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Don Grieser
Aug-02-2018, 9:49pm
I've been reading Levon Helm's book, This Wheel's On Fire. Been listening to The Band since the early 70s so it's great to read about the early days of The Band through Levon's eyes. I'm only about half way through the book. It's a great read.

The book has led me to watch a bunch of videos of Levon and The Band. There's lots of videos of him playing the mandolin. Caught this one tonight--captures how much he loved playing music. What a groove.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSzMVKjlFdM

Feel free to add more Levon videos. If you don't, I probably will.

Mark Gunter
Aug-02-2018, 10:09pm
I added a few in the Newbies group earlier this week. I love that one with him & Sheryl, too. I really dig Levon, also Larry Campbell, Larry stuck by Levon through the later years.

Have you had a chance to watch I Ain't In It For My Health? On Netflix, or used to be, a really good documentary on Levon. I'll look for that book you mentioned.

Mark Gunter
Aug-02-2018, 10:14pm
Levon on drumming & singing, check his ripping into The Battle Is Over at about 1:52:

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdvcIqC1DJw

Mark Gunter
Aug-02-2018, 10:23pm
Here's a trailer for Ain't In It For My Health.

Levon grabs an acoustic guitar and rips into Kingfish on his couch at home, plays and sings In The Pines while playing mandolin for daughter Amy in his kitchen, visits with Billy Bob Thornton at his kitchen table after a Midnight Ramble, works with Larry Campbell to finish lyrics and arrange one of those "unfinished Hank Williams tunes." A lot to hold my interest in that film.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F03oZFq4yqw

Mark Gunter
Aug-02-2018, 10:33pm
Here's one where Levon cradles his Gibby on Letterman, plays Rag, Mama Rag with Paul's band.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65s8eB-NQlg

A little more mandolin-centric Atlantic City

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tadQCafc89M

Luna Pick
Aug-02-2018, 11:09pm
Cool seeing Mr. Sam B. in the background of the first vid clearly enjoying the experience.

jdchapman
Aug-03-2018, 7:06am
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhe5HB389UY&index=4&list=RDxqSeJC2mChU

In case you want to remember why you love Sissy too.

mmuller
Aug-03-2018, 7:46am
I've been reading Levon Helm's book, This Wheel's On Fire. Been listening to The Band since the early 70s so it's great to read about the early days of The Band through Levon's eyes. I'm only about half way through the book. It's a great read.

The book has led me to watch a bunch of videos of Levon and The Band. There's lots of videos of him playing the mandolin. Caught this one tonight--captures how much he loved playing music. What a groove.

pSzMVKjlFdM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSzMVKjlFdM

Feel free to add more Levon videos. If you don't, I probably will.

If you look up groove in the dictionary it simply says "Levon".

Johnny Hide
Aug-03-2018, 9:29am
What an amazing musician he was.

Don Grieser
Aug-03-2018, 9:33pm
I got to see them once, a big stadium show with Jesse Colin Young, The Band, Santana, and CSN&Y. What a day of music. As I get older, I appreciate The Band even more and Levon especially.

Don Grieser
Aug-03-2018, 10:01pm
A little "Ophelia" for a Friday night.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcgxuGiI7wU

Br1ck
Aug-04-2018, 1:58am
Dirt Farmer one of the best roots records ever.

Perilous Deep
Aug-07-2018, 9:53am
Thanks to everyone for all this Levon love. One of my very favorite musicians, and this was a fun excursion into some of the late era performances. I remember seeing the Levon Helm Band earlier the same summer the Ramble at the Ryman performance happened, and they also opened with a high energy version of Ophelia like the one above.

If you haven't read it before, I'd highly recommend the article Levon Helm Was Perfect (https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/04/levon-helm-was-perfect/256184/), published at the time of his passing, that's about Levon's drumming in particular. Here's a taste:


"He was a technically monstrous player of unsurpassed versatility, one who could turn challenging music into something that sounded effortless. Other great bands have played difficult material, but on Steely Dan records the music sounds hard, wearing complexity on its sleeve with a sort of punk defiance. The Band's "Jawbone" goes through more meters than Con Edison but sounds utterly natural: The Carter Family at a cookout with mid-'60s Miles Davis, everyone getting along, Levon working the grill."

Paul Kotapish
Aug-07-2018, 8:44pm
Got to see Levon and the Band play with Bob Dylan on the '74 tour. Still stands as one of the great shows I've seen.

It's fun to read Across the Great Divide and This Wheel's on Fire back to back. Very different perspectives on how things played out in that legendary group, and how Robbie Robertson is portrayed in each. I haven't read Robertson's book yet, but it's on my list, and I'm sure he has yet another perspective.

Can't think of a drummer I'd rather have had a chance to play with than Levon Helm, but that was a dream I never got to fulfill. I did get to open for Amy Helm (his daughter) with Larry Campbell and the Midnight Ramble Band at the Fillmore a year or so back, which was pretty thrilling in itself. She (and Larry) played an F-9 like the one Levon is playing in that clip with Cheryl Crow. Might have been the same one, even. She and the band were gracious as could be, and they put on a great show that channeled a lot of Band material.

