For alternative meanings, see: Calvary (disambiguation), Mount Calvary (disambiguation), and Golgotha (disambiguation).

Traditional site of Golgotha, within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Calvary or Golgotha /ˈɡɒlɡəθə/ was the site, outside of ancient Jerusalem’s early first century walls, at which the crucifixion of Jesus occurred. Calvary and Golgotha are the English names for the site used in Western Christianity.^[1]

Golgotha is the Greek transcription given by the New Testament, of an Aramaic title, which has traditionally been presumed to be Gûlgaltâ (but see below for an alternative); the Bible glosses it as place of [the] skull — Κρανίου Τόπος (Kraniou Topos) in Greek, and Calvariae Locus in Latin, from which we get Calvary.

Biblical references and etymology[link]

The altar at the traditional site of Golgotha. Pilgrims are bowing down to kiss the star which marks the traditional spot where the Cross of Jesus was planted.

The altar at the traditional site of Golgotha.

Golgotha is referred to in early writings as being a hill looking like the skull-pan of a head very near a gate into the city of Jerusalem.

• Origen Against Marcion Book II (259 AD): A spot there is called Golgotha, - of old the fathers' earlier tongue thus called its name, "The skull-pan of a head".

Since the 6th century it has been referred to as the location of a mountain,^[2] and as a small hill since 333.^[3] The Gospels describe it as a place near enough to the city that those coming in and out could read the inscription 'Jesus of Nazareth - King of the Jews'^[4] . When the King James Version was written, the translators used an anglicised version — Calvary — of the Latin gloss from the Vulgate (Calvariæ), to refer to Golgotha in the Gospel of Luke, rather than translate it; subsequent uses of Calvary stem from this single translation decision. The location itself is mentioned in all four canonical Gospels:

• Mark: And they brought him to the place called Gol'gotha (which means the place of a skull).^[5]

• Matthew: And when they came to a place called Gol'gotha (which means the place of a skull).^[6]

• Luke: And when they came to the place which is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on the right and one on the left.^[7]

• John: So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called the place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew Gol'gotha.^[8]

The “place of a skull” etymology is based on the Hebrew verbal root גלל g-l-l, from which the Hebrew word for skull, גֻלְגֹּלֶת (gulggolet),^[9] is derived. A number of alternative explanations have been given for the name. It has been suggested that the Aramaic name is actually Gol Goatha, meaning mount of execution, possibly the same location as the Goatha mentioned in a Book of Jeremiah passage,^[10] describing the geography of Jerusalem^[3] An alternative explanation is that the location was a place of public execution, and the name refers to abandoned skulls that would be found there,^[11] or that the location was near a cemetery, and the name refers to the bones buried there.^[3]

In some Christian and Jewish traditions, the name Golgotha refers to the location of the skull of Adam.^[2] A common version states that Shem and Melchizedek traveled to the resting place of Noah's Ark, retrieved the body of Adam from it, and were led by Angels to Golgotha — described as a skull-shaped hill at the centre of the Earth, where also the serpent's head had been crushed following the Fall of man. This tradition appears in numerous older sources, including the Kitab al-Magall, the Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan, the Cave of Treasures, and the writings of Patriarch Eutychius of Alexandria. It is also suggested that the location's landscape resembled the shape of a skull, and gained its name for that reason.^[3]

Traditional location[link]

The Holy Sepulchre (1) in the Christian Quarter of Jerusalem.

The traditional location of Golgotha derives from its identification by Helena, the mother of Constantine I, in 325. A few yards nearby, Helena also identified the location of the Tomb of Jesus and claimed to have discovered the True Cross; her son, Constantine, then built the Church of the Holy Sepulchre around the whole site. In 333, the Pilgrim of Bordeaux, entering from the east described the result:

In Nazénie Garibian de Vartavan's doctoral thesis, now published as La Jérusalem Nouvelle et les premiers sanctuaires chrétiens de l’Arménie. Méthode pour l’étude de l’église comme temple de Dieu, she concluded, through multiple arguments (mainly theological and archaeological), that the true site of Golgotha was precisely at the vertical of the now buried Constantinian basilica's altar and away from where the traditional rock of Golgotha is situated.^[13] The plans published in the book indicate the location of the Golgotha within a precision of less than two meters, below the circular passage situated a metre away from where the blood stained shirt of Christ was traditionally recovered and immediately before the stairs leading down to "St. Helena's Chapel" (the above mentioned mother of Emperor Constantine), alternatively called "St. Vartan's Chapel".

