Showdown At Big Sky

Jay Dreyer

3 minute read

Song:Showdown At Big Sky
Artist:Robbie Robertson
Release Date:1987

How did this happen?

This is an easy one to explain. First off, the chorus is pretty damn catchy. Especially the part about “Ring the bells”. That’s where my puppy comes in. We’re in the process of potty training him and we use these things called “Potty Bells”. You hang them near the door and when the dog needs to go outside, the dog does pretty much whatever he can to ring the bells. Usually he runs into them with his nose. So when I go to take him outside, he has to ring the bells before I open the door. “Ring the bells! Ring the bells! Who’s a good boy? You are!” Over and over. Every time I do this I get this song stuck in my head. Makes sense, right?

When I was younger and they played this a lot on the radio/MTV, I used to also get the “People, people” line lodged in my brain, too. Still do. “People, people…ring the bells!” This repeats over and over. All in all, not a bad song to become an earworm for thirty years.

Go ahead. Let’s hear it.

So about the song…

Robbie Robertson was a mystery to me when this song came out in 1987. I was not familiar with his work in his most famous band, The Band, and I had never heard of him before. He wrote it after taking a really long sabbatical after The Band ended. The album was critically acclaimed and was even up for a Grammy when it came out. Over time I’ve come to appreciate the greatness of Robbie Robertson.

Let’s go over a few accomplishments and interesting tid-bits:

  • He’s Canadian!
  • Played in a touring band with Bob Dylan, including playing the infamous “Royal Albert Hall Concert ” where audience members were pissed because Bob played electric guitar. Classic. Bob wasn’t having it that night.
  • Wrote the following songs for the Band - “The Weight ”, “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down ”, and “Up on Cripple Creek ”. I can almost (almost!) guarantee you’ve heard those songs before. And if you haven’t, you should. In fact, let’s listen to “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” right now:

  • Collaborated on music production with Martin Scorsese for the films Raging Bull , The King of Comedy , and The Color of Money .
  • Co-Wrote “It's in the Way That You Use It ” with Eric Clapton for The Color of Money . The song went #1 in 1987.
  • He’s in the Canadian Juno Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008 with The Band.
  • If you get a chance, I highly recommend checking out The Last Waltz , which chronicles their final performance in 1976. Martin Scorsese directed it, and there are a ton of people that showed up to help out, including Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Ron Wood, Stephen Stills and Neil Young, amongst others. The sad part is they edited out the coke on Neil Young’s nose in post-production. Stupid post-production. I’m sure you can find this on one of the streaming services out there. I know Amazon Prime had it a couple months back.
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