― Bryan (Bryan), Saturday, 8 January 2005 08:11 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ken L (Ken L), Saturday, 8 January 2005 08:24 (nineteen years ago) link
― stew, Saturday, 8 January 2005 12:26 (nineteen years ago) link
― jay blanchard (jay blanchard), Saturday, 8 January 2005 14:21 (nineteen years ago) link
― Bumfluff, Saturday, 8 January 2005 14:24 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ken L (Ken L), Saturday, 8 January 2005 14:26 (nineteen years ago) link
Bitter, baby, bitter. He's definitely not a member of the Robbie Robertson fan club. And while I wish him the best health-wise, and enjoy his keening vocals, IMO he's a crap drummer. Part of the reason that Live in 1966 Dylan thing is so exciting is because studio cat Bobby Gregg is behind the kit instead of Levon.
― lovebug starski (lovebug starski), Saturday, 8 January 2005 14:57 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ken L (Ken L), Saturday, 8 January 2005 15:18 (nineteen years ago) link
― lovebug starski (lovebug starski), Saturday, 8 January 2005 15:24 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ken L (Ken L), Saturday, 8 January 2005 15:36 (nineteen years ago) link
I've read Levon's book--have an autographed copy, even. It's worth reading just because you get a sense of how they developed outside the normal channels of '60s rock. They earned what I think is their smugness (seen to great effect in "Last Waltz," which is a good film and which actually makes me like Joni Mitchell's "Coyote"). OK, they did indeed see Sonny Boy Williamson spit blood into a cup--but they come across like they're the fucking torchbearers of the "real thing" and it's kind of awful, actually. Robertson's the one who comes across like a total asshole in that film.
Also, they didn't make too much good stuff after 1969--I like parts of "Northern Cross" and their take on "Third Man Theme" is nice. Parts of the Toussaint-arranged live album is good. What a waste, though--they could outplay anyone on their best days and they opted for settling into that Americana crap, they never really advanced at all. And honestly, "Big Pink" doesn't sound the same to me any more, something wrong there. "Great" but now I get a bad feeling from that music, which might be the point.
― eddie hurt (ddduncan), Saturday, 8 January 2005 16:46 (nineteen years ago) link
"Richard had the ability to go (points finger upward) 'eeeee!''"Garth, dressing it up"
Eric Clapton talking about Richard Manuel saying something like "The guy had this amazing energy, this amazing negative energy, so you would feel yourself drawn to him, even if he were cringing in the corner of the room."
Rick Danko:I think what happened to him was that once he got the monkey off his back, he started overeating as a way of compensating and put a lot of strain on his heart.
To me there was something visually very striking about the way Rick played bass. Did anybody else flap their elbow as much as he did?
― Ken L (Ken L), Sunday, 9 January 2005 07:04 (nineteen years ago) link
"Makes No Difference"!
― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Sunday, 16 January 2005 20:07 (nineteen years ago) link
― saltbox and a rubber ball (Speedy Gonzalas), Sunday, 16 January 2005 21:28 (nineteen years ago) link
fill at 2:14-2:16 is just sweet as fuck if you love the Band, which I do:
― J0hn D., Wednesday, 14 January 2009 23:04 (fifteen years ago) link
i love levon
― ie: BANGING (M@tt He1ges0n), Wednesday, 14 January 2009 23:08 (fifteen years ago) link
is that from Festival Express?
another check in the "rock dudes who use traditional grip" column
― Tracy Michael Jordan Catalano (Jordan), Wednesday, 14 January 2009 23:09 (fifteen years ago) link
Shooter cameo - A+++++++
― sad man in him room (milo z), Wednesday, 14 January 2009 23:11 (fifteen years ago) link
such a great drummer.
― tipsy mothra, Wednesday, 14 January 2009 23:14 (fifteen years ago) link
fuck he rules.
― cutty, Wednesday, 14 January 2009 23:14 (fifteen years ago) link
that fill is fabulous, propelling him into the chorus, the sticks literally jumping with his excitement about joining voices with his brothers.
― Euler, Wednesday, 14 January 2009 23:16 (fifteen years ago) link
― Tracy Michael Jordan Catalano (Jordan), Wednesday, January 14, 2009 11:09 PM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
also bun e carlos
― ie: BANGING (M@tt He1ges0n), Wednesday, 14 January 2009 23:18 (fifteen years ago) link
really? looked up some videos and he's playing matched, although i didn't know that he's left-handed and plays that way sometimes (me too).
