Levon Helm

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

from here:

Left with few options, but looking to avoid service in the Vietnam War, James [Ambrose Johnson, aka Rick James] enlisted in the Naval Reserves, the requirement being that he report for training two weekends a month However, with his growing popularity as musician with the doo-wop singing group The Duprees and, subsequently, the revelry it brought into his life, he missed his reporting dates. Soon, he received a notice in the mail that he was to report for active duty. He went to the bus station, then made the decision to go to Canada, instead.

In Canada, and in uniform, James was saved from a violent altercation by two passersby (Garth Hudson and Levon Helm, who would eventually be members of legendary rock group The Band). The guys took Johnson to a bar, and, in an act of characteristic gusto, Johnson sung vocals with the house band.

(the "violent altercation" was an attack by a gang of racist thugs; Hudson and Helm swiftly dispatched of them)

Up On Super Freak

(the "violent altercation" was an attack by a gang of racist thugs; Hudson and Helm swiftly dispatched of them)

― Waterloo? Oh, we've sunsetted that. (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Saturday, April 21, 2012 7:13 AM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i'm imaging a scene out of a hong kong martial arts film where just as james is cornered by the racist thugs, hudson and helm leap down from the trees and administer sharp and powerful kicks to the thugs in quick succession, then wipe their hands in an "all done" gesture.

Full-length '07 interview here, w link to '93 interview, and the right rail links NPR's whole Helm/Band archive (or at least several things, incl performances)http://www.npr.org/2012/04/20/150886425/levon-helm-the-2007-fresh-air-interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vHQr3gAyLU&

whoa, just saw this
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-SQqOQOnes7w/T5LTZvm6zLI/AAAAAAAAB0c/08b8mnr0FuM/s512/LEVON%2520%2526%2520THE%2520HAWKS%2520-%2520Port%2520Dover%25201964%2520-%25200F.jpg
download over yonder: http://www.guitars101.com/forums/f90/levon-and-the-hawks-1964-00-00-port-dover-139159.html
didn't know there were any of these full shows circulating!
Contains one of The Hawks' Sunday night shows at Pop Ivy's Ballroom in Port Dover, Ontario, Canada, 1964. They used to play regularly at Pop Ivy's after the split from Ronnie Hawkins, with Jerry Penfound as the sixth member on sax and flute. Taken from a 2-track tape recording that seems to have circulated among die-hard collectors for many years. The tape is described in detail in Levon Helm's autobiography. Several of the songs on the tape are cut.

listening now, this is pretty rad. sound is a little bit iffy, but pretty good all things considered. they do "peter gunn"!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!

it's pretty great! levon suggesting that the crowd help themselves to the free corn. crazy that in a year they'd be playing stadiums with dylan.

I would take chances on seeing more bands I've never heard of live if more clubs served free corn.

Cosigned

"Corn? I don't remember corn."

sounds like Levon is due to be buried next to Danko in Woodstock.

http://bassmusicianmagazine.com/2012/04/how-to-danko-a-lesson-in-the-style-of-rick-danko-by-rob-collier/

By the busload, hundreds of friends and fans of Levon Helm traveled to his home Thursday to say goodbye to the influential singer and drummer for The Band, who died of cancer last week.

The public memorial was held at the Woodstock barn where Helm held his Saturday night Midnight Ramble concerts in New York's Hudson Valley. His closed casket was surrounded by flowers and flanked by his drum kit and a piano.

Friends, neighbors and fans filed silently past the coffin, which was on the second floor of the barn and set against a backdrop of a family photo slideshow. Nearby, family members greeted visitors.

http://www.stripers247.com/phpBB2/images/smilies/icon_salute2.gif

Arkansas flags to fly at half-staff for Levon Helm

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe has ordered that flags fly at half-staff on Friday to honor Arkansas native Levon Helm, who died last week.

Helm, who grew up in Turkey Scratch, attained worldwide fame as a member of The Band. He died last week after battling throat cancer.

The governor issued a proclamation honoring Helm. Beebe called Helm "an enormously talented performer and gifted musician whose Arkansas roots can be heard and felt in his voice and in his music."

Helm is widely known for songs he sang with The Band, including "The Weight" and "Up on Cripple Creek."

A public memorial was held Thursday in Woodstock, N.Y., where Helm lived until his death.

I'd give everything to have come from a place called Turkey Scratch.