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Kevin Shea, Facebook: “…. I knew Robbie’s resume: Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks, followed by backing Bob Dylan and then The Band. All are seminal figures in Canada’s musical history.

“There was something magical about Robbie Robertson, his eponymous album release. Listening to the album felt like I was riding along the blue highways in a classic convertible, Robbie at the wheel, the wind whipping through our hair, both of us smiling like the butcher’s dog as he regaled me with stories about the people he’d met along the way.

“It didn’t hurt MCA Records Canada that Robbie Robertson was Canadian; a boy born in Toronto who had spent a great deal of time with his mother’s family on the Six Nations Reserve near Brantford, Ontario. Hamilton native Daniel Lanois produced the album and brought along his friends Peter Gabriel and U2 to contribute.

“Showdown at Big Sky, with the BoDeans backing Robertson, was the first track for rock radio, and we did exceptionally well with it. Broken Arrow, later covered by Rod Stewart, was a fabulous track, as was Hell’s Half Acre. But the track that garnered surprising and significant attention at rock radio, adult contemporary as well as Top 40 was Somewhere Down the Crazy River, with Robbie rhapsodizing about life along the blue highways. “Yeah, I can see it now. The distant red neon shivered in the heat. Take a picture of this. The fields are empty, abandoned ’59 Chevy, laying in the back seat listening to Little Willie John.”

“I can never hear that song without thinking of our dear friend Nevin Grant. His Top 40 radio station, CKOC Hamilton, added Somewhere Down the Crazy River instantly and took it into the top ten, unusual for a song in which the artist speaks the verses and sings the chorus. By CKOC playing the song, many similar stations followed suit, and we earned an unlikely Top 40 hit.

“The album left an indelible impression on me. One day soon, I plan to fill the car with gas and drive the blue highways from Toronto to Tobermory, passing through Shelburne, Flesherton, Markdale, Owen Sound and Wiarton on my way to the Bruce Peninsula, exploring my province and my personal roots with Robbie Robertson providing the soundtrack as I go.

“Thank you for the music and memories, Robbie. God bless you.”

Nicholas Jennings, Facebook: “Stepping off a Greyhound bus from Toronto in 1961, a 17-year-old boy found himself in West Helena, Ark., by the banks of the Mississippi River, unable to believe his senses. “It smelled different and moved different,” Robbie Robertson once told me. “The people talked and dressed different. And the air was filled with thick and funky music.” The experience left an indelible impression on the budding guitarist and songwriter.

“When he released his post-Band solo debut years later, the album’s most explicitly autobiographical song was Somewhere Down the Crazy River, which related Robertson’s experience in the American South. The inspiration came late one night in the recording studio. Robertson, an engaging storyteller, was recounting his arrival in the Mississippi Delta. His conversation so enthralled producer Daniel Lanois that he started rolling the tape.

“The result, a richly cinematic narrative, magically takes the listener back to that day in 1961. “A stranger in a strange land,” Robertson growls, “I followed the sound of a jukebox coming from up the levee.” Walking past abandoned Chevys in empty fields, he explored that world—entranced, but with his eyes and ears wide open. That song, like so much of Robertson’s music, still retains that magic.

“Now Robbie Robertson is gone, dead at the age of 80. Condolences to his family, friends and fans the world over.”

– Sources: Wikipedia, Variety. and Classic Rock & Culture