― Tracy Michael Jordan Catalano (Jordan), Wednesday, 14 January 2009 23:32 (fifteen years ago) link
ah maybe i mistook lefthandedness for trad grip
― ie: BANGING (M@tt He1ges0n), Wednesday, 14 January 2009 23:35 (fifteen years ago) link
Who's heard Electric Dirt? I never knew he released an album in 2007, reading some reviews on the new one got me inclined to pick it up.
― willem, Wednesday, 16 September 2009 07:45 (fourteen years ago) link
erm, shouldn't be this on ILM?
― willem, Wednesday, 16 September 2009 08:04 (fourteen years ago) link
"Dear Friends, Levon is in the final stages of his battle with cancer. Please send your prayers and love to him as he makes his way through this part of his journey.
Thank you fans and music lovers who have made his life so filled with joy and celebration... he has loved nothing more than to play, to fill the room up with music, lay down the back beat, and make the people dance! He did it every time he took the stage...
We appreciate all the love and support and concern. From his daughter Amy, and wife Sandy"
― tylerw, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 19:53 (twelve years ago) link
not super surprising, considering the last decade or so but still sad.
― tylerw, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 19:54 (twelve years ago) link
I had tickets to his show this Friday, which just got cancelled. I assumed it was because of the slipped disc in his back, but fuck, this fucking sucks.
― Waterloo? Oh, we've sunsetted that. (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 19:55 (twelve years ago) link
;_;
― some dude, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 19:59 (twelve years ago) link
didn't realize this thread was ILE...maybe it should be moved to ILM?
― tylerw, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 20:08 (twelve years ago) link
anyway, what an amazing musician. such a cool, unique drummer, in addition to having one of the great voices of the last half-century or so.
― tylerw, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 20:09 (twelve years ago) link
This Wheel's On Fire was a rough read. Ride that mystery train, Levon.
― Euler, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 20:10 (twelve years ago) link
Oh shit. This guy is all time. I have a picture of him hanging in my living room.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 20:12 (twelve years ago) link
Love this guy.
― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 20:12 (twelve years ago) link
He's going to be missed. Many of my friends have traveled to Marvell or Woodstock to shake his hand. Hopefully he knows he's appreciated.
― pplains, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 20:15 (twelve years ago) link
always seemed like a guy who lived for music, loved performing -- just watching those Last Waltz interview clips, you can tell how little he cared for mythmaking in the way Robertson did.
― tylerw, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 20:19 (twelve years ago) link
^ this. I mean, the guy bailed on Dylan's 1966 tour and worked on an oil rig. "What? They were booing us. I didn't like being booed."
― Waterloo? Oh, we've sunsetted that. (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 20:21 (twelve years ago) link
Once you read Levon's book, you learn how a bunch of Canadians were able to pass as Americans.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 20:23 (twelve years ago) link
Damn. <3 Helm forever
― Kiarostami bag (milo z), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 20:27 (twelve years ago) link
One of the all-time greats.
― i just believe in memes (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 20:44 (twelve years ago) link
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/575278_10150709017903528_99136623527_9668601_1869317415_n.jpg
― pplains, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 20:50 (twelve years ago) link
:(
― one dis leads to another (ian), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 20:54 (twelve years ago) link
my brother and i were listening to Big Pink last weekend and just marveling at what a *different* sound all of those guys made together. even though they were certainly influential on their peer group and beyond, I don't know if anything else really sounds like them. for a while there anyway, the creativity level was insanely high.
― tylerw, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 20:57 (twelve years ago) link
A fucking great musician with the sort of love for the whole huge world of music that leaves a huge impact on others, on how they experience music. An underpraised singer.
― same old song and placenta (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 21:34 (twelve years ago) link
so many great voices in the band and levons was the most memorable
― max, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 21:40 (twelve years ago) link
one of my favorite musicians of all time. i'm really sad at the moment.
the band doing buddy holly's "slippin' and slidin'" on festival express, goddamn levon what a great drummer and singer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZu6NucfLHM&feature=related
― Mississippi Butt Hurt (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 21:42 (twelve years ago) link
xp i don't know, generally my favorite singer in the Band is whoever's singing at the time. they're all so amazing. but yeah, such a wealth of talent there.
