Levon Helm

you're going to waste that liquor? no, not dead.

http://www.bluescruiseny.com/photogallery/archives/wk3/levon200.jpg

he's 64.

uh, what about him?

everything!

Levon, Levon likes his money
He makes a lot they say
Spend his days counting
In a garage by the motorway

He was born a pauper to a pawn on a Christmas day
When the New York Times said God is dead
And the war's begun
Alvin Tostig has a son today

And he shall be Levon
And he shall be a good man
And he shall be Levon
In tradition with the family plan
And he shall be Levon
And he shall be a good man
He shall be Levon

Levon sells cartoon balloons in town
His family business thrives
Jesus blows up balloons all day
Sits on the porch swing watching them fly

And Jesus, he wants to go to Venus
Leaving Levon far behind
Take a balloon and go sailing
While Levon, Levon slowly dies

has anyone read his book?

Instead of waiting until he does die, I'll say now that he's a wonderful drummer, a truly authentic vocalist, a man who loves music and what it can do for one's life, and the best representative from Arkansas that a state could have.

http://theband.hiof.no/band_pictures/jawbone_issue_5_97/photo_p6.jpg

L.I.P., Levon

My friend, M.L.

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.

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.

"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?

"Makes No Difference"!

fill at 2:14-2:16 is just sweet as fuck if you love the Band, which I do:

i love levon

is that from Festival Express?

another check in the "rock dudes who use traditional grip" column

Shooter cameo - A+++++++

such a great drummer.

fuck he rules.

that fill is fabulous, propelling him into the chorus, the sticks literally jumping with his excitement about joining voices with his brothers.

another check in the "rock dudes who use traditional grip" column

― Tracy Michael Jordan Catalano (Jordan), Wednesday, January 14, 2009 11:09 PM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

also bun e carlos

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).

ah maybe i mistook lefthandedness for trad grip

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.

erm, shouldn't be this on ILM?

"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"

not super surprising, considering the last decade or so but still sad.

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.

;_;

didn't realize this thread was ILE...maybe it should be moved to ILM?

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.

This Wheel's On Fire was a rough read. Ride that mystery train, Levon.

Oh shit. This guy is all time. I have a picture of him hanging in my living room.

;_;

Love this guy.

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.

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.

^ 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."

Once you read Levon's book, you learn how a bunch of Canadians were able to pass as Americans.

Damn. <3 Helm forever

One of the all-time greats.

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/575278_10150709017903528_99136623527_9668601_1869317415_n.jpg

:(

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.

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.

so many great voices in the band and levons was the most memorable

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

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.

^^i mean the drumming on that is SO GOOD

yeah, i mean the dude is a serious compendium of key american drumming styles -- new orleans, rockabilly, country, soul, blues, he covers it all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFgyD3Uk1JQ&feature=related

also for some reason i always find it way more impressive when awesome drummers can sing at the same time than when ppl that play other instruments sing at the same time, though i guess i don't know why i think that's different

damn :(

surprised he's made it this long, but still v sad news.

With Helm, it's the way the his voice is simply not effected by what his left hand is doing -- he'd smack the back beat HARD and just behind the beat enough, but he could still sing in a different, straighter style right on top of it when he wanted to. That's impressive.

not an expert on his solo album, but I've got this one, it's a good bbq record
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_95DOmt9Bc&feature=related

levon had a great laugh too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgVxszM42DI&feature=related
check about 1:25

the greatest drummer w/ the greatest group

a sweet bonus track from one of those reissues a few years back. beautifully vulnerable vocal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cymLzaDFPPs

this is also good
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lquomjz4jV1qzy30io1_500.jpg

willing to bet that levon was the better ping pong player.

the band doing buddy holly's "slippin' and slidin'" on festival express,

oh yeah oops sry lil rich my bad, i only know buddy's version

Their cover of "Don't Do It" features all time drumming.

super sad. one of my fave musicians in the world. :'(

What other people said above -- he's totally classic as both a drummer and a singer, but as a drummer-singer I think he's pretty much #1 all time. And (the key here is) the reason he's a great drummer-singer is that his singing and his drumming grow out of the same impulse -- for want of a better word, soul. They're different expressions of the same feeling.