The temple to Aphrodite[link]

Jerusalem after being rebuilt by Hadrian. Two main east-west roads were built rather than the typical one, due to the awkward location of the Temple Mount, blocking the central east-west route.

Prior to Helena's identification, the site had been a temple to Aphrodite. Constantine's construction took over most of the site of the earlier temple enclosure, and the Rotunda and cloister (which was replaced after the 12th century by the present Catholicon and Calvary chapel) roughly overlap with the temple building itself; the basilica church which Constantine built over the remainder of the enclosure was destroyed at the turn of the 11th century, and has not been replaced. Christian tradition justifies this re-use by claiming that the location had originally been a Christian place of veneration, but that Hadrian had deliberately buried these Christian sites and built his own temple on top, on account of his alleged hatred for Christianity.^[14] There is certainly evidence that just 30 years after Hadrian's temple had been built, Christians associated it with the site of Golgotha; Melito of Sardis, a late 2nd century bishop in the region, described the location as in the middle of the street, in the middle of the city,^[15] which matches the position of Hadrian's temple within the late 2nd century city.

However, Hadrian's temple had actually been located there simply because it was the junction of the main north-south road^{[citation needed]} (which is now the Suq Khan-ez-Zeit, etc.) with one of the two main east-west roads (which is now the Via Dolorosa), and directly adjacent to the forum (which is now the location of the (smaller) Muristan); the forum itself had been placed, as is traditional in Roman towns, at the junction of the main north-south road with the (other) main east-west road (which is now El-Bazar/David Street). The temple and forum together took up the entire space between the two main east-west roads (a few above-ground remains of the east end of the temple precinct still survive in the Russian Mission in Exile).^{[citation needed]}

Questions of the location in relation to the city walls[link]

The New Testament describes the crucifixion site, Golgotha, as being "near the city" (John 19:20), and "outside the city wall" (Heb. 13:12). The traditionally identified location is in the heart of Hadrian's city, well within Jerusalem's Old City Walls; there has therefore been some questioning of the legitimacy of the traditional identification on these grounds. Some defenders of this tradition have responded by citing Jewish history of the wall, that the city had been much narrower in Jesus' time, with the site then having been outside the walls; since Herod Agrippa (41–44) is recorded by history as extending the city to the north (beyond the present northern walls), the required repositioning of the western wall is traditionally attributed to him as well. In 2003, Professor Sir Henry Chadwick (former Dean of Christ Church, Oxford) argued that when Hadrian's builders replanned the old city, they "incidentally confirm[ed] the bringing of Golgotha inside a new town wall."^[16]

If the western city wall was originally to the east of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, then the western hill, on which it is sited, would have been advantageous to an enemy

Some Protestant advocates of an alternative site claim that a wall would imply the existence of a defensive ditch outside it, so an earlier wall couldn't be immediately adjacent to the Golgotha site, which combined the presence of the Temple Mount would make the city inside the wall quite thin; essentially for the traditional site to have been outside the wall, the city would have had to be limited to the lower parts of the Tyropoeon Valley, rather than including the defensively advantageous western hill. Since these geographic considerations imply that not including the hill within the walls would be willfully making the city prone to attack from it, some scholars, including the late 19th century surveyors of the Palestine Exploration Fund, consider it unlikely that a wall would ever have been built which would cut the hill off from the city in the valley;^[17] archaeological evidence for the existence an earlier city wall in such a location has never been found.

In another viewpoint, in 2007 Dan Bahat, the former City Archaeologist of Jerusalem and Professor of Land of Israel Studies at Bar-Ilan University, stated that "Six graves from the first century were found on the area of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. That means, this place [was] outside of the city, without any doubt…".^[18] The dating of the tombs is based on the fact that they are in the kokh style, which was common in 1st century; however, the kokh style of tomb was also common in the 2nd and 3rd centuries BC.^[19]

The rockface[link]

The Rock of Golgotha inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

During 1973–1978 restoration works and excavations inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and under the nearby Muristan, it was found that the area was originally a quarry, from which white Meleke limestone was struck;^[20] surviving parts of the quarry to the north-east of the chapel of St. Helena are now accessible from within the chapel (by permission). Inside the church is a rock, about 7 m long by 3 m wide by 4.8 m high,^[20] that is traditionally believed to be all that now remains visible of Golgotha; the design of the church means that the Calvary Chapel contains the upper foot or so of the rock, while the remainder is in the chapel beneath it (known as the tomb of Adam). Virgilio Corbo, a Franciscan priest and archaeologist, present at the excavations, suggested that from the city the little hill (which still exists) could have looked like a skull.^[21]

