Levon Helm

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.

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.