Sebastian Robertson

Last updated

Sebastian Robertson
Sebastian robertson book signing.jpg
Born (1974-07-18) July 18, 1974 (age 49)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
OccupationChildren's writer, film and television music producer
Subject Children's literature, Rock music
Parents Robbie Robertson (father)

Sebastian Robertson is a Canadian-American non-fiction children's author, musician, composer, and studio engineer.

Contents

As a children's author, Robertson has written the book Rock and Roll Highway (2014), a biographical book about his father, The Band co-founder Robbie Robertson. [1] He has also co-written Legends, Icons, and Rebels (2013), a contemporary pop and rock and roll history starter book, which he created in collaboration with Robbie Robertson, Jared Levine, and Jim Guerinot. [2]

As a musician and composer, Robertson has composed over 4,000 pieces of music that have been used in over 100 different television shows, films, and advertisements. [3] He has collaborated with musician Daniel Davies on several projects, including songs featured in the soundtracks of the films Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! [4] and The Vatican Tapes , [5] as well as the entirety of the soundtrack to the film Condemned (all 2015). [3]

Robertson has also performed on two of Robbie Robertson's solo albums, and was project coordinator on The Band box set Live at the Academy of Music 1971 (2013). [6]

Biography

Childhood

As a child, Robertson had little knowledge of his father Robbie Robertson's prominence, as The Band had recorded their last performance when the younger Robertson was two years old. [1] Robertson remembers his father at the time as "the guy that made me do my homework, drove me to little league games, made me breakfast and brought me to school." [1] It was through listening to the Peter Gabriel album Security that the younger Robertson started to connect with music on a more personal level. [7] This led to Robertson picking albums from his father's collection to listen to, and his father telling him the stories about the artists, many of which were from the elder Robertson's personal experiences. [7] It was in his teens that Robertson came to better understand his father's place in music history. [1] Robertson began playing the drums at age 14 after listening to the drumming of Led Zeppelin's John Bonham. [3]

Children's author

It was when Robertson was working a part-time job involving programming music for children that he noticed that children would respond overwhelmingly favorably when he would play music by artists such as Marvin Gaye and Johnny Cash amongst more traditional children's music. Robertson expressed to his father an interest in creating a resource that would give children a foundation in music education, and help them choose quality music. The elder Robertson discussed the idea with his friend Jared Levine, and then met music industry professional Jim Guerinot, who initiated the work of building the project. The four worked together over the course of five years to create the book, which was entitled Legends, Icons, and Rebels: Music that Changed the World. [2]

Released by Tundra Books in 2013, [8] Legends, Icons, and Rebels is a hardcover book with two CDs that introduces children ages nine to twelve [9] to the stories of twenty-seven foundational contemporary music artists such as Ray Charles, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, [8] Billie Holiday, [10] and others. The book was featured as Best of the Month in Non Fiction Books by Amazon.com, [7] and was listed as one of Rolling Stone magazine's "20 Best Music Books of 2013". [10]

After the release of Legends, Icons, and Rebels, publisher Christy Ottaviano approached Robertson about writing a children's book about his father. Entitled Rock and Roll Highway: The Robbie Robertson Story, the book was published by Henry Holt and Co. in 2014, [11] and tells the story of Robbie Robertson's life. The book is intended for children ages six to nine, [1] and is illustrated with paintings by Adam Gustavson. [11] At the end of the book, Robertson conducts a question and answer session with his father, which is intended to encourage the book's young readers to interview their own parents to learn more from them. [1] Rock and Roll Highway received favorable reviews from Publishers Weekly , who compared it to "iconic compositions that might have been pulled from dusty album covers," [12] and from The American Library Association's Booklist , who called it "insightful". [13] The book received a mixed review from School Library Journal , who called the book a "well-illustrated and nicely told story," but were concerned that "the details aren't likely to resonate with the intended audience." [14]

Robertson plans to write a third book about his Native American heritage. The book will highlight eight to ten influential Native American tribal chiefs. [1]

Composer, musician, and studio engineer

Robertson's primary line of work is in composing music for television. He owns and operates a music library called "We the People", which services approximately 45 different television shows. [7] Robertson has worked extensively providing background music for Access Hollywood [3] [15] and Access Hollywood Live . [15] His work has been featured in television series such as Fresh Off the Boat , Wicked Tuna , Preachers' Daughters , Married to Jonas , and others. [3] Robertson has composed the soundtracks for the feature films The Anna Nicole Smith Story (2007) and Walk of Shame (2014), [15] as well as for the Matthew Cooke-directed documentary Survivors Guide to Prison (2018). [16]