During a 1986 repair to the floor of the Calvary Chapel by the art historian George Lavas and architect Theo Mitropoulos, a round slot of 11.5 cm diameter was discovered in the rock, partly open on one side (Lavas attributes the open side to accidental damage during his repairs);^[22] although the dating of the slot is uncertain, and could date to Hadrian's temple of Aphrodite, Lavas suggested that it could have been the site of the crucifixion, as it would be strong enough to hold in place a wooden trunk of up to 2.5 m height (among other things).^[23][24] The same restoration work also revealed a crack running across the surface of the rock, which continues down to the Chapel of Adam;^[22] the crack is thought by archaeologists to have been a result of the quarry workmen encountering a flaw in the rock.^[25]

Profile based on attempted reconstruction by a German documentary^[who?].

Based on the late 20th century excavations of the site, there have been a number of attempted reconstructions of the profile of the cliff face. These often attempt to show the site as it would have appeared to Constantine. However, as the ground level in Roman times was about 4–5 feet lower and the site housed Hadrian's temple to Aphrodite, much of the surrounding rocky slope must have been removed long before Constantine built the church on the site. The height of the Golgotha rock itself would have caused it to jut through the platform level of the Aphrodite temple, where it would be clearly visible. The reason for Hadrian not cutting the rock down is uncertain, but Virgilio Corbo suggested that a statue, probably of Aphrodite, was placed on it,^[26] a suggestion also made by Jerome. Some archaeologists have been suggested that prior to Hadrian's use, the rock outcrop had been a nefesh - a Jewish funeral monument, equivalent to the stele.^[27]

Pilgrimages to Constantine's Church[link]

Icon of Jesus being led to Golgotha, 16th century, Theophanes the Cretan (Stavronikita Monastery, Mount Athos).

The Itinerarium Burdigalense speaks of Golgotha in 333: "... On the left hand is the little hill of Golgotha where the Lord was crucified. About a stone's throw from thence is a vault (crypta) wherein His body was laid, and rose again on the third day. There, at present, by the command of the Emperor Constantine, has been built a basilica, that is to say, a church of wondrous beauty,"^[28] Cyril of Jerusalem, a distinguished theologian of the early Church, and eyewitness to the early days of Constantine's edifice, speaks of Golgotha in eight separate passages, sometimes as near to the church in which he and his listeners were assembled:^[29] "Golgotha, the holy hill standing above us here, bears witness to our sight: the Holy Sepulchre bears witness, and the stone which lies there to this day."^[30] And just in such a way the pilgrim Egeria often reported in 383: "… the church, built by Constantine, which is situated in Golgotha …",^[31] and also bishop Eucherius of Lyon wrote to the island presbyter Faustus in 440: "Golgotha is in the middle between the Anastasis and the Martyrium, the place of the Lord's passion, in which still appears that rock which once endured the very cross on which the Lord was.",^[32] and Breviarius de Hierosolyma reports in 530: "From there (the middle of the basilica), you enter into Golgotha, where there is a large court. Here the Lord was crucified. All around that hill, there are silver screens."^[33] (See also: Eusebius in 338^[34]).

Alternative locations[link]

Rocky escarpment that some claim to resemble the face of a skull, located northwest of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, near the Garden Tomb which had never been recognized by any church. In the foreground is an 1880 photograph of the same rock face.

In 1882–83 Major-General Charles George Gordon proposed a different location. The location, which some Protestants call the Garden Tomb, is beneath a cliff which contains two large sunken holes, which Gordon regarded as resembling the eyes of a skull; he and a few others before him believed that the skull-like appearance would have caused the location to be known as Golgotha.

The Garden Tomb contains several ancient burial places, although pottery and archaeological findings in the area have been dated to the 7th century BC, so the site would have been abandoned by the 1st century.^[35] Eusebius comments that Golgotha was in his day (the 4th century) pointed out north of Mount Zion.^[36] Although the hill currently referred to as Mount Zion is indeed south of the traditional site for Golgotha, it has only had that name since the Middle Ages, and previously 'Mount Zion' referred to the Temple Mount itself. The Garden Tomb is north of both.