This hasn't fully sunk in yet. In addition to all the other things that make Levon great is the fact that he is the kind of guy who says things like "Muddy Waters, the king of country music."

also far and away the most likable member of The Band (Of Weirdo Drug-Addicts/Mad Genius Recluses/Domineering Frontmen)

robertson:
Last week I was shocked and so saddened to hear that my old band mate, Levon, was in the final stages of his battle with cancer. It hit me really hard because I thought he had beaten throat cancer and had no idea that he was this ill. I spoke with his family and made arrangements to go and see him.

On Sunday I went to New York and visited him in the hospital. I sat with Levon for a good while, and thought of the incredible and beautiful times we had together. It was heartwarming to be greeted by his lovely daughter Amy, whom I have known since she was born. Amy’s mother, Libby Titus, and her husband, Donald Fagen, were so kind to help walk me through this terrible time of sadness. My thoughts and prayers are with his wife Sandy.

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.

-Robbie Robertson

oh and I just posted this little collection of Levon & The Hawks recordings, 1961-65 http://doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com/post/21327965061/what-a-party-like-so-many-others-my-thoughts
great stuff.

Levon Helm's son-in-law is Donald Fagen?

Or wait, Donald Fagen is married to Helm's ex-wife?

also far and away the most likable member of The Band (Of Weirdo Drug-Addicts/Mad Genius Recluses/Domineering Frontmen)

― caulk the wagon and float it, Tuesday, April 17, 2012 10:11 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i dunno garth hudson is p loveable too imo

danko and manuel you kind of want to adopt and take care of

robbie isn't likeable though

his "fake singing into the microphone during choruses as if my voice doesn't totally blow goats and i'm not in a band with three amazing vocalists" is the most annoying stage mannerism of all time

fagen's his ex-wife's new husband, yeah, i think. xp

At any rate, I'm surprised Robertson didn't try to say that he was the one suffering from throat cancer.

everybody except robbie is pretty lovable, i think. i saw garth hudson play a couple times when i was in college and it was a fun time. just him doodling around on old standards and then hey how about a sax solo.

Or wait, Donald Fagen is married to Helm's ex-wife?

― pplains, Wednesday, April 18, 2012 11:24 AM (18 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

checked wiki, and yeah not his ex wife but they had a relationship and daughter together (amy) and then she married fagen in the 90s

that's crazy

"Hear Alexis P. Suter sing this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3qu0xNRaI4 ... I am too sad for words right now. Please continue praying for Levon and family." - Garth

tyler, i think my opinion of robbie is most based off of his camera hogging interview segments during the last waltz, he's such a douche in that

Saw him in Winnipeg in 2010 and optimistically thought/hoped he was beating the cancer. I always love drummers who set up side-stage at an angle. Great show, not great video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zM3a8B4edBA&feature=related

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ATAexrDtFes/TNlKJ5fsX9I/AAAAAAAACtk/lCU6l4bzwnQ/s1600/20101109_LibbyTitus.JPG
here's libby titus, she's got a couple cool records.

and yeah, my opinion of robbie as a lame-o just comes from the Last Waltz too. whatever, dude is one of my top 5 guitarists and an amazing songwriter. he can be a lame-o if he wants to be!

Picturing Fagen sitting alone in the waiting room with daytime television on. Robertson gets off the elevator.

"Yeah, they're all in there. He just woke up a little awhile ago."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgVxszM42DI

Kind of a "Saturday Night" pink.

