THE LEVON HELM BAND
''THE MIDNIGHT RAMBLE SESSIONS, VOLUME TWO''
FEBRUARY 21 2006
49:13
1/Battle Is Over But The War Goes On (M. Rogers, J. Winn) 5:05
2/What Kind Of Man Are You (Ray Charles) 4:18
3/Don't Ya Tell Henry (Bob Dylan) 3:58
4/Blue Shadows (Lowell Fulson) featuring Sean Costello 5:20
5/Johnny Boogie Goode (Levon Helm Band) 6:42
6/I Want To Know (Ray Charles) 5:23
7/A Fool In Love (Ike Turner) 5:05
8/Borrowed Time (Mac Rebbenack) featuring Dr. John 7:31
9/When The Battle Is Over (Mac Rebbenack, Jesse Hill) 5:28
The Levon Helm Band from 01/10/04 & 01/24/04 Midnight Rambles:
Levon Helm: drums & vocals
Amy Helm: mandolin & vocals
Johnnie Johnson: piano
Little Sammy Davis: harmonica & vocals
Dr John: guitar & vocals
Jon R. Smith: saxophone
Sean Costello: guitar & vocals
Andrew Shober: bass & vocals
Julia Smith: vocals
Levon Helm Band from 11/27/04 Midnight Ramble:
Levon Helm: drums & vocals
Amy Helm: mandolin & vocals
Steven Bernstein: trumpet
Byron Isaacs: bass & vocals
Erik Lawrence: saxophone
Tony Leone: drums & vocals
Fiona McBain: guitar & vocals
Glen Patscha: keyboards & vocals
Levon Helm Band from 3/26/05 Midnight Ramble:
Levon Helm: drums, mandolin & vocals
Amy Helm: mandolin & vocals
Little Sammy Davis: harmonica & vocals
Larry Campbell: fiddle & vocals
Jimmy Vivino: guitar & vocals
Mike Merritt: bass
Tony Leone: drums & vocals
Glen Patscha: keyboards & vocals
Erik Lawrence: saxophone
Steven Bernstein: trumpet
REVIEW
by Mark Deming
The second installment in Levon Helm's Midnight Ramble Music series -- albums drawn from jam-session style concerts held at Helm's studio in Woodstock, New York -- is a more engaging listen than the first, largely because it offers a lot more variety along the way. While the first set was a straightforward blues with Little Sammy Davis fronting the combo, The Midnight Ramble Music Sessions, Vol. 2 has been culled from four different gigs, and the song list ranges from the laid-back but potent funk of "The Battle Is Over but the War Goes On," the rollicking down-home shuffle of Bob Dylan's "Don't Ya Tell Henry," the tough blues workout of "Borrowed Time," and a heartfelt cover of Ray Charles' "I Want to Know" (the set is dedicated to Charles' memory). Helm also brought in some notable friends to sit in for these recordings, including Dr. John, former Chuck Berry piano wizard Johnnie Johnson, Jimmy Vivino from the Max Weinberg Seven, and Bob Dylan sideman Larry Campbell. But the big surprise here is that Helm is singing again, and singing well; he was diagnosed with cancer of the vocal cords in 1998, and surgery and radiation treatments reduced his voice to a shadow of its former self for several years, but if there's a bit more rasp to Helm's instrument today, he sounds stronger than anyone would have a right to expect on his vocal features, and he's audibly jazzed to be able to take the mic again (his drumming is in fine shape, too). The Midnight Ramble Music Sessions, Vol. 2 has its share of flaws, most notably an overwrought performance by Sean Costello on Lowell Fulson's "Blue Shadows," but for the most part this is a set of roots rock that balances ragged and right very well indeed. (This release includes a DVD that features footage of the same performances included on the CD, as well as a bonus rehearsal of "Don't Ya Tell Henry.")