Mark Gunter
Aug-24-2018, 4:28pm
Happy Traum released a few minutes of raw footage a couple days ago, of an interview with Levon and Larry Campbell. Evidently this was just Happy's way of making a record for his notes on the interview, which went into an article he wrote. I thought I'd post it here for the Levon fans who might find some interest in it.

Happy wrote this on his YouTube channel:


This is a portion of a much longer interview I did with Levon Helm and Larry Campbell in 2009, which was the basis for an article I wrote about Levon for Acoustic Guitar Magazine. They had just released Levon's "Electric Dirt" CD, which eventually went on to win a Grammy, and our conversation was all about their musical ideas, deep history and attitude to their work. I'll release the entire interview at a later date. - Happy Traum

And this in his Facebook post:


Fans of Levon Helm and Larry Campbell might want to see this excerpt of an interview I did with them in 2009. I sat down with these two old friends in Levon's living room. The camera was simply a way for me to record what they said for the article in Acoustic Guitar Magazine, but in looking at it now I think it's something of a treasure. There's lots more for a later date. Hope you enjoy it.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMD1k7EU-UQ

Mark Gunter
Aug-24-2018, 4:49pm
It was interesting to hear these guys discuss Amy Helm and Theresa Williams re: their vocal styles - Amy into soul and R&B and Theresa into country & bluegrass.

BTW as an aside, the Homespun series by Larry, interpreting the gospel songs of Reverend Gary Davis, is probably the best recent addition to my library for fingerstyle guitar. He goes deep into chord theory in his step-by-step explanations, and is joined by his wife Theresa Williams in performing the tunes. Here's a sample, a minuscule taste (NFI):

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XosDVcRjR48

Mark Gunter
Aug-25-2018, 8:01pm
Another great Levon interview, popped up for me today, I've never seen this though it's 10 years old on YouTube. This interview was done right on the heels of the Dirt Farmer album.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cnAfSsk2wc

Don Grieser
Aug-25-2018, 9:11pm
Thanks for posting the videos, Mark. Great interviews.

seg
Jan-05-2019, 4:12pm
nice version of this with Robbie playin a doubleneck, though I don’t hear any mandolin.
https://youtu.be/TCSzL5-SPHM

Pittsburgh Bill
Jan-05-2019, 6:10pm
Better drummer than mandolin picker but an ultimate musician to his core.

illinoisfiddler
Jan-05-2019, 9:01pm
Interesting tidbit: Libby Titus the songwriter was Helm's partner for a long time, Amy Helm is a product of that union. After Titus and Levon split, Libby eventually married Donald Fagan (Steely Dan) in 1993 and I believe they are still married.

Richard J
Jan-05-2019, 11:29pm
There's a social group here at the Cafe. The Band Room.

David Lewis
Jan-06-2019, 7:06am
nice version of this with Robbie playin a doubleneck, though I don’t hear any mandolin.
https://youtu.be/TCSzL5-SPHM

That's my favourite version of the song. Robbie bought that guitar from Manny's, apparently.

AlanN
Jan-06-2019, 1:44pm
I saw The Band, or what was left of it, at the New Jersey State Fair in Cranbury, NJ ~ 1995. I brought my '24 F-4 to show Levon but could not get past the bodyguard. I called out his name, held up the F-4. He turned, smiled and gave me a thumbs up. Way cool.

Mark Gunter
Jan-06-2019, 7:39pm
There's a social group here at the Cafe. The Band Room.

Thanks for the heads up on this, Richard! https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/group.php?groupid=220


I saw The Band, or what was left of it, at the New Jersey State Fair in Cranbury, NJ ~ 1995. I brought my '24 F-4 to show Levon but could not get past the bodyguard. I called out his name, held up the F-4. He turned, smiled and gave me a thumbs up. Way cool.

Yeah, very cool, Alan :cool:

seg
Jan-09-2019, 4:57pm
“That's my favourite version of the song. Robbie bought that guitar from Manny's, apparently.”
It’s a great performance by everyone but my favorite is Rick Danko. Man he is so fun to watch, always looks like he’s having the time of his life.
I missed a chance to see him in a small club back maybe in the early 80’s? (Not sure when he passed) but I’ve always regretted not going.

Mark Gunter
Nov-10-2022, 6:24pm
Some great news … the film I mentioned in post #2 of this thread is now available to watch on YouTube. Check out this thread for a link. https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/threads/161970-Ain-t-in-it-for-my-health-a-film-about-Levon-Helm

Don Grieser
Nov-10-2022, 7:06pm
I saw Amy Helm (Levon's daughter) at the Four Corners Folk Festival in September. I had a recorder running, but didn't start the video on my phone until the song had started. The story she told to introduce this song brought tears to my eyes. I think she's playing Levon's F9. Hope you enjoy.

https://youtu.be/51mh1pYmC7o

Russ Jordan
Nov-10-2022, 9:07pm
Thanks, Don— I enjoyed that. I was fortunate to be on the stage when Levon brought the Ramble to Merlefest—one of my very favorite concerts ever.

Don Grieser
Nov-10-2022, 9:24pm
Sweet, Russ.

David Lewis
Nov-10-2022, 10:57pm
Levon and Ian Anderson from jethro tull were why I took up mandolin. Simple but effective playing.

Mark Gunter
Nov-16-2022, 8:48am
Enjoyed that clip from Amy, Don. Thanks