Think there is another thread where some of us watched his instructional video which was kind of fun

I saw the post-Robertson version of The Band live in June '84 ... opening for R.E.M.!

ha, weird! i guess garth hudson was practically a member of the Call for a bit in the early 80s.
i know some friends who saw the post-Robertson Band and said they were still great. Jericho from the early 90s has some good stuff on it -- a great "Blind Willie McTell" (which I think Dylan called definitive) and "Atlantic City."

hey Robbie haters can we maybe dial it back during this time? Robbie-hating is a fucking disease. I mean sure he's an asshole but among Band fans it's like "hey what'd you have for lunch?" "just some potato salad, I wasn't too hungry. FUCK ROBBIE ROBERTSON"

Robbie was mouthing that post as you wrote it, Steve.

I lol'd

oh like i said, i don't hate robbie at all, he's a huge part of some of my favorite music ever. i'm sure all the Band were jerks in their own special way -- they were rock stars in the 70s! it was their right and privilege.

I'm glad everyone is making their peace in these final days and whatever good that comes out it can only be beneficial.

also for some reason i always find it way more impressive when awesome drummers can sing at the same time than when ppl that play other instruments sing at the same time, though i guess i don't know why i think that's different

― Mississippi Butt Hurt (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, April 17, 2012 5:51 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it totally is imo, just because you use so much more of your body and especially upper body playing a drum set than most other instruments, also requires i think a little more breath control or consciousness of moving around or away from the mic.

hey those songs had to come from somewhere, so no prob w/ Rob. but i can imagine being in a Band with him could be unbearable

According to Helm in his autobio, many of the songs that came from "somewhere" were co-written by other Band members, while being solely credited to Robertson.

Singing drummers: I've seen gorillas ride bicycles, but it still seems like it shouldn't be possible.

I wasn't able to see Helm at the Old Town School here a few weeks back, but he was joined by Fagen there, too. Apparently they're neighbors in Woodstock and good friends, which would explain why someone like Levon, who was having trouble singing, would tap Donald as his unlikely ringer.

Has any major talent accomplished less in his days since being in one of the greatest bands of all time than Robbie Robertson? It can't be a coincidence that his creative well essentially dried up the second the Band broke up.

Best post-Band thing he did was the Casino soundtrack.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qgnHBStEGWo/T0zeteduT8I/AAAAAAAADGc/VK1AdG5sJks/s1600/430159_307375945976091_238558132857873_747223_1924266715_n.jpg

xpost God, man, I couldn't name you one note of actual composed music for "Casino." I thought it was all rock songs and stuff.

Robertson did "Color of Money" too, right? And in that case all I can think of is Eric Clapton and "Werewolves on London." And then Robertson went A&R with the occasional ethno-electronica disc, right?

xpost God, man, I couldn't name you one note of actual composed music for "Casino." I thought it was all rock songs and stuff.

Exactly. Not a single note of Robertson-composed music appears on the soundtrack. But his choices were brilliant.

Robertson was a heck of a DJ on the 1980 segment of GoodFellas.

i remember seeing a Robertson solo video once on VH1 Classic, i think "Somewhere Down the Crazy River," that kind of straddled the line between intriguing and embarrassing. aero is right that now is prob not the time for RR bashing/lols though.

robbie robertson also put together the intriguing modernist soundtrack to shutter island.

but wth folks, levon helm is dying, let's remember him.

listening to that "before the band" bonus disc on the band's big box set. it is awesome.

can't actually get past The Band/Dan connection. it's like two amazing religions
colliding. also, that lady has great taste.

one of her albums was produced by paul simon too, so throw that into the mix as well.

Some of my fave Levon playing is on "On the Beach."

Danko, too.

yeah so good. my dream is that somewhere in the archives there are more neil/band sessions from that period. there's at least one other track w/ levon that's never been bootlegged from around that time.

Is Levon on Comes a Time anywhere too?

But I've seen the band already?

Whoops, disregard that^

This makes me too sad for words.

In particular, I am having a pretty rough day today, and wasn't in any mood to come to the office. Sure enough, the moment I put on Rag Mama Rag, I was at least able to get myself going.

