LEVON HELM BAND
''LIVE AT MERLEFEST RAMBLE AT MERLEFEST, NC, APRIL 26, 2008''
2008
79:58
1 Ophelia (Robbie Robertson) 3:55
2 It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry (Bob Dylan) 4:27
3 Going Back to Memphis (Eric Burdon, Stephen Grant) 5:13
4 Everything's Gonna Be Alright (Walter Jacobs) 3:28
5 Baby Scratch My Back (Slim Harpo) 4:22
6 I Want To Know (Ray Charles) 3:53
7 Goodbye My Love (Raymond Lewis) 4:39
8 Got Me A Woman (Paul Kennerley) 3:48
9 Atlantic City (Bruce Springsteen) 4:45
10 Ashes Of Love (Jim Anglin, Johnnie Wright) 3:54
11 Did You Love Me At All? (Larry Campbell) 4:44
12 Deep Elem Blues (Traditional) 6:38
13 Anna Lee (Laurelyn Dossett) 4:19
14 Rag Mama Rag (Robbie Robertson) 4:12
15 The Shape I'm In (Robbie Robertson) 5:35
16 Long Black Veil (Danny Dill, Marijohn Wilkin) 5:12
17 The Weight (Robbie Robertson) 6:45
Levon Helm/Drums, Vocals
Amy Helm/Vocals, Mandolin, Drums
Larry Campbell/Electric Guitar, Vocals
Teresa Williams/Acoustic Guitar, Vocals
Steven Bernstein/Trumpet
Erik Lawrence/Saxophone
Clark Gayton/Trombone
Jay Collins/Saxophone
Tony Leone/Percussion
Brian Mitchell/Piano, Organ, Vocals
Little Sammy Davis/Harmonica, Vocals
Fiona McBain/Vocals
Lincoln Schleifer/Bass Guitar
Special Guests:
Sam Bush/Mandolin
Bruce Hornsby/Piano, Vocals
ABOUT THE ALBUM
By theband.hiof.no
Live performance recorded 04.26.2008 at the Watson Stage, Wilkesboro, NC, during MerleFest 2008, an annual tribute to Americana artists Doc and Merle Watson. Available as downloads and CD from FestivaLink. Sound quality is very good, with Levon and the band in top form. The players are Levon Helm, Amy Helm, Larry Campbell, Teresa Williams, Erik Lawrence, Jay Collins, Tony Leone, Brian Mitchell, Sam Bush, Bruce Hornsby, Little Sammy Davis, Fiona McBain and Jimmy Vivino.
REVIEW
By Vibes
"Levon Helm is a survivor. Diagnosed with throat cancer in 1996, Helm was advised to have his larynx removed. The singer opted instead to undergo rigorous radiation treatments to save his voice. He was unable to sing for years, able to communicate verbally in a soft rasp. But in 2004, he started singing again, and as he showed Saturday night, he's back in top form.
Opening with "Ophelia," Helm and his band recreated a harder rocking version of the Band with more diversity. His flat Arkansas twang is more prevalent than ever, adding an earthy charm to Bob Dylan's "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry."
But this group won't be snagged in folk or any other genre for long. This is a rockin' outfit that sounds like a bar band with a horn section like the Memphis horns. Chuck Berry's "Goin' Back To Memphis" rocks much harder than the 1977 version recorded live with the RCO Allstars in New York City.
To assist him on his genre-blending journey, Helm has put together another band of allstars including his daughter, Amy. Guitarist Larry Campbell is a former member of Dylan's band and a current touring member of Phil Lesh and friends. He also co-produced (with Amy) Helm's Grammy winning '07 release Dirt Farmer. Three female vocalists, including Campbell's wife, Teresa Williams, sound like Ray Charles' backing group the Raelettes, providing a glorious gospel backing to Helm's rocky twang on "I Wanna Know/Stand By Me." Trumpeter Jimmy Vivino, from late night TV host Conan O'Brien's backing band, the Max Weinberg 7, adds a high register punch to the horn section, which gives the band a sound like a R&B review from the '60s. He's even got a keyboard player, Brian Mitchell, who can sing like Rick Danko and play like Garth Hudson.
But it's not all rock and roll. Helm brings up Sam Bush for some country honk on "Got Me A Woman," from Dirt Farmer, switching to mandolin. Helm's vocals are strong, yet plain as an old shoe, country as all get-out. Duets with daughter Amy are Cajun-flavored, and his take on Springsteen's "Atlantic City" is spicy, Zydeco-flavored country. Helm pays homage to New Orleans with a second line groove on "Deep Elem Blues." But Helm really touches a nerve on Greensboro songwriter Laurelyn Dossett's (Polecat Creek) song "Anna Lee," from Dirt Farmer. Helm's stark vocals, accompanied by the three female singers and a fiddle, gives you chills.
"Rag Mama Rag" is a harder edged country version than The Band's. But just when you think you've got the genre nailed down, Helm throws a curve at you with a tuba jumping in, then a fiddle break, then back to rock for a glorious genre tangle.
Helm and company turn in a house rocking version of "The Shape I'm In," then chill things out with Amy's rendition of "Long Black Veil," done in a twang that would be right at home in the throat of June Carter Cash.
By the time the band slams into "The Weight," Helm looks like he's dropped 10 years. His face is radiant as his girls back him up, sounding as sweet and sexy as the Staples did on the Last Waltz.
Thirty years later, to not only have his voice back again, but at age 68 to have it as clear and sharp as it was when he was at 36, when the band performed its Last Waltz in 1976, is something for both artist and audience to celebrate. Come party with him every chance you get."
