Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm (born May 26, 1940), is an American rock multi-instrumentalist and actor who achieved fame as the drummer and frequent lead and backing vocalist for The Band. Helm is known for his deeply soulful, country-accented voice, and creative drumming style highlighted on many of The Band's recordings, such as "The Weight", "Up on Cripple Creek", "Ophelia" and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down". His 2007 comeback album Dirt Farmer earned the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album in February 2008, and in November of that year, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him #91 in the list of The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.[1] In 2010, Electric Dirt, his 2009 follow-up to Dirt Farmer, won the first ever Grammy Award for Best Americana Album, an inaugural category in 2010.[2] In 2011, his live album Ramble at the Ryman was nominated for the Grammy in the same category and won.[3] On April 17, 2012, his wife and daughter announ! ced on Helm's website that he was "in the final stages of his battle with cancer" and thanked fans while requesting prayers . [4] Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early years 1.2 The Hawks 1.3 The Band 1.4 Solo artist and the reformed Band 1.5 The Midnight Ramble 1.6 Dirt Farmer and after 2 As an actor 3 Tributes 4 Discography 4.1 With The Band 4.2 Solo and other efforts 5 References 6 External links [edit] Biography [edit] Early years Helm was born in Marvell, Arkansas, and grew up in Turkey Scratch, a hamlet west of Helena, Arkansas, the son of Nell and Diamond Helm, who were cotton farmers and also great lovers of music who encouraged their children to play and sing. Young Lavon (as he was christened) began playing the guitar at the age of eight and also played drums during his formative years. He saw Bill Monroe & his Blue Grass Boys at the age of six and decided then and there to become a musician. Arkansas in the 1940s and 50s was at the confluence of a variet! y of musical styles—blues, country and R&B—that later ! became known as rock and roll. Helm was influenced by all these styles listening to the Grand Ole Opry on radio station WSM and R&B on radio station WLAC out of Nashville, Tennessee. He also saw traveling shows such as F.S. Walcott's Rabbit's Foot Minstrels that featured top African-American artists of the time. Another early influence on Helm was the work of harmonica, guitarist and singer Sonny Boy Williamson II, who played blues and early R&B on the King Biscuit Time radio show on KFFA in Helena and performed regularly in Marvell with blues guitarist Robert Jr. Lockwood. In his 1993 autobiography, This Wheel's on Fire - Levon Helm and the Story of The Band, Helm describes watching Williamson's drummer, James "Peck" Curtis, intently during a live performance in the early 1950s and later imitating this R&B drumming style. Helm established his first band, The Jungle Bush Beaters, while in high school. Helm also witnessed some of the earliest performances by sout! hern country, blues and rockabilly artists such as Elvis Presley, Conway Twitty, Bo Diddley and a fellow Arkansan, Ronnie Hawkins. At age 17, Helm began playing in clubs and bars around Helena. [edit] The Hawks After graduating from high school, Helm was invited to join Ronnie Hawkins' band, The Hawks, who were a popular bar and club act across the South and also in Canada, where rockabilly acts were very popular. Soon after Helm joined The Hawks, they moved to Toronto, Canada, where, in 1959, they signed with Roulette Records and released several singles, including a few hits. Helm reports in his biography, This Wheel's on Fire, that fellow Hawks band members had difficulty pronouncing "Lavon" correctly, and started calling him "Levon" (/ˈliːvɒn/ LEE-von) because it was easier. In the early 1960s Helm and Hawkins recruited an all-Canadian lineup of musicians: guitarist Robbie Robertson, bassist Rick Danko, pianist Richard Manuel and organist Garth Hudson- although all t! he musicians were multi-instrumentalists. In 1963, the band parted ways! with Hawkins and started touring under the name "Levon and The Hawks," and later as "The Canadian Squires" before finally changing back to "The Hawks." They recorded two singles, but remained mostly a popular touring bar band in Texas, Arkansas, Canada, and on the East Coast where they found regular summer club gigs on the New Jersey shore. Helm with The Band, at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium 1976 Photo: David Gans By the mid 1960s, Bob Dylan was interested in performing electric rock music and asked The Hawks to be his backing band. Disheartened by fans' negative response to Dylan's new sound, Helm returned to Arkansas for what turned out to be a two-year layoff, being replaced by Mickey Jones. During this period Helm ended up working on off-shore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico until he was asked to rejoin the band. After the Hawks toured Europe as Dylan's backing band, they followed Dylan to reside in the area in and around Woodstock, New York, and remained under salar! y to him. There they recorded a large volume of demo and practice