Classic Rock News

Now on Netflix: One of rock legend Robbie Robertson's final projects

Musician Robbie Robertson receives the Lifetime Achievement Honor at the 2019 Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Awards during Canadian Music Week 2019 at Rebel Entertainment Complex on May 9, 2019 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Isaiah Trickey/FilmMagic)

New on Netflix in April is Sitting Bull, a two-part History Channel documentary about the legendary leader of the Lakota people. But rock fans may not be aware that its main title theme is one of the last things Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Robbie Robertson worked on before his 2023 death.

The theme was created by Robbie and his son, Sebastian Robertson, drawing from their Native American heritage. Earlier this year, it won both of them a CLIO Award.

"The idea was, I was going make the piece of music, get it into a pretty good place and share it with my dad, and then we were gonna build it together," Sebastian told ABC Audio.

"He was really happy with the first demo I did ... and that's, like, an impossible thing to have happen with my dad. He's very picky and very detail-oriented."

Sebastian and Robbie then joined forces. "We sat down in his studio with it. We batted back and forth some guitar ideas," he explains. He also incorporated a melody that Robbie began humming.

"I made it into something that I thought worked for the theme. And I said, 'I think we should send this in' ... and they loved it," he said.

Robbie passed away during the production of documentary, and while Sebastian finished the theme for broadcast, he said he continued to feel his dad's presence.

"My dad was still there working with me," he recalled. "And we were just kind of working on a mystic level at that point. And by the end of it, you know, I felt incredibly proud of the music."

"It probably will always be the most memorable and important thing that I do," he added. "Because it will be the last thing that I ever did with my dad." 
 

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