Robertson has also assisted on a number of his father's musical projects. In 1994, Robertson played drums on Robbie Robertson's soundtrack to the Barry Levinson film Jimmy Hollywood . [17] That same year, Robertson played drums again on parts of the elder Robertson's album Music for The Native Americans . [18] In 2011, Robertson appeared on the elder Robertson's album How to Become Clairvoyant , this time providing effects. [19]

In 2013, Robertson was enlisted to assist in the release of The Band box set Live at the Academy of Music 1971 (2013), [7] an expanded presentation of the source material that the live album Rock of Ages (1972) is taken from. Robertson worked on the stereo mixes of the complete New Year's Eve show that appears on discs 3 and 4 of the set [20] alongside mixing engineer Jon Castelli. It was Robertson's idea to preserve and even highlight the imperfections and personal moments that fans of bootleg recordings enjoy, instead of mixing them out. [7] Robertson also sourced the previously unpublished photos that were used to illustrate the album's release. [7]

Robertson has been longtime friends with Daniel Davies, sometime member of the rock bands Year Long Disaster and CKY and son of The Kinks guitarist Dave Davies. The two have built a recording studio, [3] and have worked together in several musical collaborations. The pair co-wrote a song for the 2008 movie The Coverup , [21] as well as another song for the soundtrack to the horror-thriller The Vatican Tapes (2015). [5] The latter song, entitled "Rebel Shake", was performed on the Vatican Tapes soundtrack by Robertson's and Davies' rock band [21] The Bootleggers. [5] Robertson's and Davies' cover version of alternative rock band The Pixies' song "Wave of Mutilation" was featured in the soundtrack to the Syfy film Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! (also 2015). [4] Later the same year, they scored the entirety of the Eli Morgan Gesner-directed film Condemned over the course of a three-week period. [22] The film soundtrack album was praised by Something Else! as "inventive – to say nothing of bone-chilling." [23]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Band</span> Canadian-American rock band

The Band was a Canadian-American rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, in 1967. It consisted of Canadians Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, Robbie Robertson, and American Levon Helm. The Band combined elements of Americana, folk, rock, jazz, country, and R&B, influencing musicians such as George Harrison, Elton John, the Grateful Dead, Eric Clapton and Wilco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ray Davies</span> English musician

Sir Raymond Douglas Davies is an English musician. He was the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and primary songwriter for the rock band the Kinks, which he led with his younger brother Dave on lead guitar and backing vocals. He has also acted in, directed and produced shows for theatre and television. Known for focusing his lyrics on rock bands, English culture, nostalgia and social satire, he is often referred to as the "Godfather of Britpop", though he disputes this title. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Kinks in 1990. After the dissolution of the Kinks in 1996, he embarked on a solo career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam Clayton</span> Irish rock musician, bassist of U2

Adam Charles Clayton is an English-born Irish musician who is the bass guitarist of the rock band U2. He has resided in County Dublin, Ireland since his family moved to Malahide in 1965, when he was five years old. Clayton attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School, where he met schoolmates with whom he co-founded U2 in 1976. A member of the band since its inception, he has recorded 15 studio albums with U2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Sebastian</span> American singer-songwriter and musician (born 1944)

John Benson Sebastian (born March 17, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter and musician who founded the rock band the Lovin' Spoonful. He made an impromptu appearance at the Woodstock festival in 1969 and scored a U.S. No. 1 hit in 1976 with "Welcome Back."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Curtis Mayfield</span> American singer-songwriter (1942–1999)

Curtis Lee Mayfield was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, and one of the most influential musicians behind soul and politically conscious African-American music. Dubbed the "Gentle Genius", he first achieved success and recognition with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-inducted group the Impressions during the civil rights movement of the late 1950s and the 1960s, and later worked as a solo artist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robbie Robertson</span> Canadian singer, songwriter and guitarist (1943–2023)

Jaime Royal "Robbie" Robertson was a Canadian musician. He was lead guitarist for Bob Dylan in the mid-late 1960s and early-mid 1970s, guitarist and songwriter with the Band from their inception until 1978, and a solo artist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Levon Helm</span> American musician (1940–2012)

Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm was an American musician who achieved fame as the drummer and one of the three lead vocalists for The Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. Helm was known for his deeply soulful, country-accented voice, multi-instrumental ability, and creative drumming style, highlighted on many of the Band's recordings, such as "The Weight", "Up on Cripple Creek", and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jakob Dylan</span> American singer-songwriter

Jakob Luke Dylan is an American singer-songwriter. He rose to fame as the lead singer and primary songwriter for the rock band The Wallflowers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garth Hudson</span> Canadian multi-instrumentalist

Eric "Garth" Hudson is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist best known as the keyboardist and occasional saxophonist for rock group the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. He was a principal architect of the group's sound, described as "the most brilliant organist in the rock world" by Keyboard magazine. With the deaths of Richard Manuel in 1986, Rick Danko in 1999, Levon Helm in 2012, and Robbie Robertson in 2023, Hudson is the last living original member of the Band.

