Get beyond the fertile roots, the history making tenure with Bob Dylan, the acclaimed artistry, and it all may come down to one thing, said Levon Helm.
Perhaps what The Band brought to music, muses the Arkansas native, is a lesson in “the values of being in a band.”
It’s a difficult road for any musician, concedes Helm, who was vocalist and drummer in one of rock’s most hallowed groups, and newcomers to the field should not give up if they believe in themselves. “Just keep playing. They will get better and their music will get better,” the multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer advised. “We just have to teach ourselves to be happy, that we are blessed with the calling.”
That calling for Helm and fellow members of The Band translated into a distinguished legacy in music, one that has gained them admission into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Helm has been called “one of the most soulful vocalists in rock history.”
As members of the Hall’s Class of ’94, they joined the Animals, Duane Eddy, the Grateful Dead, Elton John, John Lennon, Bob Marley and Rod Stewart as the latest inductees.
“The Band presented a mythic, spiritual and historical vision of the country combined with a simultaneous musical embrace of rock and roll, country and western, gospel and all points in between,” the Rock Hall of Fame Foundation noted in announcing the induction.
“Where the rest of the late Sixties rock world seemed to be exploding in intensity in terms of volume and strident political messages, The Band turned inwards, somehow making their insularity universal,” the Foundation added. Their discography includes ‘The Weight’ (1968), “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down’ (1969) and ‘Up On Cripple Creek’ (1969).”
In introducing The Band at the 30th Anniversary Salute to Bob Dylan at Madison Square Garden in 1992, Eric Clapton told the audience that it was the group’s 1968 “Music From Big Pink” album that changed his life and the direction of rock music.
“Big Pink” and “The Band” made Rolling Stone magazine’s All Time Top 100 Albums List.
Beginning in 1961, this group of four Canadians – Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Garth Hudson and Richard Manuel – and Helm backed rockabilly legend Ronnie Hawkins as The Hawks for five years.
In 1965, Bob Dylan asked the musicians to back him on his world tour – one, say some observers, that would forever change the face of rock’n’roll. They were with Dylan when he shocked the folk world by “going electric.”
The Band accompanied Dylan to his home in the Catskill Mountains, where he and they created “Music From Big Pink,” “John Wesley Harding” and “The Basement Tapes.”
The Band debuted officially in 1969 at San Francisco’s Winterland, and was a headliner at the Woodstock Rock Festival that summer. They earned a reputation as the best live group in the world. In January of 1970, they found themselves on the cover of Time Magazine, which heralded their music as having matched the excellence of The Beatles.
Ringo Starr praised Helm as “the greatest drummer.”
They recorded their now classic live album, “Rock Of Ages” on New Year’s Eve, 1971 and New Year’s Day 1972. Martin Scorsese filmed their farewell concert, dubbed “The Last Waltz,” on Thanksgiving Day, 1976. It is known in some circles as the greatest concert film ever made.
The Band reunited in 1983 without Robertson. Manuel died in the mid-80’s. In 1989, the group was granted the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Juno (the Canadian Grammys) Awards.
As for The Band’s place in musical history, Helm said, “I hope we are right there in the orchestra pit.”
“We probably captured that particular spotlight after playing with Bob Dylan. There seemed to be some music expected of us, and when we delivered, we enjoyed some good acclaim from it.”
The motivation is no different now, Helm insists. “I still like to play. We played some of the biggest shows and some of the smallest. As long as we enjoy it and continue to improve, that’s the main ticket for me,” he said.
Helm says there always was a difference to the members of The Band between being musicians and being entertainers. “We always saw ourselves more as musicians,” he explained. “We were happiest when we were fulltime members of the rhythm section. We enjoyed singing songs, too, but we really liked playing songs. When we got somebody like Bob Dylan or Muddy Waters or Ronnie Hawkins, anybody we could help to make music, we enjoyed that too and felt real comfortable with it.”
Helm said he agrees with some of the observations that he heard Garth Hudson suggest about music. “He said ‘Music is medicine’ and that it is the ‘language of heaven.’ It’s something you just got to keep doing. I’m just proud of showing up with (the Band) and being able to take the crowd for a good musical ride.”
Separately, Helm has taken movie goers on an interesting cinematic ride as an actor with movie roles in “The Coal Miner’s Daughter,” “The Dollmaker” and “The Right Stuff.” In his latest effort, the 2007 Tommy Lee Jones’ vehicle, “In the Electric Mist,” Helm was praised for his portrayal of General John Bell Hood.
Creativity “all comes from home,” he reasons. “Everybody plugs into their family and their environment and their higher power.”
Levon Helm certainly has done that in his music and his life
Those close to him might suggest that higher power has been smiling on the artist, who underwent what is being referred to as “a near-miraculous recovery” from throat cancer. A decade ago, it was feared he would never sing again. Diagnosed in the late 1990s, he was advised to have his larynx removed.
He opted instead to undergo a long series of radiation treatments. He initially emerged from those sessions only able to speak in a whisper.
In 2007, after overcoming what seemed to be insurmountable odds, Helm released “Dirt Farmer,” his first solo recording in 25 years, which went on to win the record industry’s highest honor, the Grammy for “Best Traditional Folk Album.”
Last summer, he released another solo album, “Electric Dirt,” a work again steeped in tradition in his connection to the land and those who live by it, as well as exploring gospel, blues and soul influences. He again received the Grammy, this time in the first-ever category of “Best Americana Album.”
So, Levon Helm sings and plays on. Turning 70 May 26, he remarked, report writers Steve Israel and John Desanto, “I can’t believe it myself. I feel the same as I did before. I’ve just been feeling that way a whole lot longer.”
New England musician Andrew Herrick, a drummer for Assembly of Dust, said it was an honor to be on the same bill as Helm this summer in New England.
“The Band was so important to North American rock’n’roll and having, in my opinion, the soul of that group on stage was incredibly special,” Herrick said. “Levon, for me, is in many ways the voice and soul of North American rock’n’roll. ”
The Band forged a career built on quality music, he reminds. “They were admired by their peers, adored by their fans and above all set the stage as the defining sound of arguably the greatest generation of songwriters this country has celebrated,” Herrick added. “Levon as the drummer, and in most cases the lead vocalist, provided an effortless warmth of artistry that was honest and inspiring to anyone who has ever picked up an instrument.”
From a drummer’s perspective, adds Herrick, “Levon's ‘sound’ is as important to rock’n’roll as (the late Jon) Bonham's (of Led Zeppelin)."
Helm believes music is “a sacred thing, not to be taken lightly.” At the same time, he added, “you should not be so serious about it that it turns you into a sour puss.”
“If music would just take people’s minds away from their problems and everyday struggles for as long as the show lasts, then you’ve done your job. Music gives some relief and it’s good for you,” he said.
Helm said he is proudest of the people he was able to meet and play with along the way. “I’ve shook the hands of some real good people all over the world,” he said. “I looked at my hand. It shook some good ones.”
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