Levon Helm

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?