Such a positive force in lot of music I love. And his cameo in the Mark Wahlberg vehicle "Shooter" was AWESOME.

i think the only other Neil album Levon is on is Hawks & Doves (The Old Homestead) -- but I believe that song was recorded around the same time as On The Beach.

According to Helm in his autobio, many of the songs that came from "somewhere" were co-written by other Band members, while being solely credited to Robertson.

Has any major talent accomplished less in his days since being in one of the greatest bands of all time than Robbie Robertson? It can't be a coincidence that his creative well essentially dried up the second the Band broke up.

fair do's guys. fuck that dude.

According to Helm in his autobio, many of the songs that came from "somewhere" were co-written by other Band members, while being solely credited to Robertson.

Has any major talent accomplished less in his days since being in one of the greatest bands of all time than Robbie Robertson? It can't be a coincidence that his creative well essentially dried up the second the Band broke up.

fair enough. fuck that guy.

& fuck this iPhone

Robbie Robertson invented the iPhone.

I should emphasize that Robertson is an incredible guitarist.

listened to the live "ramble at the ryman" album last night (i admit to not having listened to his solo recs of the last few years). totally a good time! amazing that post-throat cancer he still pretty much sounds just like levon helm.

The rambles at his homestead can be pretty refreshing, or so I hear from friends who have attended. Hopefully they'll continue after he's gone.

Good Band and Levon & the Hawks links over at Tyler's doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com

some kind of attempt at reconciliation:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/apr/19/robbie-robertson-levon-helm

oh what the fuck's up, try this http://doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com

ah, this is so sad. he is an amazing drummer. really not that many around who sound like him, which is odd considering how often you see the band getting name-dropped.

guess it is official. RIP, Levon.

man ...

RIP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZaU3VtMfoM

:(
RIP

RIP a great man and musician

going to have to spin some 'northern lights, southern cross' tonight

this dude was the most crucial member of the band, at least for me

RIP. I heard that his family read out some of the Facebook and Twitter tributes that came after the news broke a couple of days ago. Nice if true - to spend your last hours hearing how much you were loved and how you'll be missed.

rip

RIP, another one of the greats, guess it's gonna keep being like this, on & on.

RIP, watched him in "The Right Stuff" last night. A very rare talent.

First memory of him in anything doing anything was actually Coal Miner's Daughter. Great film still -- this 1980 Rolling Stone interview with him is worth a read:

http://theband.hiof.no/articles/coal_miners_daughter.html

When a hotel guest complains about the volume, we head for a Mexican joint, where Helm orders the first of several rounds of extra-large Margaritas. As skinny as vermicelli, Helm is clean shaven and his brown hair is boyishly shott. He hardly looks his thirty-nine years, although closer scrutiny reveals the bits of gray hair and the deep lines around his brown eyes, left by years and years on the road. Yet those years and the fame and money they brought have left few other traces. In fact, Helm appears to be the real thing, an honest-to-goodness, down-home country boy. He lights a Merit, pulls on it a few times to make sure it's going and then offers it to me. He opens doors and remembers everyone's name and keeps inviting folks to stop in and see him when they're in Arkansas. Its the kind of invitation you take seriously. Levon Helm is the kind of guy you hoped the Marlboro Man would be.

Helm attacks his Margarita, licks his lips and explains, "I met Tommy Lee Jones years ago through a mutual friend, Brad Dourif, a fine actor who is my neighbour up in Woodstock, New York. When the Coal Miner's Daughter deal came up, Tommy Lee apparently threw my name into the hat because there wasn't anyone in Hollywood quite country enough or something. Michael Apted [the directorl saw The Last Waltz [a film about the Band's farewelt coneertl and called me to Nashville to read for the part."

