"Robbie Robertson" - Robertson, Robbie

Album

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Full Track Listing:

  • Fallen Angel (5:52)
  • Showdown at Big Sky (4:41)
  • Broken Arrow (5:17)
  • Sweet Fire of Love (5:08) – With U2
  • American Roulette (4:46)
  • Somewhere Down the Crazy River (4:44)
  • Hell’s Half Acre (4:15)
  • Sonny Got Caught in the Moonlight (3:45)
  • Testimony (4:45) – With U2

Background Information

Robbie Robertson is a Canadian singer, song-writer and musician, best known for his work with The Band. Robertson got his start in music in 1958 but it wasn’t until 1987 that he would release his first solo album, the self-titled Robbie Robertson, although he had previously scored the film The Color of Money. For his first album, Robertson chose to work with Daniel Lanois as a producer, and it was Lanois that would get U2 involved in this album. Both “Sweet Fire and Love” and “Testimony” are credited to U2 and Robertson.

U2 were in studio in Dublin working on The Joshua Tree when Robertson arrived in the wake of Hurricane Charlie, on August 26, 1986. Robertson joined Lanois and U2 at the Danesmoate studio that U2 had set up to record the album, in the house that Adam Clayton now calls his home. The only credited musicians besides U2 are Lanois on percussion, and Robertson on guitar on “Sweet Fire of Love”. “Testimony” includes guitar by Bill Dillon, a backing vocal by Ivan Neville, and horns by the Gil Evans Horn Section. Robertson shared of the sessions, “There were cars floating down the streets, it was really frightening. Thank God these guys (U2) were up for some spontaneous combustion!” Overall Robertson described the recordings sessions for the two songs very positively. He relates “I had a few scraps of paper with stuff written on them and when I got there, their enthusiasm was just so fantastic. They were so great at rising to the occasion. Saying ‘let’s jump all over it’ and ‘let’s hit it every way until we get it’.”

“Testimony” started from a brass riff originally composed for the soundtrack of “The Color of Money”. Robertson recalls, “I had one little clue, inspired by a song I heard by Mahalia Jackson when I was a kid, called ‘Didn’t It Rain, Children.’ I put it on a tape with Daniel Lanois – just a tom-tom and a guitar playing this groove, and it had something.”

The album was a critical and commercial success for Robertson, and he was nominated for Best Rock / Vocal Album at the Grammys, and at home in Canada, he won Album of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year and Producer of the Year at the Juno Awards. The album was listed at #77 on Rolling Stones list of 100 Best Albums of the Eighties.

Neither song with U2 were released as commercial singles. “Sweet Fire of Love” was sent to radio, and reached #7 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts. “Testimony” was remixed and released on select versions of the single “Fallen Angel” (French 3-Inch CD, and UK 12-Inch vinyl.) An edit of the 12-inch version of “Testimony” would also be included on the Robbie Robertson / Storyville (Expanded Edition) release, which saw Robertson’s first two albums remastered and re-released as a set in 2005. In 2010, a SHM-CD version of Robbie Robertson was released in Japan using this new mastering, and included the “Testimony” remix as a bonus track.

Neither song would be released as a single, but “Testimony” was remixed and released on select versions of the single “Fallen Angel“ (French 3”-CD, and UK 12”-Vinyl). An edit of the 12” version of “Testimony” would also arrive on the “Robbie Robertson / Storyville (Expanded Edition)” which saw the first two albums of Robertson’s solo career remastered and re-released as a set in 2005. Both tracks were also compiled on “The Best of Robbie Robertson: The Millennium Collection” released in 2006. A compilation of songs to accompany Robertson’s autobiography called Testimony contains an alternate remix of “Testimony”.

The album versions of “Sweet Fire of Love” and “Testimony” were also featured on a 1994 re-release of Robbie Robertson on the MFSL label, as part of their Ultradisc line. The songs were also collected on The Best of Robbie Robertson: The Millennium Collection in 2006.

Liner Notes

Sweet Fire of Love:
Drums: Larry Mullen, Jr. Bass: Adam Clayton. Guitar, solo: The Edge. Vocals, bass: Bono. Background Vocal, Percussion: Daniel Lanois. Vocal, Guitar, Solo: Robbie Robertson.

Testimony:
Drums: Larry Mullen Jr. Bass: Adam Clayton. Guitar: The Edge. Background Vocal: Bono. Bass, Percussion: Daniel Lanois. Guitar: Bill Dillon. Background Vocal: Ivan Neville. Gil Evans Horn Section: Arranged by Gil Evans assisted by Peter Levin. Vocal, Keyboard, Guitar: Robbie Robertson.

Produced by Daniel Lanois and Robbie Robertson. Recorded at U2 Mobile Unit, Danesmote, Dublin Ireland.

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