Tribute to Levon Helm

To contact us Click HERE
I just wanted to take a little time to pay tribute to Levon Helm after learning of his death a little while ago. The former drummer and singer for The Band lost his long battle with throat cancer.

As the warm-up act for Crosby, Still and Nash, I happened to see The Band in 1985. Unfortunately I don't remember too much about that concert - I was too young to appreciate their music, and wasn't really a fan at that time. The headline act didn't really have a memorable night either. Although I was (and still am) a huge fan of CSN, the mid-80s were the low point in David Crosby's drug addiction problems. Also, within a two or three-year time period, Stephen Stills picked-up a massive amount of weight. Half-way through Suite: Judy Blue Eyes the band had to take a break - that lasted several seconds - so that Stills could catch his breath!

In addition to being the back-up for Bob Dylan, The Band was probably most famous for their "final" concert which was featured in a film and on an album known as The Last Waltz. One of The Band's most famous songs, The Weight, was played that night, but was excluded from the movie and album. Instead, the young director of the movie, Martin Scorsese, decided to record another "studio" version of the song, that was added to the original live material. In this version he brilliantly included The Staples who helped to provide an extremely soulful rendition of the song:



The live cut of The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, perhaps one of The Band's biggest hits, made it into the movie and album:



Helm was diagnosed with throat cancer in the late 90s, but managed to produce several more albums, including the critically acclaimed Dirt Farmer, which won a Grammy Award in the Traditional Folk Album category in 2007:




Levon Helm also appeared as a character actor in several movies, including The Right Stuff and a Coal Miner's Daughter.

R.I.P.


Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com