Over another round, Helm continues. "I felt like such a fool," he says, embarrassed at the memory "I'm reading the Ted Webb part and Apted is reading the Loretta part and he's calling me daddy and I'm calling him Loretta. Lord!" A month later Helm was back in Nashville, where he hooked up with his old buddy Tommy Lee. Together, they drove to the first location, in Wise, Virginia, and along the way Jones gave Helm a crash course in acting. "Tommy Lee and I split a bottle of Wild Turkey," says Helm, "and he told me what to expect, how to pull it off." Helm breaks into a huge smile. "Tommy Lee is a good ol' boy from Texas, but he went up there to school (Harvard) and read Shakespeare and did a lot off wild stuff that a country boy wouldn't ordinarily do. He told me things like don't look at the camera, don't move too quick, don't talk too fast, do everything at a certain rhythm."

Helm settles back in the booth. "See, it gets back to what I was saying. I don't understand it yet but there is a pitch and rhythm that is absolutely parallel in music and acting, and if l have the opportunity to be in a few more of these kinds of projects, l might be able to understand it."

dunno if i've ever been this sad about the death of someone i don't know

He still shudders when he remembers his death scene. "Nobody wants to get into a coffin, but l didn't want to get marked as superstitious. So I asked Michael Apted to get in and show me exactly how he wanted me to lay." Helm laughs. "I figured he could kind of warm it up for me. lf he had the nerve, I had the nerve."

As the mourners sang "Amazing Grace," Helm suddenly came to life. "I figured that it was my funeral, and I wanted that song sung the way I wanted: the traditional, old-fashioned way. I just got up, with my gone-for-good makeup on, and we worked it out, sang it a few times, then I got back in the coffin."

And gotta say -- love the look on his face there:

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2012/04/18/arts/20120418HELM-slide-HZID/20120418HELM-slide-HZID-popup.jpg

Think that might've been the same article where he said Robertson (who had already been in Carny, I guess) told him to think of acting like hitting a note. This was just sent out by Vanguard, label for most if not all of his recent albums
http://gallery.mailchimp.com/1dff6e90b856dc06c872242fe/images/HELMdirtfarmer_6__1.jpg

So sad, can hardly listen to 'The night they drove old Dixie down' without getting a bit emotional, such a towering performance.

today i feel very much the way i did a couple years ago when Richie Hayward, the drummer of Little Feat, passed away. those guys are both total champs of their particular styles of playing and had amazing-sounding drum tracks.

I've got the same kind of feelings as when Alex Chilton died. From the same area as my family, around my dad's age. Enough passing degrees to feel just the slightest connection.

http://theithacapost.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Levon3-430x496.jpg

:)

still kicking up dust

http://theband.hiof.no/band_pictures/trotsky/sheet_mfbp_tb_2.jpg

Looking at me from my living room:

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/p480x480/538771_10150749592763718_738343717_9456547_534071940_n.jpg

awesome. is that a Jon Langford piece?

this one is beautiful:

http://consumerist.com/images/resources/2007/03/levonhelm.jpg

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg684/scaled.php?server=684&filename=70858276.png&res=landing

http://theband.hiof.no/band_pictures/landy_vision_01-2003/p16.jpg

Yeah, it's part of a larger portion of the Band I bought from Jon a few years ago with a tax rebate. I told him it was my patriotic duty. I mentioned to him that Levon looked very angry, and he joked that he had a lot to be angry about.

Portrait not portion, sorry.

will now and forever rep for his cameo in 'Shooter'

don't know if he really pursued it, but seems like he could have had more of an acting career -- really a natural screen presence in coal miner's daughter.

Man, I just heard about this. :(

http://images3.cinema.de/imedia/4349/2364349,1ebr0NNurHg7pyGaqTGvKFi1mYu8tK50F3X2zZsiWwAMnyqutUC3PCnSXCINeTLqa2V7iGzso9he3qrK0GLUUA==.jpg

"How come you don't sing more songs about oatmeal?"

