On meeting Sonny Boy W II
Hey harpers,
I'm new to this website and so far I'm loving it. I just wanted to share this video with the community. It's about Robbie Robertson (Canadian musician, Bob Dylan's guitarist) talking about the day he met Sonny Boy Williamson II. The story in general is amazing, but what really gripped me was the racial question it brought up. It was quite sad. Check it out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90-O6c20PLk
The story here made Sonny Boy's music more meaningful to my ears, and it also affirmed my belief that, despite the huge, thick, social walls built to divide, music remains a powerful form of connection.
Hope you enjoy it.
MT
Hey Smoke,
I'll check out the film. What do you think of The Band? Do you like their music?
Big fan of The Band. I live in Toronto where they got their start as Ronnie Hawkins and The Hawks in the early 60's. Splitting from Ronnie Hawkins they eventually ended up near Woodstock, New York. I don't know the history but Bob Dylan also had roots there so that might be the connection.
The main downtown street in Toronto is Yonge Street, which by the way is the longest street in the world, but I'm not old enough to have seen them at the many rock clubs that used to be there. In fact I didn't see them until there was a reunited edition of the group in the 80's but unfortunately Robbie Robertson wasn't part of that. As the main songwriter he probably made a lot of songwriting royalty money and was more interested in pursuing his reasonably successful solo career and I believe he worked as a producer as well.
Overall a highly talented bunch of musicians as demonstrated by the probable fact Bob Dylan could have had any backing band he wanted.
Thanks for bringing the video to our attention. What a sad yet wonderful story about Robbie Robertson meetin Sonny Boy II.
I'll be in Toronto end of November for a family wedding and am looking forward to hearing some good blues and hitting a few jams. I'm meeting a friend and fellow harp player at Grosmans Sunday Night Jam. Haven't been back to TO for many years, having grown up in Cabbage Town until I moved to BC in '65 (Yeah I'm old!) but still remember many of the name bars and the music!!
Aside from playing guitar for Bob Dylan for a number of years, as well as well known Arkansas rocker Rompin' Ronnie Hawkins, Robbie Robertson was in a little band called The Band. Not much harp but younger students here might enjoy their rootsy approach to rock starting in the late 60's and ending in the mid 70's with the highly regarded film The Last Waltz.