronnie Hawkins and most notably Bob Dylan. It was a vital, exciting time both musically and socially, and it culminated in the most famous farewell concert, filmed by Martin Scorsese as The Last Waltz.
At 500 pages, Testimony is epic. It's too long. Robertson's recall is extraordinary, unfortunately the book does go off on some irrelevant diversions. Although he did meet and work with some of the most significant musical figures of the times, he seems too ready to put himself at the centre of events. That said, it's essential reading for any serious music fan of the period - he does provide crucial insights into Dylan's creative process, the reaction when he 'went electric' in 1966, and the recording of The Band's 7 studio albums, and The Last Waltz. The book ends with The Last Waltz, in 1978. That struck me as odd; is he planning a sequel? It would have been interesting to get his take on the deaths of the three original The Band members who are no longer with us.
Also odd is that he doesn't engage much with the various conflicts and tensions that arose with other band members subsequent to The Band's breakup after The Last Waltz. There was controversy over song-writing credits and royalties, especially with Levon Helm, which Helm refers to in his 1993 memoir This Wheel's On Fire. (Helm died in 2012).
A flawed but essential book.