tapes, playing almost daily with Dylan, who had completely withdrawn from public life the previous year. These recordings were widely bootlegged and were partially released officially in 1975 as The Basement Tapes. The songs and themes developed during this period played a crucial role in the group's future direction and style. The Hawks members began writing their own songs. Rick Danko and Richard Manuel also shared writing credits with Dylan on a few songs. In 1967, Danko called Helm and invited him to return to the band in Woodstock. [edit] The Band See also: The Band Helm returned to the group, which by then was often referred to simply as "the band." While contemplating a recording contract Helm had dubbed the band as "The Crackers." However, when Robertson and Albert Grossman worked out the contracts, the group's name was cited as "The Band." Under these contracts, The Band was contracted to Grossman, w! ho in turn contracted their services to Capitol Records. The arrangemen! t allowed The Band to release recordings on other labels only if the work was done in support of Dylan. This allowed The Band to play on Dylan's Planet Waves album and on The Last Waltz, both non-Capitol releases. They recorded the album Music From Big Pink, which catapulted them into stardom. Helm, center, performing with The Band. Hamburg, 1971. On Big Pink, Manuel was the most prominent vocalist and Helm sang mainly backup, with the exception of "The Weight," but as Manuel's health deteriorated and Robbie Robertson's songwriting increasingly looked south for influence and direction, subsequent albums relied more and more on Helm's vocals, alone or in harmony with Danko. Helm played drums for perhaps 85% of The Band's songs, including most of those for which he sang lead. On the others, Manuel switched to drums while Helm played mandolin or, on rare occasion, guitar or bass. The entire group was multi-instrumental and for certain songs the group featured Manuel on drums, ! Helm on mandolin (as on "Evangeline"), rhythm guitar (the 12-string guitar backdrop to "Daniel and the Sacred Harp" is by Helm), or bass (while Danko played fiddle).[5] Helm remained with The Band until their 1976 farewell performance, The Last Waltz, which was recorded in a documentary film by Martin Scorsese. Although many now know Helm through his appearance in the concert film – a performance remarkable for the fact that Helm's vocal tracks appear substantially as he sang them during a grueling concert – he repudiated his involvement with the film shortly after the final scenes were shot and, in his autobiography, offers scathing criticisms of the film and of his former bandmate, Robertson, who produced it.[6] [edit] Solo artist and the reformed Band Helm playing mandolin in 1971. With the breakup of The Band in its original form, Helm began working on a solo album Levon Helm and the RCO All Stars, which was followed soon thereafter by Levon Helm. He recorded solo a! lbums in 1980 and 1982 entitled American Son and (once again) Levon Hel! m. Helm also participated in Paul Kennerley's 1980 country music concept album, The Legend of Jesse James, singing the role of Jesse James alongside Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris and Albert Lee. In 1983, The Band reunited without Robbie Robertson, with Jim Weider on guitar. But then Manuel committed suicide while on tour in 1986. Helm, Danko and Hudson continued in The Band, releasing the album Jericho in 1993 and High on the Hog in 1996. The final album from The Band was the 30th anniversary album, Jubilation, released in 1998. In 1989, Helm and Rick Danko toured with Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band. Other musicians in the band included Joe Walsh, Dr. John, Nils Lofgren, Billy Preston, Clarence Clemons and Jim Keltner. Garth Hudson guested on accordion on certain dates. Levon played drums and harmonica, and sang "The Weight" and "Up On Cripple Creek" each night. Helm published an autobiography entitled This Wheel's on Fire in 1993. Helm performed with Rick Danko and Garth! Hudson as The Band in 1990 at Roger Waters' Epic The Wall Live In Berlin concert to an estimated 300,000 to half a million people. [edit] The Midnight Ramble Helm's performance career in the 2000s has revolved mainly around the Midnight Ramble at his home and studio, "the Barn," in Woodstock, New York. These concerts, featuring Helm and a variety of musical guests, have allowed Helm to raise money for medical bills and to resume performing after a nearly career-ending bout with cancer. Helm was diagnosed with throat cancer in the late 1990s after suffering hoarseness. Advised to undergo laryngectomy, Helm instead underwent an arduous regimen of radiation treatments at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Although the tumor was then successfully removed, his vocal cords were damaged, and his clear, powerful tenor voice was replace
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Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm (born May 26, 1940), is an American rock mul! ti-instrumentalist and actor who achieved fame as the drummer and frequ! ent lead and backing Read the rest
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