Robbie’s fifth solo album, “How To Become Clairvoyant,” will be released on April 5, 2011. It will feature Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Trent Reznor, Tom Morello, Robert Randolph and Angela McCluskey.
Robbie is inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall Of Fame and is given the Royal Order of Canada.
HOW TO BECOME CLAIRVOYANT,
ROBBIE ROBERTSON’S FIRST ALBUM IN OVER A DECADE, IS DUE OUT APRIL 5, 2011 ON 429 RECORDS
Produced By Marius de Vries And Robertson
Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Robert Randolph, Trent Reznor And Tom Morello are Featured
On April 5, 2011, 429 Records will release How To Become Clairvoyant, Robbie Robertson’s fifth solo album and his first record in more than 10 years. Guitar virtuosos Eric Clapton (who co-wrote three tracks with Robertson), Tom Morello and Robert Randolph guest on the album, which Robertson co-produced with Marius de Vries. How To Become Clairvoyant also features Steve Winwood and Trent Reznor as well as vocalists Angela McCluskey, Rocco Deluca, Dana Glover and Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes. Bassist Pino Palladino and drummer Ian Thomas lay down the groove throughout.
On his last two albums – Music for The Native Americans (1994) and Contact from the Underworld of Redboy (1998) – Robertson explored his ancestry. Now, with How To Become Clairvoyant, he takes on his rock heritage, delivering his first-ever song about leaving The Band, the evocative “This Is Where I Get Off.” “What is lost? What is missing?” Robertson asks on “When The Night Was Young,” a poignant reflection on youthful idealism. “We could change the world/stop the war…but that was back when the night was young.”
The smoldering “Straight Down The Line” is a sly nod to rock ‘n’ roll’s early reputation as the Devil’s music, while the blistering “He Don’t Live Here No More” details a close friend’s battle with addiction. The latter features Clapton on harmony vocal and electric and slide guitars alongside Robertson’s soulful gut string guitar solo.
The track listing for How to Become Clairvoyant is as follows:
1. Straight Down The Line
2. When The Night Was Young
3. He Don’t Live Here No More
4. The Right Mistake
5. This Is Where I Get Off
6. Fear of Falling
7. She’s Not Mine
8. Madame X
9. Axman
10. Won’t Be Back
11. How To Become Clairvoyant
12. Tango For Django
Robbie is music supervisor for Scorsese’s film Shutter Island. “I think this is the first time that Marty has ever called me and said, ‘on this picture I really don’t have any ideas on where to start musically.’ After I read the script I suggested to him that instead of a traditional film score, that I put together a batch of music centering around modern classical composers with a few songs from the time period of the movie sprinkled in. Marty felt it really connected with the film and we went on a mission of doing something unlike anything we’d ever done before.”
The Band receives The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Robbie performs with Eric Clapton at the Crossroads Guitar Festival.
Robertson serves as music producer on another Scoresese film. The Departed is released in October and stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson and Martin Sheen.
The Band – A Musical History is released in September. Executive Producer Robbie Robertson puts together a truly impressive Band box set anthology. It features 111 tracks spread over five CDs, one DVD and a 108-page hardcover book. Roughly spanning the group’s journey from 1961 to 1977, from their days behind Ronnie Hawkins and Bob Dylan through Robbie’s departure and first disbanding of the group. The set includes highlights from each of the group’s seven studio albums and both major live recordings and nearly forty rare or previously-unreleased performances. The book contains candid photographs of artists from Bob Dylan to Janis Joplin and a detailed history of the Band by Grammy Award-winning musicologist Rob Bowman.
The film Ladder 49, staring Joaquin Phoenix and John Travolta, includes the anthem/gospel hymn “Shine Your Light”, written and recorded specifically for the film by Robbie Robertson. After hearing the song for the first time, director Jay Russel recalls, “I just sat there thinking, ‘I’m very moved by this song; I think it’s beautifully poetic,’ and it was exactly what I was looking for.” The song is played in it’s entirety over the film’s dramatic culminating scene; it’s the only sound that’s heard. Robertson also composes an orchestral adagio for the final credits.
Robertson deliverers an address to the graduating class at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario and is awarded an honorary degree by the University.
Robbie is inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame.
Celebrating the 25th anniversary of The Last Waltz, Robertson and Scoresese provide newly edited, never-before-released elements from The Band’s final performance. In addition to a theatrical re-release (United Artists), The Last Waltz is also available as a Special Edition DVD (MGM Home Entertainment) and four-CD boxed set (Warner Bros./Rhino). Robertson supervises the 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound DVD mix and painstakingly remixes and remasters the boxed set from the original multi-track masters.