Listen to Robbie Robertson's New LP 'How to Become Clairvoyant'

This stream is no longer available.

Robbie Robertson's first album in 13 years, How to Become Clairvoyant (429 Records/Savoy Label Group, Macro-Biotic Records), goes on sale tomorrow, but you can listen to a stream of the entire album right here through April 11th. The album began with Robertson and his longtime friend Eric Clapton casually jamming together in the studio. It went so well the former Band guitarist felt it was time to cut a new album, and Clapton is featured on seven of the finished tracks. Other guests include Steve Winwood, Robert Randolph, Tom Morello and Trent Reznor, who provided what Robertson describes as "additional textures" to the instrumental "Madame X."

David Fricke Reviews 'How to Become Clairvoyant'

Robertson's going to stick to the pledge he made in The Last Waltz and not tour to support the album, but he does plan on performing on a number of television shows with Dawes. "We had a rehearsal a couple weeks ago in L.A. and ran over a few tunes, and it just felt pretty natural," Robertson tells Rolling Stone. "They’re really good and they’re a band – it’s different than just getting a bunch of individual musicians and trying to make them click and blend. The guys are already in the blend, so that’s great. They’re all at the top of their game. I’m the one that’s a little rusty.”

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Song Stories

“Piano Man”

Billy Joel | 1973

Billy Joel’s first hit, “Piano Man,” was – ironically – an autobiographical lament about how his first album wasn’t a hit. When Cold Spring Harbor didn’t take off, Joel briefly became a lounge pianist in Los Angeles, and this song, about that experience, expressed his frustrations and fears at the time: “And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar/And say, ‘Man, what are you doing here?’” “It was all right,” Joel said later, about the gig. “I got free drinks and union scale, which was the first steady money I’d made in a long time.”

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