BIOGRAPHY
by Richard Skelly
The longtime drummer for the Band, Levon Helm wore many musical hats throughout his long career, including multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, singer, impresario, studio owner, studio engineer, and producer. He grew up working on a farm in Arkansas; his first instrument was guitar, which he began playing at age eight, but after seeing the F.S. Walcott Rabbits Foot Minstrels, he decided to switch to drums. As a youth, Helm listened to the music of the area, including radio broadcasts of The Grand Ole Opry and the blues and R&B shows on WLAC, a clear-channel station out of Nashville that became legendary in the development of R&B and early rock & roll. Accompanied by his sister Linda on washtub bass, he played various fairs and civic club shows until forming his first group, the Jungle Bush Beaters, while in high school.
After seeing an Elvis Presley concert, Helm became keenly interested in rock & roll and musicians like Bo Diddley. Eventually, he moved to Memphis, where he began sitting in with Conway Twitty. Later, he was discovered by a fellow Arkansan, rockabilly singer Ronnie Hawkins, who asked the 17-year-old Helm to join the Hawks, his backing band. The group soon relocated to Toronto, where they'd heard there was a burgeoning scene for their kind of music. In 1959, Hawkins signed to Roulette Records, where he and the Hawks cut a pair of hit records right out of the gate with "Forty Days" and "Mary Lou," which went on to sell in excess of 700,000 copies.
In the early '60s in Toronto, Helm and Hawkins recruited the rest of the members of the group that would become the Band, adding guitarist Robbie Robertson, pianist Richard Manuel, organist Garth Hudson, and bassist Rick Danko to the lineup. After numerous road trips with Hawkins, the group grew tired of the singer's abrasive manner, and they re-formed as Levon & the Hawks, later changing their name to the Canadian Squires for the purpose of recording two singles. Shortly after, they changed their name back to the Hawks. In the mid-'60s, Bob Dylan decided to electrify his sound and wanted the Hawks to be his backing band. After putting up with too many boos at Dylan's newly electrified shows in 1965, Helm decided he'd had enough, and went back to Arkansas, thinking he would leave the music business behind him forever.
But Helm returned to action in mid-1967, when the Hawks (since renamed simply the Band) began working on Music from Big Pink, the first in a string of classic records that made them one of rock's most legendary acts. After the Band's famed 1976 farewell performance, dubbed The Last Waltz, he cut his 1977 debut solo album, Levon Helm & the RCO All Stars, followed a year later by his self-titled sophomore effort. In 1980 he recorded American Son, while another eponymously titled effort was released in 1982. the Band re-formed in 1983 without Robertson; following Manuel's 1986 suicide, the remaining trio released 1993's Jericho, recorded at Helm's home studio in Woodstock, New York. That same year, Helm published his autobiography, This Wheel's on Fire, co-authored with Stephen Davis. the Band's bluesy High on the Hog followed in 1995. The late '90s (and into the next decade) found Helm still making music in a new blues band called Levon Helm & the Barn Burners, with his daughter Amy on keyboards and vocals, guitarist Pat O'Shea, lead vocalist and harmonica player Chris O'Leary, and upright bassist Frankie Ingrao, and with a similar outfit called Crowmatrix. An album of tracks from this era called Souvenir, Vol. 1 appeared in 2000 from Breeze Hill.
Cancer of the vocal cords silenced Helm's unique voice as the 21st century opened, although he kept up his drumming duties, and in time was able to sing again, emerging with a slightly raspier version of his old vocal style. He began holding intimate concerts with various musical friends at his studio in Woodstock, calling them Midnight Rambles, samples of which were released as The Midnight Ramble Sessions, Vol. 1 and The Midnight Ramble Sessions, Vol. 2 in 2006. The following year saw the release of Dirt Farmer, Helm's first solo album in 25 years. The similar but looser Electric Dirt followed in 2009. Ramble at the Ryman, which captured highlights of Helm's 2008 Midnight Ramble concert at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, was released on both CD and DVD in 2011. In spring of the following year, Helm's family announced that he was in the end stages of cancer, and he died on April 19, 2012. The Midnight Ramble Sessions, Vol. 3 was released the following December.
