This page uses content from the Levon Helm biography page on the English version of Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. This list of authors can be seen in the page history. Rotten Tomatoes disclaims any and all warranties as to the accuracy or reliability of the content.

Mark Lavon Helm, a.k.a. Levon Helm (born May 26, 1940) is an American rock musician most famous as the drummer for the rock group The Band. Helm is also known for his deeply soulful, country-style voice, and powerful drumming style highlighted on many of the The Band's recordings, such as "The Weight", "Up on Cripple Creek", "King Harvest", "Ophelia" and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down".

Biography

Early years

Levon Helm was born in Marvell, Arkansas and began playing the guitar at the age of eight. Helm also played drums during his formative years and established his first band The Jungle Bush Beaters while in high school. He was influenced by the Grand Ole Opry and by R&B songs that he heard on radio station WLAC out of Nashville, Tennessee.

Helm became interested in rock and roll after attending an Elvis Presley concert. He moved from Arkansas to Memphis, Tennessee where he was influenced by Bo Diddley and Conway Twitty. At age 17 he was invited to join The Hawks, backing rockabilly singer Ronnie Hawkins. Soon after Helm joined The Hawks, they moved to Toronto, Ontario where, in 1959, they signed with Roulette Records and released several singles, including a few hits.

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. In 1963, the band parted ways with Hawkins and started touring under the name Levon and The Hawks and later to the Canadian Squires before finally changing back to The Hawks. They recorded two singles, but found little success.

The Band

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. During his absence, The Hawks had taken up residence in Woodstock, New York and began writing their own songs; Danko and Manuel also shared writing credits with Dylan on a few songs.

In 1967 Helm returned to the group, which by then was christened simply as The Band. They recorded their seminal Music From Big Pink, which catapulted them into super-stardom. Helm remained with The Band until their 1976 farewell performance, The Last Waltz. The documentary was produced by Martin Scorsese and, for a while, became standard fare at midnight movies across the country. In spite of this Helm has expressed his distaste for the editing of the movie asserting that a disproportionate amount of coverage was given to Robertson with Manuel being cruelly sidelined.This Wheel's On Fire: Levon Helm and the Story of the Band, Levon Helm with Stephen Davis, Plexus, London (1993), p. 276

With the demise of The Band, 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 albums in 1980 and 1982 entitled American Son and (once again) Levon Helm.

In 1983, The Band reunited without Robbie Robertson, 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 last album from The Band to date was the 30th anniversary album Jubilation in 1998.

Acting, authorship

Helm has acted in a few films, including Coal Miner's Daughter and The Right Stuff. In 2005, he appeared in the film The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, directed by and starring Tommy Lee Jones.

Helm published an autobiography entitled This Wheel's on Fire in 1993, which was very critical of his former bandmate, Robbie Robertson.

Health problems, recovery

Helm was diagnosed with throat cancer in the 1990s. He underwent an arduous regimen of chemotherapy. Although the tumor was successfully removed, his vocal cords were damaged, and his clear, powerful tenor voice was replaced by a quiet rasp. In recent years, however, his voice has grown stronger and on November 27, 2004 he sang for the first time at one of his Ramble Sessions.

Helm currently performs with his blues band The Levon Helm Band, which features his daughter Amy Helm and blues harmonica player Little Sammy Davis. He hosts Midnight Rambles (recorded jam sessions) at his home in Woodstock, New York that are open to the public. Artists who have performed at the Rambles include another one of Helm's former bandmates, Garth Hudson, as well as Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris, Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, Donald Fagen of Steely Dan and Jimmy Vivino of "Late Night with Conan O'Brien's" Max Weinberg Seven.

The Midnight Ramble is an outgrowth of an idea he explained to Martin Scorsese in The Last Waltz (and turned into a song by Robbie Robertson, "The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show"). Talking about rock and roll showmanship, he talked about the travelling medicine shows that would put on performances for communities.

"After the finale, they'd have the midnight ramble," Helm told Scorsese. "The songs would get a little bit juicier. The jokes would get a little funnier and the prettiest dancer would really get down and shake it a few times. A lot of the rock and roll duck walks and moves came from that."

Trivia

• Elton John's 1971 hit "Levon" was named after Levon Helm.
• Helm is an avowed fan of sushi.
• For drumming, Levon Helm has switched to the matched grip in recent years, making for a less-busy style of drumming as opposed to his years with The Band, when played with the traditional grip. Interview, July 29, 2006. The Band's Levon Helm, Making Music Again, National Public Radio (retrieved August 18, 2006).

References

External links

• Levon Helm's official website.
• Levon Helm's IMDb entry.
• Levon Helm's biography.
• Great Levon Helm video from Seventh Hour Blues magazine

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify the biographical information on this page under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation.