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The
title of this memoir, Testimony, begs the question, where's
the cross examination? My jokey reference has to do with the feud
between Robertson and drummer Levon Helm. That tension is finessed in
this intriquing view of one of Rock's great bands, the Americana
rockers, The Band. Levon's main complaint in his book,
This Wheel's on Fire, was that Robbie pretty much broke up the
band by hoarding song-writing credits, and the money that brought his
way. Robbie claims that he insisted on equal credits, shared
royalties early on, but later in the book mentions, without
explanation, that he made sure Richard and Rick got credit on one of
his songs. Obviously he wouldn't have to do that if they were taking
equal credit. It's an unsettled argument. I tend to come down with
tradition. The songwirter gets songwriter royalties, the performers
get performance royalties, so that's just standard. REM deviated
perhaps by sharing equally but Stipe only did the lyrics so that
makes sense. It is absolutely true that the other members of The
Band gave the songs personality, contributing mightily to their
success... yet, that is recognized in performance royalties. But I
ain't arguing, I don't get any of that action. Besides, Levon seemed
like an ornery cuss sometimes, even without the array of
paranoia-inducing drugs he, and they, got into. Witness him leaving
the band when they were touring with and getting boo-ed by Dylan's
folk fans for going electric. Witness him pulling the scope out of
his nose-throat exam in that documentary. And witness Levon, Rick and
Richard all going stupid and doing heroine. So, petty stuff went on,
yeah, but what music came out of that combination of personalities.
They probably could have made interesting music getting lyrics out of
the phone book but Robbie's lyrics hit a chord with the public.
The
book covers Robertson's early life but ends after The Band's filmed
finale in the venue they first played as The Band, San
Francisco's Winterland. This was the acclaimed film, The
Last Waltz. It is so hard to get and hold a band together, a
truth echoed in Robbie's observsation when he spent time with John
Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo and of course in his own band. This
is a fun part of the book, little teasing introductions to celebs
Robbie routinely ran into – Jonie Mitchell, James Taylor, Carly
Simon, Miles Davis, Henry Miller, David Geffen, Charles Loyd, Neil
Young, Jamie James (Jimmie Hendrix), Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, SLN
crew, endless musicians, apparently totally comfortable and unawed.
Just as Previte the gangster found himself the smartest guy in the
room, so did Robbie, often enough to insure his acceptance in those
rarified circles.
At
15, Robbie's then band opened for Ronnie Hawkins in Toronto. Ronnie
was impressed and invited the precocious guitarist to audition. He
dropped out of high school and trained to Arkansa, was given a chance
to prove himself and worked to make that happen. They had to disguise
his age since they were playing clubs he was too young to enter -
fake moustache etc;. Levon Helm, the only other eventual Band
member at the time, became Robbie's mentor and confidant. Personnell
changes and Ronnie Hawkins' eventual shift in interest whittled the
group out and down to the five guys who made music history, first as
Dylan's backup band, then as The Band. It was their musical
mastery and Robbie's songs (and Dylan's) at the heart of their taking
the country by storm. Funny, in some of Dylan's interviews he
complained about getting bands together in high school and having
someone come along and steal the players. He finally got his revenge
by swooping in on Ronnie Hawkins, taking The Band on tour.
I
watched an interview with Robbie, promoting his book, on youtube. He
wasn't asked if he's still making music or much about what he's been
up to. Immediately after The Last Waltz, he was in a film with
Gary Busey and Jody Foster, Carny it was called. But
apparently he made enough money and got enough of the spotlight that
he could just do whatever quiet thing he decided to do. Which,
wikipedia tells me, is a lot: producing other artists, doing film
scores, solo albums, co-writing, getting awards left and right.
Having a rich, princely life.
The
first song Robbie got published, at 15, was stolen by a
mob-infiltrated publishing company. Which brings me to another book
I've been reading, Gangster by George Anastasia. This is a
genre I return to periodically, that I find fascinating for some
reason. One of the many despicable things mobsters do is move in on
an established business, like the publishing company, and take it
over, or demand a percentage of the profits for “protection/”,
maybe use if also for money laundering. Ron Previte was nudged out of
the Air Force when his incorrigible thievery became obvious but not
proveable. With an honorable discharge he was able to join the
Philadelphia police department where he took his skills to new
heights. Again his behavior, not so uncommon for awhile in that
department, became a liability when a reformist Chief came aboard.
Nudged out again he took up security work at the new Atlantic City
casinos. Now the thievery got truely imaginative, profitable and
decadent. Eventually he was busted and became an informer for the New
Jersey State Police. This allowed him to pursue his criminality
unimpeded. Disgusted with him after some years the Staties passed him
onto the FBI. His casino and street work had brought him into contact
with the Philadelphia mob and since he was such an “earner” he
wormed his way into their hearts. He discovered that he was pretty
consistently the smartest guy in the room so didn't mind ratting
these sorry guys out, feeling that it was only a matter of time
before they were all in prison anyway. Over a period of years he wore
a wire and got the goods for the FBI. He continued his shake-downs,
extortion, drugs, receiving stolen property business (never murder he
claims), making substantial money all while drawing a salary from the
Feds and allowing them to fund schemes designed to lure mobsters into
drug deals and various other illegal operations in order to get them
off the streets.
Previte
seemed to admire the old time gangsters with their Omerta and
so-called “honor” but the new version, typified by New York's
John Gotti, was foolishly flamboyant, way too public, courting the
media, public and ostentatious spending, seeking celebrity...
obviously bringing attention to themselves in ways that would
advantage the authorities who wanted to bring them down. Omerta of
course was the code of silence practiced by the older generation but
suddenly, facing life in prison, many criminals, even high-ranking
Cosa Nostra made members, did deals with prosecutors that
decimated the ranks. There certainly was no lack of replacements but
it was becoming more and more stressful and risky to pursue
criminality for profit. The deal-making with authorities became quite
contagious and, at least for awhile, the Philadelphia mob was in
disarray.
The
government made a deal with the highest ranking mobster in
Philadelphia to testify against his former cronies, which didn't work
out so well for the government. Juries returned “not proven”
verdicts on all charges dependent on boss Ralph Natale's testimony.
The government had Natale but gave it up for nothing, as it turned
out. The big boss is handed a get-out-of-jail-free card. Ron Previte
however, with his tapes, was more successful, putting many of the
crew in for relatively long terms. They were not convicted of the
murders they were surely guilty of, disappointing the prosecutors and
FBI, having traded the top boss for a chance at the others,
especially the real boss, Joey Merlino. They did however put
top cadre away for a good many years, 14 for Merlino, not enough
given his crimes, but still... and the Feds were moving in on the
replacement boss, Joe Ligambi, now presiding over only about a dozen
members, down from 70. And the 300 pound “fat rat”, Ron Previte?
Five years probation and a million dollars for risking his life to
make those recordings. Of course the vacuum created by good police
work was soon filled by Russian and East European gangsters, another
story.