OFFICIAL SITE
''THE MIDNIGHT RAMBLE SESSIONS, VOLUME TWO''
FEBRUARY 21 2006
49:13
1/Battle Is Over But The War Goes On (M. Rogers, J. Winn) 5:05
2/What Kind Of Man Are You (Ray Charles) 4:18
3/Don't Ya Tell Henry (Bob Dylan) 3:58
4/Blue Shadows (Lowell Fulson) featuring Sean Costello 5:20
5/Johnny Boogie Goode (Levon Helm Band) 6:42
6/I Want To Know (Ray Charles) 5:23
7/A Fool In Love (Ike Turner) 5:05
8/Borrowed Time (Mac Rebbenack) featuring Dr. John 7:31
9/When The Battle Is Over (Mac Rebbenack, Jesse Hill) 5:28
The Levon Helm Band from 01/10/04 & 01/24/04 Midnight Rambles:
Levon Helm: drums & vocals
Amy Helm: mandolin & vocals
Johnnie Johnson: piano
Little Sammy Davis: harmonica & vocals
Dr John: guitar & vocals
Jon R. Smith: saxophone
Sean Costello: guitar & vocals
Andrew Shober: bass & vocals
Julia Smith: vocals
Levon Helm Band from 11/27/04 Midnight Ramble:
Levon Helm: drums & vocals
Amy Helm: mandolin & vocals
Steven Bernstein: trumpet
Byron Isaacs: bass & vocals
Erik Lawrence: saxophone
Tony Leone: drums & vocals
Fiona McBain: guitar & vocals
Glen Patscha: keyboards & vocals
Levon Helm Band from 3/26/05 Midnight Ramble:
Levon Helm: drums, mandolin & vocals
Amy Helm: mandolin & vocals
Little Sammy Davis: harmonica & vocals
Larry Campbell: fiddle & vocals
Jimmy Vivino: guitar & vocals
Mike Merritt: bass
Tony Leone: drums & vocals
Glen Patscha: keyboards & vocals
Erik Lawrence: saxophone
Steven Bernstein: trumpet
REVIEW
by Mark Deming
The second installment in Levon Helm's Midnight Ramble Music series -- albums drawn from jam-session style concerts held at Helm's studio in Woodstock, New York -- is a more engaging listen than the first, largely because it offers a lot more variety along the way. While the first set was a straightforward blues with Little Sammy Davis fronting the combo, The Midnight Ramble Music Sessions, Vol. 2 has been culled from four different gigs, and the song list ranges from the laid-back but potent funk of "The Battle Is Over but the War Goes On," the rollicking down-home shuffle of Bob Dylan's "Don't Ya Tell Henry," the tough blues workout of "Borrowed Time," and a heartfelt cover of Ray Charles' "I Want to Know" (the set is dedicated to Charles' memory). Helm also brought in some notable friends to sit in for these recordings, including Dr. John, former Chuck Berry piano wizard Johnnie Johnson, Jimmy Vivino from the Max Weinberg Seven, and Bob Dylan sideman Larry Campbell. But the big surprise here is that Helm is singing again, and singing well; he was diagnosed with cancer of the vocal cords in 1998, and surgery and radiation treatments reduced his voice to a shadow of its former self for several years, but if there's a bit more rasp to Helm's instrument today, he sounds stronger than anyone would have a right to expect on his vocal features, and he's audibly jazzed to be able to take the mic again (his drumming is in fine shape, too). The Midnight Ramble Music Sessions, Vol. 2 has its share of flaws, most notably an overwrought performance by Sean Costello on Lowell Fulson's "Blue Shadows," but for the most part this is a set of roots rock that balances ragged and right very well indeed. (This release includes a DVD that features footage of the same performances included on the CD, as well as a bonus rehearsal of "Don't Ya Tell Henry.")
