Robbie Robertson Rest in Peace

Robbie Robertson was a good Man.

Robbie was a guitar giant

Robbie was a leader

Robbie was a showman

Robbie was a writer

Robbie was a scholar

Robbie was a style icon

Robbie was a legend

Robbie Robertson died today, he was 80 years old. I didn’t think he was that old, and I was under the impression that he was healthy and vibrant (judging by late nite TV and the Socials)…

For several decades now, during visits to drinking establishments the world over – if there was a jukebox in these joints, I would commandeer it. And when I did, I would always play a healthy dose of The Band. Always.

Why? Because Robbie and the boys were for black and white, for the north and the south, for the US and Canada. They were for all. And Robbie was their leader. He was a uniter.

Just a few days ago, I was speaking to a close friend of mine – someone whose musical taste I regard highly – during our discussion, he told me that The Band was overrated. I imagine that he was looking to get a rise out of me – and damn he did.

Overrated? The Band?

NO.

As I write this, I am sitting in a honky-tonk bar somewhere in honky-tonk New York (the state, not the city). This bar has a jukebox – and I have commandeered it with a $10 deposit which gave me much more than I expected. And as is my wont, I’m playing The Band – back to back to back to back, etc…. nothing but The Band.

The denizens of this half filled bar don’t seem to know what they’re hearing, or why they may be hearing it, but the music is seeping into their souls – penetrating their bones. It is becoming part of them.

Robbie and The Band were at the center of it all – the genius, the personalities, the music that has left a mark that won’t ever be erased.

Robbie Robertson drove the story of what is perhaps the greatest band of all-time – The Band.

Rest In Peace Robbie.

-Blotto West, somewhere in the great state of NY, August 9th, 2023

Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio ?

Joe DiMaggio played 13 major league seasons when baseball was not just the national passtime in the USA, but a veritable religion.

Joe D was an all-star during each of those 13 seasons, an MVP thrice, and a legendary woman’s man. He was famously married to Marilyn Monroe at her absolute peak, and was also reported to be well endowed (some guys have EVERYTHING).

Did I mention he also won 9 World Series championships during his tenure ?

In February of 1943, at the age of 28, in his absolute prime, Joe D enlisted in the US army – and tho he never deployed, spent 3 years of his life in service of his country.

Our military industrial complex has evolved over the years – it has eaten everything in its path – and we will never turn back. It is now primarily a high tech venture, and a ruthlessly savage and brutal one to be sure.

And when we think about the commitment that Joe D made back in 1943 and juxtapose that with our indolent and obese society today, one has to laugh, or cry. We’ve come so far, but have slid back to a degree that it’s unlikely we’ll rise back to again.

As a nation we’ve sold out. We’re hanging on. We’ve created vile echo chambers that misinform us and then broadcast that misinformation on “the socials”. We are dumb and getting dumber – with elite artists being ignored unless they’re pushed by the moneyed class. The days of the intellectual as an aspirational protagonist are dead, or dying their last breath.

Know anyone that reads books ? Someone that can sit thru a social encounter or a meal without picking up their phone ? Someone with the restraint to not post their daily rot on those socials ?

Man is weak, and has never been weaker.

Time to pledge strength. Strength in thought and strength in action. It’s within us all – now the journey commences.

– Blotto West, the Bronx, NYC – February 2023