"Who Don't Care If The Money's No Good?": Authenticity and The Band

This article explores how The Band's complicated relationship to divergent notions of authenticity has grounded the means by which Robbie Robertson is marked off from the rest of the group across the history of their star discourse. The author also considers the recent resurgence of The Last Waltz by examining the ways in which the film's performances, and texts about them, engage with what Andrew Wernick has called "promotional culture," ultimately suggesting that it is the profound tension between the group's and Robertson's conflicting styles of authenticity that is a source of The Band's persisting popularity.