<i>The Last Waltz</i> 1978 concert film directed by Martin Scorsese

The Last Waltz was a concert by the Canadian-American rock group The Band, held on American Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. The Last Waltz was advertised as The Band's "farewell concert appearance", and the concert had The Band joined by more than a dozen special guests, including their previous employers Ronnie Hawkins and Bob Dylan, as well as Paul Butterfield, Bobby Charles, Eric Clapton, Neil Diamond, Emmylou Harris, Dr. John, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Ringo Starr, Muddy Waters, Ronnie Wood, and Neil Young. The musical director for the concert was The Band's original record producer, John Simon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Weight</span> Song by The Band

"The Weight" is a song by the Canadian-American group the Band that was released as a single in 1968 and on the group's debut album Music from Big Pink. It was their first release under this name, after their previous releases as Canadian Squires and Levon and the Hawks. Written by Band member Robbie Robertson, the song is about a visitor's experiences in a town mentioned in the lyric's first line as Nazareth. "The Weight" has significantly influenced American popular music, having been listed as No. 41 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time published in 2004. Pitchfork Media named it the 13th best song of the 1960s, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame named it one of the 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. PBS, which broadcast performances of the song on Ramble at the Ryman (2011), Austin City Limits (2012), and Quick Hits (2012), describes it as "a masterpiece of Biblical allusions, enigmatic lines and iconic characters" and notes its enduring popularity as "an essential part of the American songbook."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robbie Rist</span> American actor

Robbie Rist is an American actor. He is known for playing Cousin Oliver in The Brady Bunch, Martin in Grady and "Little John" in Big John, Little John. Rist is also known for voicing assorted characters in television shows, games and movies, including Stuffy, the overly-proud stuffed dragon in Doc McStuffins, Whiz in Kidd Video, Star in Balto, Maroda in Final Fantasy X, Choji Akimichi in Naruto, and Michelangelo in the films Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993), and Casey Jones (2011). Additionally, he and director Anthony C. Ferrante provided music for the Sharknado film and the theme song for the Sharknado franchise. He played Ted & Georgia Baxter's adopted son David on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

<i>Robbie Robertson</i> (album) 1987 studio album by Robbie Robertson

Robbie Robertson is the solo debut album by Canadian rock musician Robbie Robertson, released in 1987. Though Robertson had been a professional musician since the late 1950s, notably a founder of and primary songwriter for The Band, this was his first solo album. Robbie Robertson won the Juno Award for "Album of the Year", and producers Daniel Lanois and Robertson won the "Producer of the Year" Juno award, both in 1989; there were no Juno Awards in 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyril Neville</span> American percussionist and singer

Cyril Garrett Neville is an American percussionist and vocalist who first came to prominence as a member of his brother Art Neville's funky New Orleans-based band, The Meters. He joined Art in the Neville Brothers band upon the dissolution of the Meters.

"Acadian Driftwood" is a song by the Band. It was the fourth track on their sixth studio album Northern Lights – Southern Cross (1975), written by member Robbie Robertson. Richard Manuel, Levon Helm and Rick Danko trade off lead vocals and harmonize on the chorus.

<i>Any Given Sunday</i> (soundtrack) 2000 soundtrack album by various artists

Any Given Sunday is the soundtrack to the 1999 film of the same name. It was released on January 4, 2000, through Atlantic Records and consisted of a blend of hip hop, heavy metal, alternative rock, and R&B. The album found success on the Billboard charts, making it to No. 28 on the Billboard 200 and No. 11 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, and featured the single "Shut 'Em Down", which peaked at No. 31 on the Hot Rap Singles.

"It Makes No Difference" is a song written by Robbie Robertson and sung by Rick Danko that was first released by The Band on their 1975 album Northern Lights – Southern Cross. It has also appeared on live and compilation albums, including the soundtrack to the film The Last Waltz. Among the artists that have covered the song are Solomon Burke, My Morning Jacket, The Icicle Works, Trey Anastasio and Over the Rhine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whispering Pines (The Band song)</span> 1969 song by The Band

"Whispering Pines" is a song written by Richard Manuel and Robbie Robertson that was first released by The Band on their self-titled 1969 album The Band. It was released as a single in France, backed by "Lonesome Suzie".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Davies (musician)</span> British-American musician and composer

Daniel Davies is a British-American composer, musician and songwriter. He is best known for his contributions to horror director John Carpenter's Lost Themes and Lost Themes II albums, and for his work with rock bands Year Long Disaster, Karma to Burn, and CKY. Davies is the son of guitarist Dave Davies of The Kinks, and the godson of John Carpenter.

