Robbie Robertson – Robbie Robertson (1987)

Long after the furore of backing Dylan in his first Electric Rebellion as lead guitarist in The Band, and quite a while after that group officially ended in ’78 he ventured on a solo career.  And this resulting self-titled album is quite stunning; a completely different sound than the folk-rock of The Band.  No surprise that the main producer was Daniel Lanois, whose signature wash of background hum is all over the record.  But as usual, it is actually the songs which make the record so good.  A couple of tracks are half spoken but Robbie’s voice is subtle and raging in parts, a lovely mix of moods.  Best songs are ’Broken Arrow’, ‘Somewhere Down The Crazy River’ and ‘Fallen Angel.’  Robbie released a handful of solo albums and took a profound interest in Native American music.  He sadly died in 2023.