BIOGRAPHY
by Richard Skelly
The longtime drummer for the Band, Levon Helm wore many musical hats throughout his long career, including multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, singer, impresario, studio owner, studio engineer, and producer. He grew up working on a farm in Arkansas; his first instrument was guitar, which he began playing at age eight, but after seeing the F.S. Walcott Rabbits Foot Minstrels, he decided to switch to drums. As a youth, Helm listened to the music of the area, including radio broadcasts of The Grand Ole Opry and the blues and R&B shows on WLAC, a clear-channel station out of Nashville that became legendary in the development of R&B and early rock & roll. Accompanied by his sister Linda on washtub bass, he played various fairs and civic club shows until forming his first group, the Jungle Bush Beaters, while in high school.
After seeing an Elvis Presley concert, Helm became keenly interested in rock & roll and musicians like Bo Diddley. Eventually, he moved to Memphis, where he began sitting in with Conway Twitty. Later, he was discovered by a fellow Arkansan, rockabilly singer Ronnie Hawkins, who asked the 17-year-old Helm to join the Hawks, his backing band. The group soon relocated to Toronto, where they'd heard there was a burgeoning scene for their kind of music. In 1959, Hawkins signed to Roulette Records, where he and the Hawks cut a pair of hit records right out of the gate with "Forty Days" and "Mary Lou," which went on to sell in excess of 700,000 copies.
In the early '60s in Toronto, Helm and Hawkins recruited the rest of the members of the group that would become the Band, adding guitarist Robbie Robertson, pianist Richard Manuel, organist Garth Hudson, and bassist Rick Danko to the lineup. After numerous road trips with Hawkins, the group grew tired of the singer's abrasive manner, and they re-formed as Levon & the Hawks, later changing their name to the Canadian Squires for the purpose of recording two singles. Shortly after, they changed their name back to the Hawks. In the mid-'60s, Bob Dylan decided to electrify his sound and wanted the Hawks to be his backing band. After putting up with too many boos at Dylan's newly electrified shows in 1965, Helm decided he'd had enough, and went back to Arkansas, thinking he would leave the music business behind him forever.
But Helm returned to action in mid-1967, when the Hawks (since renamed simply the Band) began working on Music from Big Pink, the first in a string of classic records that made them one of rock's most legendary acts. After the Band's famed 1976 farewell performance, dubbed The Last Waltz, he cut his 1977 debut solo album, Levon Helm & the RCO All Stars, followed a year later by his self-titled sophomore effort. In 1980 he recorded American Son, while another eponymously titled effort was released in 1982. the Band re-formed in 1983 without Robertson; following Manuel's 1986 suicide, the remaining trio released 1993's Jericho, recorded at Helm's home studio in Woodstock, New York. That same year, Helm published his autobiography, This Wheel's on Fire, co-authored with Stephen Davis. the Band's bluesy High on the Hog followed in 1995. The late '90s (and into the next decade) found Helm still making music in a new blues band called Levon Helm & the Barn Burners, with his daughter Amy on keyboards and vocals, guitarist Pat O'Shea, lead vocalist and harmonica player Chris O'Leary, and upright bassist Frankie Ingrao, and with a similar outfit called Crowmatrix. An album of tracks from this era called Souvenir, Vol. 1 appeared in 2000 from Breeze Hill.
Cancer of the vocal cords silenced Helm's unique voice as the 21st century opened, although he kept up his drumming duties, and in time was able to sing again, emerging with a slightly raspier version of his old vocal style. He began holding intimate concerts with various musical friends at his studio in Woodstock, calling them Midnight Rambles, samples of which were released as The Midnight Ramble Sessions, Vol. 1 and The Midnight Ramble Sessions, Vol. 2 in 2006. The following year saw the release of Dirt Farmer, Helm's first solo album in 25 years. The similar but looser Electric Dirt followed in 2009. Ramble at the Ryman, which captured highlights of Helm's 2008 Midnight Ramble concert at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, was released on both CD and DVD in 2011. In spring of the following year, Helm's family announced that he was in the end stages of cancer, and he died on April 19, 2012. The Midnight Ramble Sessions, Vol. 3 was released the following December.
OFFICIAL SITE
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