BIOGRAPHY
by Richard Skelly/AMG
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
2 It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry (Bob Dylan) 4:27
3 Going Back to Memphis (Eric Burdon, Stephen Grant) 5:13
4 Everything's Gonna Be Alright (Walter Jacobs) 3:28
5 Baby Scratch My Back (Slim Harpo) 4:22
6 I Want To Know (Ray Charles) 3:53
7 Goodbye My Love (Raymond Lewis) 4:39
8 Got Me A Woman (Paul Kennerley) 3:48
9 Atlantic City (Bruce Springsteen) 4:45
10 Ashes Of Love (Jim Anglin, Johnnie Wright) 3:54
11 Did You Love Me At All? (Larry Campbell) 4:44
12 Deep Elem Blues (Traditional) 6:38
13 Anna Lee (Laurelyn Dossett) 4:19
14 Rag Mama Rag (Robbie Robertson) 4:12
15 The Shape I'm In (Robbie Robertson) 5:35
16 Long Black Veil (Danny Dill, Marijohn Wilkin) 5:12
17 The Weight (Robbie Robertson) 6:45
Levon Helm/Drums, Vocals
Amy Helm/Vocals, Mandolin, Drums
Larry Campbell/Electric Guitar, Vocals
Teresa Williams/Acoustic Guitar, Vocals
Steven Bernstein/Trumpet
Erik Lawrence/Saxophone
Clark Gayton/Trombone
Jay Collins/Saxophone
Tony Leone/Percussion
Brian Mitchell/Piano, Organ, Vocals
Little Sammy Davis/Harmonica, Vocals
Fiona McBain/Vocals
Lincoln Schleifer/Bass Guitar
Special Guests:
Sam Bush/Mandolin
Bruce Hornsby/Piano, Vocals
ABOUT THE ALBUM
By theband.hiof.no
Live performance recorded 04.26.2008 at the Watson Stage, Wilkesboro, NC, during MerleFest 2008, an annual tribute to Americana artists Doc and Merle Watson. Available as downloads and CD from FestivaLink. Sound quality is very good, with Levon and the band in top form. The players are Levon Helm, Amy Helm, Larry Campbell, Teresa Williams, Erik Lawrence, Jay Collins, Tony Leone, Brian Mitchell, Sam Bush, Bruce Hornsby, Little Sammy Davis, Fiona McBain and Jimmy Vivino.
REVIEW
By Vibes
"Levon Helm is a survivor. Diagnosed with throat cancer in 1996, Helm was advised to have his larynx removed. The singer opted instead to undergo rigorous radiation treatments to save his voice. He was unable to sing for years, able to communicate verbally in a soft rasp. But in 2004, he started singing again, and as he showed Saturday night, he's back in top form.
Opening with "Ophelia," Helm and his band recreated a harder rocking version of the Band with more diversity. His flat Arkansas twang is more prevalent than ever, adding an earthy charm to Bob Dylan's "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry."
But this group won't be snagged in folk or any other genre for long. This is a rockin' outfit that sounds like a bar band with a horn section like the Memphis horns. Chuck Berry's "Goin' Back To Memphis" rocks much harder than the 1977 version recorded live with the RCO Allstars in New York City.
To assist him on his genre-blending journey, Helm has put together another band of allstars including his daughter, Amy. Guitarist Larry Campbell is a former member of Dylan's band and a current touring member of Phil Lesh and friends. He also co-produced (with Amy) Helm's Grammy winning '07 release Dirt Farmer. Three female vocalists, including Campbell's wife, Teresa Williams, sound like Ray Charles' backing group the Raelettes, providing a glorious gospel backing to Helm's rocky twang on "I Wanna Know/Stand By Me." Trumpeter Jimmy Vivino, from late night TV host Conan O'Brien's backing band, the Max Weinberg 7, adds a high register punch to the horn section, which gives the band a sound like a R&B review from the '60s. He's even got a keyboard player, Brian Mitchell, who can sing like Rick Danko and play like Garth Hudson.
But it's not all rock and roll. Helm brings up Sam Bush for some country honk on "Got Me A Woman," from Dirt Farmer, switching to mandolin. Helm's vocals are strong, yet plain as an old shoe, country as all get-out. Duets with daughter Amy are Cajun-flavored, and his take on Springsteen's "Atlantic City" is spicy, Zydeco-flavored country. Helm pays homage to New Orleans with a second line groove on "Deep Elem Blues." But Helm really touches a nerve on Greensboro songwriter Laurelyn Dossett's (Polecat Creek) song "Anna Lee," from Dirt Farmer. Helm's stark vocals, accompanied by the three female singers and a fiddle, gives you chills.
"Rag Mama Rag" is a harder edged country version than The Band's. But just when you think you've got the genre nailed down, Helm throws a curve at you with a tuba jumping in, then a fiddle break, then back to rock for a glorious genre tangle.
Helm and company turn in a house rocking version of "The Shape I'm In," then chill things out with Amy's rendition of "Long Black Veil," done in a twang that would be right at home in the throat of June Carter Cash.
By the time the band slams into "The Weight," Helm looks like he's dropped 10 years. His face is radiant as his girls back him up, sounding as sweet and sexy as the Staples did on the Last Waltz.
Thirty years later, to not only have his voice back again, but at age 68 to have it as clear and sharp as it was when he was at 36, when the band performed its Last Waltz in 1976, is something for both artist and audience to celebrate. Come party with him every chance you get."
BIOGRAPHY
by Richard Skelly/AMG
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
2 comments :
the link was dead
Mediafire ok.
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