See The Band's Robbie Robertson explain how his Martin guitar inspired The Weight

The Weight is an all-time classic from the American songbook that saw The Band transition from Bob Dylan's backing band to a new era with the 1967's The Basement Tapes and 1968 debut Music From The Big Pink. 

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But anyone who pays attention to the song's opening line will know it namechecks 'Nazareth' and there's a very good reason for that – Robbie Robertson's Martin D-28 guitar, as he explains in the video above.

The clip is taken from the forthcoming documentary, Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson And The Band, in select cinemas on 21 February.

Robbie Robertson performing with The Band at Queens College, New York, 9 January, 1970

Robbie Robertson performing with The Band at Queens College, New York, 9 January, 1970 (Image credit: Harvey Silver / Getty)

The documentary is based on Robertson’s 2016 memoir Testimony and follows The Band’s history to their 1976 Martin Scorsese-directed farewell show The Last Waltz. 

Rob Laing
Reviews Editor, GuitarWorld.com and MusicRadar guitars

Rob is the Reviews Editor for GuitarWorld.com and MusicRadar guitars, so spends most of his waking hours (and beyond) thinking about and trying the latest gear while making sure our reviews team is giving you thorough and honest tests of it. He's worked for guitar mags and sites as a writer and editor for nearly 20 years but still winces at the thought of restringing anything with a Floyd Rose.