Happy Birthday Robbie Robertson

Happy Birthday to Robbie Robertson--66 years young today.

Man Outside: Rick Danko's Acting Debut

The Last Waltz wasn't Rick Danko's only foray onto the silver screen. A decade after TLW, Rick made his real acting debut as Jim Riggs, the father of a kidnapped boy who is at the heart of the story, in Man Outside. The film features Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, and Richard Manuel--plus a cameo by one-time Band associate Bob Illjes, who also worked as Rick's manager for a few months in the early 90s--and is well-known by most hardcore Band fans.

If you've never seen the movie, you should know that, except for the rare treat of seeing the guys in The Band together (and separately) onscreen--and particularly seeing scenes of Rick washing dishes, working on cars, and punching out thugs--the movie is virtually unwatchable.

Rick has a couple of lines, but they are cringe-inducing. All in all, though, he does a pretty good job, but I think I speak for many of us--and I know Rick would forgive me--when I say thank God he chose music.

Here is a clip of all you need to see from Man Outside, posted recently on YouTube: Rick in Man Outside

A DFA Facebook Group

Fans of Danko Fjeld Andersen should check out (and join!) the wonderful DFA Facebook Group started by Jaynie Vermac. There you will find tons of information, links, press releases, and photos related to Rick and his work with DFA, or as he liked to call the trio, "a Damned Fine Act."

Here's the link: DFA Facebook Group

Eric Andersen in the "Danger Zone"

About a year or so ago, Eric Andersen sent me a draft of his then unpublished essay, "Danger Zone," which he told me was going to be part of an upcoming collection of essays by various esteemed writers, scholars, musicians, and artists titled Naked Lunch@50: Anniversary Essays (Southern Illinois University Press), an homage to one of his literary heroes, William Burroughs, one of the pioneers of the Beat Generation.

The essay brought Burroughs alive for me, and also shed some new light on a writer who has always been, in my eyes, somewhat inaccessible and abstruse--even by Beat standards--not to mention a little scary. Eric's crafty, intelligent, fast-paced, and insightful prose made me want to give Naked Lunch another go; it even intrigued me enough to pick up a copy of Burroughs' Junky (which, truth be told, I still have not gotten through--but Burroughs must be taken in small doses).

Eric emailed me over the weekend to tell me that Naked Lunch@50: Anniversary Essays has been published. He was in Paris tonight for the book launch, at the University of London Institute, where he was scheduled to read from the book, and then participate in a signing. Later this week, Eric is slated to read from his forthcoming novel, Bastardo.

If you're not familiar with Eric Andersen's prose writing, it's as eloquent as his songwriting and equally compelling. And, for those of you who are new to this site, unfamiliar with Eric, or unclear about his connection to Rick Danko, Eric Andersen was a key figure in Rick's post-Band career, particularly in the 90s, though Rick and Eric had known each other since the late 60s when they first met outside the Continental Hotel in LA. They hung out together during Festival Express in 1970, and crossed paths numerous times over the years, before performing and recording together, with Norwegian singer/songwriter Jonas Fjeld, as Danko Fjeld Andersen (aka DFA) beginning in late 1990.

For more information on Naked Lunch or Naked Lunch@50: Anniversary Essays, go to http://nakedlunch.org/

The Flame Still Burns

I thought Rick's fans would like to know that, in the one year since I launched this blog in June, 2008, it has had logged nearly 70,000 page loads and nearly 50,000 unique visitors.

Considering the fact that this is a site dedicated to one individual--captivating and charismatic though he may be--and that it has no commercial ads, I think that is pretty amazing.  

I hope you guys are happy to know that your interest and your passion is keeping Rick's legacy alive. I know he would be happy.

Great RARE Footage of Rick at Jonas Fjeld's New Website

The people who read and follow this blog (there are many followers; I’ve opted to keep their identities private) represent a real cross-section of both music fans and Danko Fans. There are “regulars” from all over the globe, from Woodstock to Timbuktu, as well as more and more first-time visitors every day. Because there is such a large and varied group of visitors, it is often hard to gauge what people know, what they don’t, and what they want to know about Rick.

