Three Dylan Collaborators Remember Working with Robbie Robertson

Harvey Brooks, Louie Kemp, and Richard Alderson pay tribute

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Dylan and Robertson at Forest Hills 1965. Photo by Daniel Kramer via @RobbieRobertson

When Robbie Robertson passed away, after listening to Rock of Ages a couple times (and his Rolling Thunder guest appearance a couple times more), I made a few calls. Two Three people who worked with Bob Dylan and Robbie during their time playing together—one with The Band, one with a band—took the time to share some memories, of Robbie specifically and shows in the Dylan-Hawks/Band era generally.

First up is Harvey Brooks, who played bass on Dylan’s first two electric shows in between the Newport ‘65 kerfuffle and Dylan touring with the Hawks. We talked about these shows extensively in a much longer earlier interview for my book, but suffice to say by way of brief context here that they were at giant stadiums in Forest Hills, NY and Los Angeles with half Hawks (Robbie on guitar, Levon Helm on drums) and half non-Hawks (Harvey on bass, Al Kooper on keyboards).

Following that is Louie Kemp. Again, much more backstory in our first conversation, but cliffs-notes version is: Bob Dylan’s childhood buddy, starts a giant seafood business, they reconnect just before the ‘74 reunion tour and he ends up going on the road with Bob and The Band as a friend (and subsequently returns in a more official capacity, producing the next year’s Rolling Thunder Revue).

[Update: Richard Alderson, 1966 sound engineer who captured all those iconic tapes — including the “Judas” — shares his memories too at the bottom]

Harvey Brooks

Brooks, Dylan, Robertson soundchecking at Forest Hills. Photo by Daniel Kramer via The Mirror.

I first met Robbie at rehearsal at Carroll rehearsal studio in Manhattan, he and Levon. We rehearsed for two weeks, on and off. I got the word that the other guys [from the Highway 61 sessions] were occupied. Bobby Gregg the drummer, he had lots of dates to do and was tied up. And Michael Bloomfield wanted to stay with Paul Butterfield. He thought that was his thing, the blues. So that left two slots, drums and guitar. Mary Martin, I think, knew about The Hawks. She worked for Albert Grossman, in management.

I had played with Bloomfield on the recordings. Bloomfield's always on edge. Robbie was a lot cleaner, kind of stiffer, more heart in his playing. Bloomfield wasn't concerned with playing on the beat. His excitement— like when you talk to him, he'd run at the mouth, and then could then come back. Just in his phrasing, everything he did was exciting. He could rush the beat somewhat, and he would do that on the Dylan stuff. Robbie, on the other hand, was a very tight guitar player. Bloomfield was wild and soulful, but Robbie's playing was thoughtful and meticulous.

It's the difference between hanging out with the music and getting right on it. And we got to hang out with it a little bit more in that context. Bobby Gregg was right on the money. Levon is around the change, you know, sits behind the beat. Robbie the same way.

Robbie liked to give nicknames to people. At Forest Hills, he said he was gonna call me “Goldie.” My name is Goldstein. Harvey Goldstein Brooks. At that time I was Harvey Goldstein; I hadn't made the Brooks change yet. And that's how he knew me. He thought “Goldie” would be more appropriate. That was just fun and chuckles backstage. He kept calling me that. I don't know if he did to anybody else, but he did to me.

You know, I had my issues about Robbie later on in life, what he did with the business end of The Band, but as far as playing, I really enjoyed his style of playing. He was very musical, so that made it enjoyable. Having thought about the songs in the context of [making the] recordings, the shows were an opportunity to even take them even a little further with the new blood.

Below the jump: 1974 tour associate Louie Kemp and 1966 tour sound guy Richard Alderson remember Robbie