<i>The Wolf of Wall Street</i> (soundtrack) 2013 soundtrack album by Various artists

The Wolf of Wall Street: Music from the Motion Picture is the soundtrack to the Martin Scorsese-directed 2013 epic biographical black comedy crime film of the same name released on December 17, 2013, for digital download and through physical CDs and vinyl editions on January 7, 2014, distributed by Virgin Records. The album features a roster of mid-century blues tracks from popular artists during the 1950s and 1960s. The music received critical acclaim and received a nomination for Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media, though lost to the soundtrack of Frozen (2013).

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Springsteen, Jessica (October 17, 2014). "Why Robbie Robertson's Son Wrote a Kids' Book About His Dad". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media LLC. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
  2. 1 2 Ragogna, Mike (September 18, 2013). "A Conversation With Robbie Robertson, Plus Steve Nieve & Elvis Costello's 'Tender Moment' and Control's 'Corpse' Exclusives". Huffington Post. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Minow, Nell (November 10, 2015). "Sebastian Robertson Talks About Composing for the New Horror Film "Condemned"". Huffington Post. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
  4. 1 2 Kaye, Ben (June 4, 2015). "Daniel Davies and Sebastian Robertson cover the Pixies' "Wave of Mutilation" for Sharknado 3 — listen". Consequence of Sound. Alex Young. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 The Vatican Tapes Production Notes (PDF). Los Angeles: Lions Gate Films. 2014. pp. 42–43. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Sebastian Robertson (credits)". Allmusic.com. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Karras, Steve (October 7, 2013). "Sebastian Robertson: The Band Co-founder's Son on Music That Changed the World". Huffington Post. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
  8. 1 2 "Legends, Icons & Rebels: Music That Changed the World". Goodreads. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Black History Month". Talking With Tundra blog. Tundra Books. February 6, 2015. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
  10. 1 2 Dolan, John; Fleming, Colin; Hermes, Will; Hoard, Christian (December 20, 2013). "20 Best Music Books of 2013". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media LLC. p. 7. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
  11. 1 2 DeRiso, Rick (October 20, 2014). "Rock and Roll Highway: The Robbie Robertson Story, by Sebastian Robertson (2014): Books". Something Else!. Retrieved December 27, 2015.
  12. ↑ Milliot, Jim, ed. (September 1, 2014). "Rock & Roll Highway: The Robbie Robertson Story". Publishers Weekly. New York: PWxyz LLC. 261 (35): 68.
  13. ↑ Kraus, Daniel (June 1, 2014). Beauregard, Sue-Ellen (ed.). "Robbie Robertson: Rock And Roll Highway". Booklist. Chicago: American Library Association. 110 (19): 86. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
  14. ↑ Dar, Mahnaz (September 2014). Miller, Rebecca T. (ed.). "Rock On!: SLJ Spotlight". School Library Journal. New York: Media Source Inc. 60 (9): 163. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
  15. 1 2 3 "Sebastian Robertson". Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Retrieved December 26, 2015.
  16. ↑ Beinstock, Richard (March 21, 2018). "Sebastian Robertson on 'Survivors Guide to Prison' Score, Writing With His Famous Dad". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media LLC. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
  17. ↑ Malkin, Nina (April 8, 1994). "Robbie Robertson composes for Jimmy Hollywood". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
  18. ↑ "Music for Native Americans (credits)". Allmusic.com. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
  19. ↑ "How to Become Clairvoyant (credits)". Allmusic.com. Retrieved December 27, 2015.
  20. ↑ Mettler, Mike (December 24, 2013). "The Band: Live at the Academy of Music 1971". Sound and Vision. Keith Pray. Retrieved December 27, 2015.
  21. 1 2 Deriso, Nick (May 7, 2014). "Something Else! sneak peek: The Bootleggers, "Hard Luck" (2014)". Something Else!. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
  22. ↑ Gerstenzang, Peter (November 13, 2015). "Sebastian Robertson Scores Condemned Movie". American Songwriter. ForASong Media, LLC. Retrieved December 27, 2015.
  23. ↑ DeRiso, Rick (November 25, 2015). "Daniel Davies + Sebastian Robertson – Condemned (2015)". Something Else!. Retrieved December 27, 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.