― tylerw, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 21:43 (twelve years ago) link
^^i mean the drumming on that is SO GOOD
― Mississippi Butt Hurt (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 21:43 (twelve years ago) link
damn no Chadvril?
― some dude, Wednesday, 22 August 2012 14:57 (eleven years ago) link
pretty sure this already exists? at least i heard the neil young/sadies contribution at least a year ago. it's great.
― tylerw, Wednesday, 22 August 2012 14:57 (eleven years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luShSj0JGT8
― tylerw, Wednesday, 22 August 2012 15:19 (eleven years ago) link
sounds great, maybe they'll do "levon" http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/elton-john-mumford-sons-to-honor-levon-helm-at-grammys-20130206
― tylerw, Wednesday, 6 February 2013 21:15 (eleven years ago) link
Dpcumentary, released in 2010, but much more extensive screenings coming up, also DVD--enticingly described here: Levon steppin' lively no matter whut:http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/levon-helms-last-years-captured-in-aint-in-it-for-my-health-20130415Screen dates, trailer and other goodies here:http://www.kinolorber.com/film.php?id=1235
― dow, Thursday, 18 April 2013 23:29 (eleven years ago) link
Ain't In It For My Health: A Film About Levon Helm
So is it worth seeing?
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 28 May 2013 19:42 (ten years ago) link
http://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/aint-in-it-for-my-health-movie-review/2013/05/22/a52e471c-c164-11e2-bfdb-3886a561c1ff_story.html
“Ain’t in It for My Health,” an affectionate documentary by Jacob Hatley, examines Helm’s face and voice up close, at several points following its subject into the doctor’s office, where we’re literally shown Helm’s ravaged vocal cords, via a camera at the end of a flexible tube down the singer’s throat.
...
Don’t look for any new or deep psychological insights from Helm about his relationships with the members of his old group.
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 28 May 2013 19:47 (ten years ago) link
Feel like I must have already seen that footage at a Butthole Surfers gig.
― Oulipo Traces (on a Cigarette) (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 28 May 2013 19:53 (ten years ago) link
As much as I love Levon Helm, that's more than I wanna know. I mean, I don't really wanna see Keith Moon's liver, either.
― Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Tuesday, 28 May 2013 20:12 (ten years ago) link
Wife is tremendous Levin fanatic. Is this worth a 90 minute detour on our way home from a wedding out of state?
― Jimmywine Dyspeptic, Tuesday, 28 May 2013 21:07 (ten years ago) link
err, 'Levon,' obvs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fusKcZjj7dg
― Robert Gotopieces (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 3 December 2020 16:38 (three years ago) link
Iirc, Mercury Rev is actually from or was based around Woodstock, right? I think I heard that they would see Garth and Levon at the grocery store, and just one day asked them if they wanted to sit in.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 3 December 2020 16:50 (three years ago) link
Yeah they have a whole upstate NY thing - formed in Buffalo, Dave Fridmanns studio is in Cassadaga NY, Jonathan Donahue and Grasshopper were in the Catskills when working on Deserters Songs, not sure where but close enough to connect with those guys
― turn the jawhatthefuckever on (One Eye Open), Thursday, 3 December 2020 17:06 (three years ago) link
https://richardsmanuel.tumblr.com/post/121183926169
― The Windows of the URL (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 11 February 2023 15:20 (one year ago) link
aw man <3
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Saturday, 11 February 2023 17:51 (one year ago) link
I was going to add ^get out your handkerchiefs
― The Windows of the URL (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 11 February 2023 17:57 (one year ago) link
There are some videos on Libby Titus's instagram of his other stepfather, Donald Fagen, setting in with him, the kid I mean.
― The Windows of the URL (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 11 February 2023 17:59 (one year ago) link
Okay, I just read Ezra Titus's obituary. Really get out your handkerchiefs for that if you choose to click.
― The Windows of the URL (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 11 February 2023 18:15 (one year ago) link
I guess you can read the same thing here if that goes away: http://theband.hiof.no/updates_2009.html
― The Windows of the URL (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 11 February 2023 18:19 (one year ago) link
Is there a clear winner among the Helm solo albums?
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Saturday, 6 April 2024 19:01 (one week ago) link
I usually hear fans say his last two are his best. Just a heads up, his voice won't be what it once was, but considering that he wasn't sure if he would ever sing again, it's kind of miraculous by that standard.
― birdistheword, Sunday, 7 April 2024 00:54 (one week ago) link