Levon Helm

HE WAS BUDDY RICH'S FAVORITE ROCK DRUMMER

high praise! and buddy doesn't strike me as a guy that gives out a lot of compliments

lol it might be faint praise coming from buddy rich. but still!
and that is an awesome band portrait! i want it.

haha you mean "rock drummer" as faint praise?

listening to "rag momma rag"...the fills during the "we could be relaxing in our sleeping bag"...goddamn

I'm sure Rich actually meant it as honest praise! He was absolutely down on anyone who couldn't vary it up or didn't know that it wasn't simply about pounding away -- Helm in contrast knew exactly that, and compared to a lot of rock drummers, well, there you go...

maybe! just thought that being budy rich's "favorite rock drummer" probably means you're like his 1000th favorite drummer. like being glenn gould's favorite honky tonk pianist. whatever, it is great, would love to hear the story behind it.
listening now to some dylan/band 74 stuff. even though he's not like an arena rock style drummer, levon could still fill up a big room.

Manuel played drums on "Rag..." cause Levon was playing mandolin.

ha, yeah, as noted in that mcguinn/sebastian thread, manuel is a pretty funky lil drummer himself.

wondering if dylan will do anything for levon tonight, looks like he's playing a show in brazil.

Manuel played drums on "Rag..." cause Levon was playing mandolin.

― Raymond Dubious Davies (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, April 19, 2012 5:42 PM (11 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

damn! didn't know that!

God, this is so sad. RIP Levon.

This interview is from February. He seemed so happy and full of energy! This is such a shock.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVey5eGRZqk

aw man, RIP

Manuel played drums on "Rag..." cause Levon was playing mandolin.

It's also Richard on "Ain't No More Cane," one of my 2 or 3 favorite Band songs.

Think I've seen mentions of shows where Manuel and Helm doubled up on drums--?

oh man just heard about this.

RIP

"Levon is one of the most extraordinary talented people I’ve ever known and very much like an older brother to me. I am so grateful I got to see him one last time and will miss him and love him forever."

when they read this statement on npr from robbie robertson as i was driving home from work i totally teared up

dylan:
He was my bosom buddy friend to the end, one of the last true great spirits of my or any other generation. This is just so sad to talk about. I still can remember the first day I met him and the last day I saw him. We go back pretty far and had been through some trials together. I’m going to miss him, as I’m sure a whole lot of others will too.

:-(

RIP. Thought he had been dead for some time, probably mixing him up with Rick Danko.

Great here clip on SCTV

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKdLsWkSfcQ

His drumming on "Revolution Blues" is so killer, perfectly echos the menace in the song.

i kinda hate to admit this but i've never been super into The Band partly because Levon is the only member who i actually like as a vocalist -- is there any handy list anywhere of all the songs he does lead vox on?

The Band has one of the most comprehensive reference pages for any band on the Web, imo.

Check out the songs album by album, starting with these two.

http://theband.hiof.no/albums/music_from_big_pink.html

http://theband.hiof.no/albums/the_band.html

Pretty accurate for the most part.

cool thx

yeah that website is great - i wish every band i loved had a website that thorough.

is there any handy list anywhere of all the songs he does lead vox on?

http://theband.hiof.no/who_sang_what.html

nice remembrance from elvis costello: http://www.elviscostello.com/news/ramble-on-levon/303

tho i think EC is mistaken when he says allen toussaint and Levon "had not been in each other’s company since the preparations for The Band’s “Rock Of Ages” live album in 1971" -- pretty sure toussaint worked on the Last Waltz too.

EC's story about Levon being on his "Spectacle" show and interacting w/ him via drum fills was great -- i remember watching that episode and not realizing that they were doing it that way because LH had lost his voice

need to see that episode!

i kinda hate to admit this but i've never been super into The Band partly because Levon is the only member who i actually like as a vocalist

Wow, really? I think all three of the guys are great, especially Danko.

i find Manuel's voice really hard to take, the other guys are OK but Helm is the only one where i'm actually excited to hear his voice

no wait i'm getting them mixed up, is Danko the one that sings "Stage Fright"? that's the song that flashes into my mind as the #1 example of Band vox i do not like

danko sings stage fright -- kind of know what you mena, there's something cartoony about the way he delivers that one. but damn, danko has some amazing vocals. unfaithful servant!

"Makes No Difference!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyXOjiVhH5U
subtract ray lamontughhhh from this and it's great.

Nick's voice has gotten scratchy too.

ha yeah. toussaint remains as smooooooth as ever. he is so good.

This is free of LaMontaigne residue:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USFEZ_aMw74

OK, that EC remembrance was pretty well done.

His drumming on "Revolution Blues" is so killer, perfectly echos the menace in the song.

WTF?! had no idea that was him

yeah he's drumming on "See the sky about to rain" too.

& then there's this still-unreleased, unbootlegged tune described in Shakey
"Separate Ways" - "the song begins in the middle of a doomy chord; Tim Mulligan lunged for the record button just as Young and the band dove into the song. Levon Helm rattles out a slow counterpoint as Ben Keith spins up a stark, bird-on-the-wire steel solo that has to be one of the lonesomest sounds ever recorded. "I won't apologize/The light shone in from your eyes/It isn't gone/And it will soon come back again," sings Young, sounding dead."

ha I forgot that I think. so many things rapturously described in Shakey that I've never heard.

Alright Neil, as a public service, we demand that you make available any and all recordings with Levon Helm. Thanks.

yes

I'm still stuck (from one of the Helm quotes way upthread) on the idea of kickin' it with him, Fagen and Dourif in Woodstock.

has anyone Donald Fagan ever been described before as being a "free lunch"?

love it when i write two sentences at once.

haha i was gonna say

i can't get over this right now :(

bar I work in town here has been on a near 100 percent Band kick this week. work's been great