Josh -- you have info on that whole Band series? Internet search reveals nothing

It's a big cross with all their pictures. Dunno how to link besides posting another pic to Facebook, but I can try ...

awesome all caps thing from garth hudson
LEVON HELM LEFT US TODAY AT 1:30 PM, THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2012. I AM TERRIBLY SAD. THANK YOU FOR 50 YEARS OF FRIENDSHIP AND MUSIC. MEMORIES THAT LIVE ON WITH US. NO MORE SORROWS, NO MORE TROUBLES, NO MORE PAIN. HE WENT PEACEFULLY TO THAT BEAUTIFUL MARVELOUS WONDERFUL PLACE. HE WAS BUDDY RICH'S FAVORITE ROCK DRUMMER ... AND MY FRIEND. LEVON, I'M PROUD OF YOU.

xpost Not to steal Garth's thunder, but you can see the whole thing here:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7062/6942686409_c36a915659.jpg

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

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.

you could move there, give your kids the opportunity you never had

http://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/15245252.jpg

Small town.

also for some reason i always find it way more impressive when awesome drummers can sing at the same time than when ppl that play other instruments sing at the same time, though i guess i don't know why i think that's different

― Mississippi Butt Hurt (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, April 17, 2012 5:51 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it totally is imo, just because you use so much more of your body and especially upper body playing a drum set than most other instruments, also requires i think a little more breath control or consciousness of moving around or away from the mic.

― some former lust object you've shamefully forgotten (some dude), Wednesday, April 18, 2012 2:11 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

also really notable imo is the ease & joy with which he pulls this off, so elastic & graceful

listening to cbc the sunday edition at midnight last sunday in a cottage, michael enright gave a brief eulogy to helm & played "the hold." one of my earliest musical memories is of my father playing that song, & i have so many wonderful moments & memories of hearing it since, i almost burst into tears right there

http://i612.photobucket.com/albums/tt203/pplains/12-9.jpg

I think Ai Lien scoped you taking that shot today, pp. She wondered what you were up to.

She didn't catch me walking on the grass, did she?

Could've been windier.

http://distilleryimage8.instagram.com/fe8e00da908d11e1a39b1231381b7ba1_7.jpg

Remembrance from Donald Fagen

LEVON HELM: 1940 - 2012

During the last few years, whenever possible, I've played in the rhythm section of Levon Helm's band at his house/blues-joint up in Woodstock, N.Y. I was literally grandfathered in: Levon's daughter Amy, who has two boys herself, is also daughter to my wife, Libby. Amy, a terrific singer, has been central to the Midnight Ramble since it's inception.

On those Saturday nights, I had a great sightline over to Levon, straight across the top of the Steinway. When he was into his groove, with that left shoulder pulled down, wailing into the boom mic on his right, I couldn't take my eyes off him. I couldn't figure out how he could keep that thuddy, cycling pulse so even, making every fill and roll, and yet sing so well at the same time. He made all those machines - the sticks, the skins, the pedals, the cymbals, even the microphone - into living extensions of his own body. Without ever sounding mechanical, he always put the downbeat in that sweet spot. Locking in with Levon was the easiest gig I've ever had.

Towards the end, before each show, he was trying everything possible - inhalers. steam and whatever - to get his damaged larynx loose enough to sing a few tunes so as not to disappoint the folks. The fact is, when he walked out on stage and sat down at the kit, his percussive excellence and iconic presence were more than enough to satisfy most all the paying customers. His family, his old bandmates Robbie and Garth, the Ramble band and crew and several generations of fans around the world - we're all missing him.

god it's beautiful to have a wordsmith like fagen describe helm so perfectly

otm

still bummed that he's really gone

They should hire Fagen and Becker to write negative obituaries.

save it for another thread josh

that's a really nice piece.

I couldn't figure out how he could keep that thuddy, cycling pulse so even, making every fill and roll, and yet sing so well at the same time. He made all those machines - the sticks, the skins, the pedals, the cymbals, even the microphone - into living extensions of his own body. Without ever sounding mechanical, he always put the downbeat in that sweet spot. Locking in with Levon was the easiest gig I've ever had.

gets at some of the stuff i was trying to express upthread

yeah was listening to rock of ages over the weekend, and it was clear how much the band followed levon's lead, like they could just bounce around helm's drums. even danko, who is the other part of the rhythm section, had enormous freedom.

