On the big screen, he was the star of The Last Waltz (1978), Martin Scorsese's documentary on The Band's false farewell, often cited as the finest rock concert ever filmed. And before that, the principal composer of a neo-traditionalist quintet of American music, a fellow traveler with Bob Dylan, whose first two albums exerted a major influence on his contemporaries in the late 1960s. Canadian guitarist Robbie Robertson died on Wednesday, August 9, in Los Angeles at the age of 80. His family has asked those wishing to express their grief to make donations to the Six Nations Indian Reserve in Grand River, Ontario, for the construction of a cultural center. It was here that Robertson, of Iroquois descent through his mother, learned to play the guitar from family members.

Born in Toronto on July 5, 1943, Jaime Royal Robertson was hooked on rhythm'n'blues and its extension, rock'n'roll, as a pre-teen. At the age of 16, he was spotted by Ronnie Hawkins, a US singer from Arkansas with a career in Ontario. His group, The Hawks, would gradually bring together future members of The Band: drummer Levon Helm (also from Arkansas) and three other Canadians, bassist Rick Danko, pianist Richard Manuel and organist Garth Hudson, now the last surviving member.

From 1964 onwards, the five musicians became independent under the name Levon and the Hawks before getting recruited by Bob Dylan for a tour of the United States beginning in the autumn of 1965. The second half of the concerts, electric (literally and figuratively), provoked a wrath amongst folk fans, who saw it as a betrayal of their idol. The hostility of a portion of the public was even more vociferous towards the band in the UK, which was without Helm who had decided to throw in the towel. The episode toughened them up, but they were happy to see the back of it in May 1966. In July, Dylan suffered a mysterious motorcycle accident and retired from the stage for almost eight years. He made his comeback with The Band in 1974, on a triumphant North American tour.

Robertson, who took part in the recording of the master's masterpiece Blonde on Blonde, reunited with Dylan and his bandmates in 1967 in the Catskill Mountains, New York. The star took a break in the country at Woodstock. Rick Danko, Richard Manuel and Garth Hudson rented a house in the vicinity nicknamed "Big Pink." Every day, they gathered there to record music using rudimentary technology. The result was a hundred or so songs, creations, traditional songs, folk, blues and country classics. Helm, who was working on oil rigs in New Orleans, rejoined the group. These recordings, which generated huge sums of money on the pirate market, were officially released in 1975 under the title The Basement Tapes.

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