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A review by justinj42
Testimony: A Memoir by Robbie Robertson
4.0
Levon Helm’s “This Wheel’s on Fire” is a spiteful, angry book that makes a very compelling case that Robbie Robertson was an asshole and not a chill hang.
Roberson’s “Testimony” does very little to dissuade that notion, full of philosophical and borderline-pretentious musings on his importance as a creator, as an artist.
But “This Wheel’s on Fire” also made a (much less compelling) case that Robertson was also a thief, a trickster and a traitor. That, Robbie has a problem with.
In the first half of this book, following the band forming and Robbie’s 60s escapades, are largely fine. A little too long, a little too overwhelmed with the Importance™️ of the times. But that second half, where he’s actually digging into his side of the story, his Testimony about what The Band meant to him, and how it hurt him to lose friends to drugs, apathy and life in the road—it’s heartbreaking.
I have no problem believing that Robertson was insufferable and controlling and thought too much of himself. But God only made one of those.
Roberson’s “Testimony” does very little to dissuade that notion, full of philosophical and borderline-pretentious musings on his importance as a creator, as an artist.
But “This Wheel’s on Fire” also made a (much less compelling) case that Robertson was also a thief, a trickster and a traitor. That, Robbie has a problem with.
In the first half of this book, following the band forming and Robbie’s 60s escapades, are largely fine. A little too long, a little too overwhelmed with the Importance™️ of the times. But that second half, where he’s actually digging into his side of the story, his Testimony about what The Band meant to him, and how it hurt him to lose friends to drugs, apathy and life in the road—it’s heartbreaking.
I have no problem believing that Robertson was insufferable and controlling and thought too much of himself. But God only made one of those.