Which link is better for the xpost Levon & the Hawks set? File Factory's freebie keeps being fully in use--"try again"--and that skeeball thing, h'm-m-m.

i did it through filefactory, which, yeah is a pain in the ass. i would put it up on mediafire, but i've been kicked off of there.

Remembrance from Donald Fagen

Rock of Ages
Lost Wages
Rock of Ages
Lost Wages

Tyler, anybody, have you tried http://bbchron.blogspot.com Levon & Friends 70tn Birthday Jubilee?

haven't! looks pretty good though.

James, would love to hear some kind of Steely Band mash-up, esp from the early prime of both.

save it for another thread josh

Ha, I meant to cast no aspirations on the beautiful tribute to Levon he wrote. I just think, incidental to Levon, that those guys would write hilariously mean obituaries.

A friend in Kingston writes:
Also see http://fooooo.com/w/ce051061b5833c6557c2348b33df1b76which is very local. The cornfield scenes were shot about half a mile from where I used to live, and the band scenes were shot in our spookiest bar, Snyder's, which is kind of a haunted house that sells Bud Lite. Levon was our most prominent local citizen--sure wish tickets to his Rambles hadn't cost $100 a pop, so that I never could go to one (L had bigtime medical bills)

Even Poldark was a fan: http://robin-ellis.net/2012/04/20/one-of-my-heroes-has-died/

Dunno how to search for a thread on the Band, but this just announced:

Garth Hudson presents a Canadian Tribute to the Band

*Garth Hudson produced and plays keyboards on all tracks along with the following artists:

1. Danny Brooks & The Rockin’ Revelators - Forbidden Fruit

2. Mary Margaret O’Hara - Out of the Blue

3. Peter Katz & The Curious - Acadian Driftwood

4. Neil Young & Sadies - This Wheel’s on Fire

5. Suzie McNeil - Ain’t Got No Home

6. Cowboy Junkies - Clothes Line Saga

7. Kevin Hearn & Thin Buckly - You Ain’t Going Nowhere

8. Bruce Cockburn & Blue Rodeo - Sleeping

9. The Road Hammers - Yazoo Street Scandal

10. Raine Maida - The Moon Struck One

11. The Sadies - The Shape I’m In

12. Chantal Kreviazuk - Tears of Rage

13. I Loved Your Too Much – Hawksley Workman

14. Great Big Sea - Knockin’ Lost John

15. Blue Rodeo - King Harvest

16. The Trews - Move to Japan

17. Garth Hudson - Genetic Method (Anew)

18. Ian Thornley & Bruce Cockburn - Chest Fever

damn no Chadvril?

pretty sure this already exists? at least i heard the neil young/sadies contribution at least a year ago. it's great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luShSj0JGT8

sounds great, maybe they'll do "levon"
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/elton-john-mumford-sons-to-honor-levon-helm-at-grammys-20130206

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-20130415
Screen dates, trailer and other goodies here:
http://www.kinolorber.com/film.php?id=1235

Ain't In It For My Health: A Film About Levon Helm

So is it worth seeing?

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.

Feel like I must have already seen that footage at a Butthole Surfers gig.

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.

Wife is tremendous Levin fanatic. Is this worth a 90 minute detour on our way home from a wedding out of state?

err, 'Levon,' obvs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fusKcZjj7dg

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.

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

https://richardsmanuel.tumblr.com/post/121183926169

aw man <3

I was going to add ^get out your handkerchiefs

There are some videos on Libby Titus's instagram of his other stepfather, Donald Fagen, setting in with him, the kid I mean.

Okay, I just read Ezra Titus's obituary. Really get out your handkerchiefs for that if you choose to click.

I guess you can read the same thing here if that goes away: http://theband.hiof.no/updates_2009.html

Is there a clear winner among the Helm solo albums?

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.