Robbie Robertson got all of the writing credits*

Levon never reconciled with Robbie because he felt he never got his due for the songs he primarily wrote. He goes into detail about this in his book. The rest of the band members agree that the writing credits were shared. Robertson is the only one who says otherwise.

quote:
Helm claims the opposite in his 1993 autobiography, “This Wheel’s On Fire,” in which he claims that Robertson ripped off his bandmates by claiming the lion’s share of songwriting credits in The Band (he could not be reached for an interview): “I even confronted Robbie over this issue during this era,” Helm wrote. “… I cautioned that most so-called business moves had [destroyed] a lot of great bands and killed off whatever music was left in them. I told Robbie that The Band was supposed to be partners … Well, it never quite worked out that way. We stayed in the divide and conquer mode

-Chicago Tribune

This post was edited on 5/18/17 at 3:28 pm

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Posted by mdomingue

Lafayette, LA

Member since Nov 2010

31144 posts

Posted on 5/18/17 at 7:52 pm to SCLSUMuddogs

Good info, did not realize that. Something I had read by as expressed by Robertson gave details about how he was specifically inspired for certain songs, the weight and the night they drove Ole Dixie down were both specifically detailed. I never looked into it any further. In retrospect with what you have provided, it does seem more in tune with both Helm's upbringing and style inclinations. Appreciate the info.

I do think the Robertson was the most talented musically in the group but I suspect he was also loaded with both ego and insecurities, as seemingly many great musicians and artists. It's sad that these sorts of things happen in great bands all the time.

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