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CM . . .
. Volume XXI Number 39 . . . . June 12, 2015
excerpt:
Rock n' roll scion Sebastian Robertson has followed up his book, Legends Icons and Rebels: Music That Changed The World, with one that focuses solely on his father, Robbie Robertson, a member of The Band. While a broad timeline is included at the back of Rock & Roll Highway, as it was in Legends Icons and Rebels, the book sticks to Robbie's life from birth to the break-up of The Band in 1976. The story is told in episodes, all titled after Robertson songs, that marry gorgeous and lush illustrations by Adam Gustavson with detailed biographical paragraphs. The narrative is of a young Jewish-Mohawk man who loves stories and music. Readers journey with Robertson through his first guitar, his first exposure to rock & roll, his first meetings with Ronnie Hawkins and Bob Dylan. Readers also follow the steps that Robertson, together with The Band, took from Big Pink to LA to Watkins Glen to The Winterland Ballroom where the camera of Martin Scorsese immortalized their journey's end.
While Mr. Robertson the younger does the narrative of his father justice, there are times when the paragraphs threaten to overwhelm the images. The text, well-written as it is, feels like part of a work for older children while the images appeal to a broader variety of ages. Perhaps that was Robertson's intention, but it may limit the book's appeal to younger readers. If one question has bedevilled those who try to chronicle The Band, it has been "who is at the centre of the story"? For Martin Scorsese, Sebastian Robertson and many a rock critic, the answer has been that Robbie Robertson was the linchpin of The Band. This cuts against the original narrative of The Band as a singular organic unit who sang, played and wrote as an ensemble. The book struggles with this issue, but, being as it is titled "Robbie Robertson's Story", not "The Band's Story", it's no surprise that the final image is of Robertson standing at centre stage while what readers can make out of his Band-mates are relegated to the edges of the image. Perhaps the story of The Band is too big for one small book; after all, Robertson needs a lot of text to do justice to just one Band member. Perhaps readers can look forward to books for a younger audience that so successfully tell the stories of Levon Helm, Richard Manuel, Garth Hudson and Rick Danko in the future. While such a beautiful book on such an important subject would certainly be a welcome addition to any classroom or library, the ideal audience for this is children old enough to read longer paragraphs but not embarrassed to be seen reading what looks like a picture book. Recommended. Jeff Nielsen teaches high school English in Ste. Anne, MN, and had been known to claim that "music ruined my life".
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The paintings of Gustason carry the story perfectly. The vivid colours throughout and the sudden shifts in perspective, particularly a scene where readers find themselves looking out from the inside of a Martin D28 guitar with Robertson staring in to find inspiration on the words written inside. Such attention to detail and perspective give new life to a tale familiar to many.