Credit: Magnolia Pictures

Robbie Robertson’s two favourite songs by The Band

Tue 23 September 2025 22:00, UK

The Band were an act who were truly blessed to have not one, not two, but four exceptional songwriters within their ranks, and while Robbie Robertson often took the lead, the amount of talent they possessed collectively was enviable.

While Richard Manuel, Levon Helm and Rick Danko didn’t necessarily contribute quite as much in terms of songwriting as Robertson did, they were still on hand to help out with the duties, and there are plenty of highlights within their catalogue to have come from this trio. On top of this, there are many moments in their discography where they turned to the songs of others, often producing sumptuous covers of tracks that reimagined classics in a refreshing manner.

The Band may not have outlasted other contemporary acts of the time, and ultimately decided to call it a day in 1978 when they recorded their concert film, The Last Waltz. However, in that time, they’d changed the world of country and folk rock significantly, and become an act who were beloved not just by the record-buying public, but also by their peers, and this was exemplified by the fact that many famous faces including Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and Van Morrison participated in the filming and recording of this farewell show.

So, when Robertson was asked by the Los Angeles Times in 2019 to name his dozen favourite songs of all time, it may have seemed like something of a big-headed move to pick two songs that The Band had made as being among his most beloved tracks, but when you sit down to consider exactly why he selected these two tracks, it suddenly becomes clear that he’s picking them out of gratitude for the rest of the ensemble.

Firstly, Robertson picked out ‘Tears of Rage’, a Bob Dylan-penned track that they originally recorded as part of Dylan’s The Basement Tapes sessions. Having been his backing band for a couple of years in the mid-1960s, they initially formed as a result of their connection to Dylan, and while The Band picked up this song to re-record it on their official debut album, Music from Big Pink, it was the version they recorded with Dylan that Robertson specifically wished to highlight; a true sign of the special relationship between the two artists.

Then, he opted to select a cover from their reunion period, taking their version of ‘Country Boy’ from the 1993 Jericho album. The track, which was originally recorded in 1956 by Harry Belafonte, and later made famous by covers from Don Williams, Sam Cooke, was actually from a 1985 take by Richard Manuel, and released posthumously on their record as a tribute to the late piano player who passed away in 1986, unable to see the fruits of the band’s reunion.

In retrospect, it’s not a big-headed move at all for Robertson to pick these specific songs by The Band, because both of them were written by people outside of the band, and vocal duties were taken on by another member other than himself, and this only serves to highlight the kinship that he felt with his bandmates and their cast of collaborators.