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 rhythm blues and early rock roll. Accompanied by his sister Linda on washboard 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 concert, Helm became keenly interested in rock roll and musicians like Bo Diddley. Eventually, he moved to Memphis, where he began sitting in with . Later, he was discovered by a fellow Arkansan, rockabilly singer , 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, 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 recruited the rest of the members of the group that would become the Band, adding guitarist , pianist , organist , and bassist to the lineup.
After numerous road trips with , 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, decided to electrify his sound and wanted the Hawks to be his backing band.
After putting up with too many boos at '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 , he cut his 1977 debut solo album, , followed a year later by his self-titled sophomore effort.
In 1980 he recorded , while another eponymously titled effort was released in 1982. re-formed in 1983 without ; following 's 1986 suicide, the remaining trio released 1993's , recorded at Helm's home studio in Woodstock, NY. That same year, Helm published his autobiography, This Wheel's on Fire, co-authored with Stephen Davis.
's bluesy 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 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 and in 2006. ~ Richard Skelly, All Music Guide Levon Helm was born in and began playing the at the age of eight.
Helm also played during his formative years and established his first band The Jungle Bush Beaters while in high school. He was influenced by the and by songs that he heard on radio Helm became interested in after attending an concert. He moved from to where he was influenced by and .
At age 17 he was invited to join The Hawks, backing singer . Soon after Helm joined The Hawks, they moved to where, in , they signed with and released several singles, including a few hits.
and .
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.
By the mid 1960s, was interested in performing electric , 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 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 .
They . The documentary was produced by and, for a while, became standard fare at 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.
Levon Helm and the RCO All In , The Band reunited without Robbie Robertson, but then Manuel committed while on tour in . Helm, Danko and Hudson continued in The Band, , which was very critical of his former bandmate, Robbie Robertson.
Helm was diagnosed with throat in the 1990s.
He underwent an arduous regimen of . 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 Ramble Sessions.
Helm performs with his band The Levon Helm Band, which features his daughter Amy Helm and blues harmonica player Little Sammy Davis. He hosts Midnight Rambles (recorded jam Artists who have performed at the Rambles include another one of Helm's former bandmates, , as well as , , , , Seven.
The Midnight Ramble is an outgrowth of an idea he explained to Martin Scorsese in (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 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 and moves came from that.
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