Some of the content on this site is geared toward the casual fan, the new fan, or the music lover or web-surfer who’s landed here via a Google search. Much of it is for devoted, longtime fans who love Rick’s music but, like most of his fans, don’t know a whole lot about him personally, since Rick was quite enigmatic.

Then there is the content for die-hards. As with any musician, Rick had a legion of die-hard fans—though, from my 20 years of experience interacting with Rick’s fans and meeting new ones, I’d venture to say that his fans die harder than virtually any other music fans I’ve encountered, and I’ve encountered many—and some of the material here is of special interest to those fans.

That content is important because it’s been my experience that the more people know about Rick, the more they want to know. I’ve never—not once—known a fan to become familiar with Rick or his music and grow tired or bored and move on. So, there’s no need for me to proselytize—if you’re just discovering Rick, you will be converted naturally, through osmosis.

Whether you’re a die-hard or a newbie, you will want to check out singer/songwriter  Jonas Fjeld's New Website.

For those of you who are not familiar with Jonas, he is a talented musician and songwriter—a “Norwegian national treasure,” as Rick called him—and was one-third of Danko Fjeld Andersen, or “the trio” (search this site), a collaboration of Rick’s that lasted through much of the ‘90s.

The site, developed by Jan Hoiberg, a friend of The Band and the creator of The Band website (the Internet Holy Grail for Band fans), as well as some of his students, contains lots of information on Jonas, as well as tons of photos and rare video interviews, performances, and outtakes of Rick, Jonas Fjeld, and Eric Andersen which has never been seen outside of Norway.

See Rick play the hardingfele in the snow, watch him try to ski, and hear and see some of his incredible music in live-performance footage, TV appearances, and a rare music video for the DFA-penned “Ridin’ On the Blinds.”

Then you’ll know why the music-trade promos for his eponymous first solo album gushed, somewhat awkwardly but very accurately: “Once you get a taste of Rick Danko, you’ll never get enough.”

 

Happy Birthday Levon Helm

Happy birthday to Levon Helm, one of the greatest voices and the greatest drummer in rock--or any genre, for that matter.




Sixty-nine years young, 69 years cool.

Rick's Fan Base Then & Now (plus some Facebook stats)

In the many years I worked as a publicist, I always found demographics interesting--and important. Before the days of instantaneous data collection, I used a variety of resources to collect DMA (designated market area) and ADI (area of dominant influence) data, not just for publications and other media outlets, but for the artists, musicians, labels, and companies I worked with, too. This is nothing out of the ordinary, just common sense; all publicists and marketing professionals do it--or should--as it helps them target their marketing and publicity efforts in the right direction.

One publicity goal I had for Rick was to help reinforce and expand existing audiences and build new ones. I used to do this with Rick's national publicity efforts--things like CD media mailings, which have become, in the last five years or so, all but obsolete thanks to the Internet--to ensure that we were sending his music and press kits to the right radio, TV, and print media. This was also important in tour routing, as it is with all artists. Rick had areas where he was especially strong, and where the fans would come out in droves with little advance publicity--in the States, that would be the East Coast, particulary Boston to Philly, and overseas, he was particularly strong in Norway and Japan, among other countries. Then there were areas where he wasn't as instantly recognized as a solo artist apart from The Band--this was, surprisingly, true in some West Coast cities as well as in some secondary markets in the South. Those places needed a bigger push in terms of advance press.

In addition to the fan bases in various cities and countries, Rick also had different kinds of audiences, as I've mentioned in the past, in different places: New England fans tended to like the folkier, more acoustic stuff (though The Band had a big rock audience there; Rick's solo audience was a little different), while Chicago fans tended to see Rick as a "classic rock" artist. One thing that has always been consistent: Rick had a very strong male following--particularly among 20-and 30-something guys, who saw him as a symbol of rock coolness. Interestingly, that holds true tody. Though Rick's fan base ranges from young teens to 60-somethings (and up), that core male rock-and-roll audience seems to be--at least according to Facebook--holding strong, and even growing.

Some of this may be due to the fact that Facebook tends to draw a younger audience anyway--many of Rick's 50+ fans are not on Facebook--but I think it's worth noting that, according to Facebook statistics, 77% of the fans on Rick's Facebook page are male, and more than 32% of his fans are in the 25- to 34-year-old age group, with 26%male and only 6% female.

The next largest age group of fans is the 35- to 44-year-old group, which accounts for 23% of Rick's Facebook fans and, of those, 18% are male; 5% female. The 55-and-older group accounts for just 8% of his Facebook fan base. Again, I don't think these stats are necessarily indicative of Rick's fan base as a whole; as many people in this age group just don't use Facebook.

Some more interesting Facebook data: Nearly two-thirds of Rick's Facebook fans are from the United States, followed by Canada (about 11%), Norway (nearly 5%) and England (also nearly 5%). The cities with the strongest presence are, in order, New York, Oslo, Chicago, Boston, and Toronto.

It's wonderful to see such an outpouring of love for Rick; I wish he could see it, too. If you haven't yet become a fan of Rick's on Facebook, you may want to check out the page: Rick Danko's Facebook Page.

A Rick Danko Fan Club at TalkBass.com

TalkBass.com is a 10-year-old Internet forum for and about anything and everything to do with bass playing and bass players. Rick has been mentioned on the forum from time to time, and it's interesting to read comments about him from the point of view of bass players and bass fans--those who may not necessarily be die-hard fans, but who may have an appreciation for his style and technique.

Today, there was an interesting thread about Rick by a TalkBass.com member who has started a fan club. This is a really cool (and very informative) site, and it warms the heart to read that Rick was held in such high regard by other musicians--something we all know, but it's nice to see anyway!

Here's the link to the Rick Danko Fan Club thread:

RickDankoFanClubatTalkBass.com

The Night Allen Ginsberg Came 'Round (Part II)

One night in September of 1993, I headed up to Woodstock to spend some time with Rick, go over the next batch of interviews and shows, and visit a friend of mine who lived nearby, off of Rock City Road.

This friend--I'll call him John--an art dealer-cum-small-press publisher, was a huge fan of Rick's who'd been introduced to Rick by Eric Andersen. I remember the night he first met Rick. It was at a Band show at the Jersey Shore, and, as he stood there on The Band's bus alongside Eric, he was practically glowing. I'd seen that look before--many times before, but not usually on men. This guy was not your archetypal Band fan--Lou Reed, perhaps. Townes Van Zandt or Nick Drake, yes. But Rick Danko? Major longshot.

So I was a little wary of him initially. There were so many hangers-on, I was, I admit, a tad suspicious when he started talking about helping Rick on the road. Rick was gracious and evasive, kind of took it with a grain of salt. At some point that night, John and I started talking and, despite the fact that we were from totally different worlds--and his world scared me a little--we clicked and became instant friends.

He lived and worked in the Chelsea Hotel. He found it fascinating that I knew and worked with Rick, and I found it fascinating that he knew and worked with one of my literary heroes, Gregory Corso, as well as a number of other Beat writers and poets, including Allen Ginsberg. Though art and literature were his work, his true passion, I sensed, was rock and roll. Through his connections in the literary and art worlds, he managed to make his way into the rock scene, working intermittently as a road manager for artists including Patti Smith and CSN. He was extremely intellectual, artsy, and well-spoken, good-looking in an almost pretty way; had he been born a generation earlier, he'd almost definitely have been one of Andy Warhol's Factory regulars.

Despite that fact, after a little while, Rick took a liking to him and he did begin helping Rick out occasionally on the road--driving, some general road chores, sound. Before long, John had fallen in love with Woodstock and bought a beautiful old farmhouse close to the center of town. If he was staying in Woodstock, as he usually did on the weekends, I would see him whenever I came up to see Rick. He also gave me an open invitation--and a key--to his house so that I could use it whenever I wanted to just get away.

He was a fanatical Dylan fan and, when I heard that Dylan would be playing at Saratoga in September, I told him that I wanted to treat him to the show as a thank you for his hospitality. (When Rick found out that I'd paid for tickets, he was in stitches. I suppose I could have just asked Rick to make a phone call, but I never thought of him as a "connection.") Anyway, John and I made the plans, and I told him that I would call him from Rick's house when I got to Woodstock.

