Levon Helm is gone

[hagopian]

Levon Helm died Thursday at the age of 71, and a piece of the rich roots music now called Americana should be buried with him.

Helm, who was best known as the drummer for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group The Band, had been suffering from a recurrence of the cancer that cost him his singing voice a decade earlier.

(* Although estranged from Robbie Robertson for years, Robbie visited Levon on the weekend at Sloan-Kettering, and Roberston showed great empathy and kindness, to one of the true great drummers in history. This is a terrible loss - if you have not seen "The Last Waltz" - do it. Very sad day for Band freaks like me, but I am glad that he and Robbie made peace in the end. The argument was over royalties.)

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainmen ... z1sWKxg411

[skyvalleyradio]

I feel more sadness about Levon Helm's passing than that of the great Dick Clark. If you love the Band's music and have never seen "The Last Waltz" you owe it to yourself to see & hear this historical event. I'll add to what hagopian has said by stating the Band's music is very much a part of Canadiana as well. Levon & The Hawks will rock on forever!

[Neumann Sennheiser]

Amen to The Last Waltz. The scene where The Band performs "Evangeline" with Emmy Lou Harris?....Wow....just....Wow!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-rTkqn-4qg
I've seen a lot of legendary acts in my life; Zeppelin, Tull, Queen, The Eagles, Abba (yes, Abba..there..I said it) Iron Butterfly ( yep..said that too !) but NOTHING topped The Band when I saw them while they were all still one and intact as a group outdoors and close up at Festival Express in Calgary, 1970.
Without Levon they would've had no heartbeat and no voice.

BTW..in the youtube clip, that's Levon playing mandolin; the members would switch it up at times, as necessary, instrument-wise.
Loved one of the comments: ..."If cool were people, Levon Helm would be India".

[PMC]

I echo all that has been said....am a big fan of the band... the last waltz has been on the b.c. educational channel a couple of times (Route 66), perhaps they will run it again.

[johnsykes]

Having been involved in the programming side of radio for a very brief spell, I seem to recall the name of the group you all are calling "The Band" as being simply called "Band". I have so little interest in that type of music....but wasn't that the group with Robbie Robertson in it? If I'm wrong (which I tend to be at times), then my apologies. I'm sure someone with way more knowledge in music can set me or us straight.

[PMC]

Having been involved in the programming side of radio for a very brief spell, I seem to recall the name of the group you all are calling "The Band" as being simply called "Band". I have so little interest in that type of music....but wasn't that the group with Robbie Robertson in it? If I'm wrong (which I tend to be at times), then my apologies. I'm sure someone with way more knowledge in music can set me or us straight.

You are correct on Robbie Robertson being in `The Band'... a very talented guy, as was Levon Helm.

You must recall `Up On Cripple Creek' from your days at CFOX.

[jon]

First time I ever heard The Band was on a tape of Cambridge University's FM station, when the announcer segued perfectly from an E. Power Biggs classical organ piece into "Chest Fever" from their first album, which starts out with a beautiful piece of organ work. That still remains my favourite piece by The Band.

As well as being on their first album, "Music from Big Pink", it was also released as a single but it never broke the Billboard Hot 100. The album, meanwhile, charted first on August 10, 1968, 3 weeks before "The Weight" hit the singles chart. Neither song charted at all in Vancouver, though CKLG-FM played both songs even before Billboard charted the album. They also played "Tears of Rage" and "I Shall Be Released" from the album much more frequently than "Chest Fever". "The Weight" was in heavy rotation. They may have played other cuts from the album.

Given how poorly "Chest Fever" did, I was very surprised to hear a comment made in "The Last Waltz" DVD that "Chest Fever" was The Band's most requested song.

[PMC]

Trying to funny and it doesn't happen... the lyric repeats often etc.

see the wikipedia of the album `The Weight' as it covers the details of who played what and how it came to be.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Weight

[hagopian]

Jon - your story, from E. Power Biggs, into Chest Fever, made me feel 19 again.

Mr. Helm was a monster talent and I envy you if you saw the group.

My PD in Toronto, was invited to the Last Waltz, and I was dead envious.

Still one of Scocese's gems. Too many highlights to mention.

Mr. Helm was one of the few great singers AND drummers,ever.

Thank you for sharing your stories.

NOTE to NS -actually ABBA were amazing!

[isthisthingon]

Five Things You Might Not Know About Levon Helms http://natpo.st/HYcIWx