Levon Helm

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I would have to talk to an old friend to verify this, so take it as a twice told tale.
My friend was the photograper for an ill-fated All The Kings Men project. The whole session had to move to Woodstock because they wanted Levon and Rick on a song and Levon and Rick wouldn't travel due to their need to have a steady reliable supply of herion. It may have been Danko only that had this issue but I recall it being both of them. I hope not as herion kills so many too soon.

saltbox and a rubber ball (Speedy Gonzalas), Sunday, 16 January 2005 21:28 (twenty-one years ago)

three years pass...

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 (seventeen years ago)

i love levon

ie: BANGING (M@tt He1ges0n), Wednesday, 14 January 2009 23:08 (seventeen years ago)

is that from Festival Express?

ie: BANGING (M@tt He1ges0n), Wednesday, 14 January 2009 23:08 (seventeen years ago)

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

Tracy Michael Jordan Catalano (Jordan), Wednesday, 14 January 2009 23:09 (seventeen years ago)

Shooter cameo - A+++++++

sad man in him room (milo z), Wednesday, 14 January 2009 23:11 (seventeen years ago)

such a great drummer.

tipsy mothra, Wednesday, 14 January 2009 23:14 (seventeen years ago)

fuck he rules.

cutty, Wednesday, 14 January 2009 23:14 (seventeen years ago)

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 (seventeen years ago)

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

ie: BANGING (M@tt He1ges0n), Wednesday, 14 January 2009 23:18 (seventeen years ago)

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 (seventeen years ago)

ah maybe i mistook lefthandedness for trad grip

ie: BANGING (M@tt He1ges0n), Wednesday, 14 January 2009 23:35 (seventeen years ago)

eight months pass...

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 (sixteen years ago)

erm, shouldn't be this on ILM?

willem, Wednesday, 16 September 2009 08:04 (sixteen years ago)

two years pass...

"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 (fourteen years ago)

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

tylerw, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 19:54 (fourteen years ago)

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 (fourteen years ago)

;_;

some dude, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 19:59 (fourteen years ago)

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

tylerw, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 20:08 (fourteen years ago)

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 (fourteen years ago)

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

Euler, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 20:10 (fourteen years ago)

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 (fourteen years ago)

;_;

Love this guy.

Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 20:12 (fourteen years ago)

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 (fourteen years ago)

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 (fourteen years ago)

^ 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 (fourteen years ago)

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 (fourteen years ago)

Damn. <3 Helm forever

Kiarostami bag (milo z), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 20:27 (fourteen years ago)

One of the all-time greats.

i just believe in memes (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 20:44 (fourteen years ago)

:(

one dis leads to another (ian), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 20:54 (fourteen years ago)

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 (fourteen years ago)

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 (fourteen years ago)

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

max, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 21:40 (fourteen years ago)

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 (fourteen years ago)

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 (fourteen years ago)

^^i mean the drumming on that is SO GOOD

Mississippi Butt Hurt (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 21:43 (fourteen years ago)

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

tylerw, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 21:45 (fourteen years ago)

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

Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 21:46 (fourteen years ago)

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, 17 April 2012 21:51 (fourteen years ago)

damn :(

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

it's smdh time in America (will), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 21:59 (fourteen years ago)

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.

Three Word Username, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 22:00 (fourteen years ago)

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

tylerw, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 22:02 (fourteen years ago)

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

tylerw, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 22:10 (fourteen years ago)

the greatest drummer w/ the greatest group

Ward Fowler, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 22:10 (fourteen years ago)

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

tylerw, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 22:42 (fourteen years ago)

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

tylerw, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 22:45 (fourteen years ago)

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

tylerw, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 22:48 (fourteen years ago)

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

Gotta be pedantic and point out that this is a Little Richard number

i just believe in memes (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 22:50 (fourteen years ago)

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

Mississippi Butt Hurt (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 22:54 (fourteen years ago)

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 (three years ago)

one year passes...

Is there a clear winner among the Helm solo albums?

Robert Adam Gilmour, Saturday, 6 April 2024 19:01 (two years ago)

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 (two years ago)

six months pass...

RIP Libby Titus

Litso Mystic (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 15 October 2024 11:46 (one year ago)

Made me think of this again: https://www.tumblr.com/richardsmanuel/121183926169

Litso Mystic (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 15 October 2024 11:47 (one year ago)

eight months pass...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqCBYvi6bVU

35 Millimeter Dream Police (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 30 June 2025 02:01 (eleven months ago)

Can't wait to watch that.

Josh in Chicago, Monday, 30 June 2025 02:45 (eleven months ago)

nine months pass...

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXU91uNFeeW

Galactic Poetaster (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 23 April 2026 01:15 (one month ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrAQQZi1Jf4

Galactic Poetaster (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 23 April 2026 01:25 (one month ago)


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