I called and John said to come on over; he had a surprise. He had a big house, and said "Bring your stuff and just stay here." When I got to his house, I could hear the sounds of chatter and laughter from outside the screen door. I heard voices from one of the rooms, and sitting at the kitchen table were John, his young 20-something friend, and Allen Ginsberg, who was sitting with his legs crossed, sipping tea, and peering over his glasses at the only woman in the house. John introduced us and told me, excitedly, that Allen would be going to the Dylan show with us. I guess I should have been excited too, but I was really pissed off; he'd just made new plans without even mentioning it to me. "Well, I only have two tickets," I said sheepishly. "Oh, you won't be needing those," Allen said, then walked to the phone, made a quick call, and came back to the table. "Second row, center. Passes at will call."

I don't remember a whole lot of the conversation, because the next thing I knew, John's young friend was spilling some mushrooms onto the table and offering them to me. "No thanks," I said. And then there were a couple more young men, whom I'd never met or seen. There was lots of giggling and silly banter. At one point, I found myself alone at the table with Allen Ginsberg and, for lack of something better to say, I asked "So how ya doin', Allen?" to which he quickly replied, "Oh, I've got three pretty boys with me--I'm just fine." Okay, too much information--waaaaay too much information. I am no prude, but I knew I was out of my league. It just was not my kind of scene, and I felt very awkward, and a little sick. I was also starting to get a raging headache. Just then, the phone rang.

"Carol, Rick wants to talk to you for a sec," John said. The timing was perfect--the Simcoe-born deus ex machina. I don't remember why Rick called, but--and this is something I've written about in the past--the sense of warmth, of calm, and safety I felt, just hearing his name in that surreal situation, epitomized the effect that Rick had on me, which I find interesting, especially considering how hyper he usually was. When I got to the phone, he'd heard the laughter and talking and asked me who was there with me besides John. I meandered out of earshot and whispered to him that Allen Ginsberg and some young guys were there. "You're not staying there," he said, very matter-of-fact, without missing a beat. "Why, what's the matter?" I asked. "Trust me," he said, impatiently. "I'll take care of it," adding, "Don't worry. Nobody'll feel bad."

Rick had a real knack for smoothing things over, diplomatically navigating awkward situations, making everyone feel good, and "I'll take care of it" was not an uncommon thing for him to say. Whenever he did, I couldn't help but picture Don Corleone. He muttered something about staying in a house with Allen Ginsberg being "no place for you," and I laughed and he hung up kind of abruptly.

In what seemed like ten minutes or less, he was at the door. His hair was wet, as if he'd just gotten out of the shower. He came in and sat down, had some tea and some sweets, and chatted with Allen, who was smiling broadly and appeared--for lack of a better word--smitten with Rick. Allen had a 35-mm camera--I believe it was a Nikon--on a strap around his neck, and as they discussed which places in Woodstock had the best desserts, and as he asked Rick about what was happening with The Band's new album and as Rick asked "So how's Bob doin'?" Allen began, without asking, to snap away incessantly, photographing Rick from various angles, clicking literally inches away from his face and advancing the film and smiling and clicking some more. Rick was very cool about it, but I could tell he was starting to get a little embarrassed as the conversation turned into a photo session. (The picture included here, which I absolutely love, was one of many taken by Allen Ginsberg that night.)

At some point, he diplomatically mentioned to John that I'd be staying at his place. "It looks like you have a full house, man. It's no problem." And that was that. We took my stuff back to Rick's house, and the next day, Allen and John picked me up--in my car--and we headed off for another adventure, the Dylan concert, at which fans recognized Allen and started to crowd around him as we walked into the venue. (Below is my backstage pass from the show.)

Allen stayed in Woodstock for the weekend. The next day, Rick and I met John and Allen in town, at Dharmaware, where Allen was sitting on the ground, rather nonchalantly, in a modified Lotus position. Nobody seemed to notice. We drove back to John's house, picked up my car, said goodbye, and Allen headed on his merry way.