Another alternate location has been proposed by Rodger Dusatko, a missionary in Germany. He claims that the location of Golgotha is just outside the Lion's gate.

The third century theologian Origen describes Golgotha as a hill in appearance similar to the skull-pan of a head(Against Marcion II). The Gospel of John refers to Golgotha as being very near the city, so near that all who passed by could read the inscription^[19:20]. Considering also the prophecy in Psalms 69:12^[69:12], his place of crucifixion would have been near enough to the gate that Jesus could hear what the people were saying about him there.

The Gospels testify that as Jesus died the temple curtain was rent in two. Also the earliest Gospel harmony, the Diatessaron of Tatian (160 - 175 AD) refers to this incident which those standing on Golgotha witnessed.

And immediately the face of the door of the temple was rent into two parts from top to bottom; and the earth was shaken; and the stones were split to pieces; and the tombs were opened; Diatessaron 52,2

According to this exceptionally early writing, it was the face of the door of the temple which was rent in two. The only place where such a spectacle could have been witnessed would have been on this mount overlooking the temple grounds. And just as Eusebius comments in Onomasticon, it lays north of the ancient Mount Zion.

Golgotha. Place of the skull where the Christ was crucified. It is pointed out in Jerusalem north of Mt. Zion. Eusebius Onomasticon Section C The Gospels.

• 

  View of the Lion's Gate from the top of Golgotha. This is the location of the earlier Sheep Gate near the Roman Quarters of Jerusalem. The street Via Dolorosa leads to this gate. (Neh 3,1,32 and John 5,2)

• 

  View of the priest as he sprinkled the blood towards the entrance of the temple. His view went directly over Golgotha.

• 

  Map showing alternate locations of Golgotha. In ancient times the southern city wall extended until Hezekiah's Tunnel.

Other uses of the name[link]

Golgotha (Crucifixion icon), Orthodox Cathedral in Vilnius.

• The name Calvary often refers to sculptures or pictures representing the scene of the crucifixion of Jesus, or a small wayside shrine incorporating such a picture. It also can be used to describe larger, more monumentlike constructions, essentially artificial hills often built by devotees, especially a tradition in Brittany in France of large stone monuments.
• Churches in various Christian denominations have been named Calvary. The name is also sometimes given to cemeteries, especially those associated with the Roman Catholic Church.
• Two Catholic religious orders have been dedicated to Mount Calvary. Several places worldwide have been named after it; including the town Kalvarija in Lithuania and towns Góra Kalwaria and Kalwaria Zebrzydowska in Poland.
• In the 18th and early 19th centuries at Oxford and Cambridge universities the rooms of the heads of colleges and halls were nicknamed golgotha. Apart from the obvious pun on the place of skulls (i.e. heads), this was also due to the punishments that students received in these rooms.^[37]
• In the Eastern Orthodox Church, a Golgotha is a representation (icon) of the crucified Jesus, often with the Theotokos (Mother of God) and John the Beloved Disciple standing to either side. This is used during Holy Week, especially during the Matins of Great Friday (Good Friday). During the rest of the year, it may stand in the nave of the church, off to one side, and will be the place where Pannikhidas (memorial services) will be chanted.
• A common misspelling of the word cavalry is calvary, often quite confusing.

See also[link]

• Crucifixion of Jesus

Notes[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Calvaire

Coordinates: 31°46′43″N 35°13′46″E / 31.77861°N 35.22944°E / 31.77861; 35.22944

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This article is about the gospel singer. For the footballer, see Richard Smallwood (footballer).

The neutrality of this article is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (September 2008)

Richard Smallwood
Background information
Born	(1948-11-30) November 30, 1948 (age 63)
Origin	Washington, DC, United States
Genres	Gospel music
Occupations	composer, music director, pianist, arranger
Instruments	piano
Years active	1975-present
Labels	Onyx/Muscle Shoals Sound, Sparrow, Word, Capitol, Jive, Verity
Associated acts	The Richard Smallwood Singers Vision

Richard Smallwood (born 30 November 1948 in Atlanta, Georgia) is an American Gospel music artist who formed The Richard Smallwood Singers in 1977 in Washington, DC.

Biography[link]

Richard graduated cum laude from Howard University with degrees in both vocal performance and piano, in addition to graduate work in the field of ethnomusicology. Smallwood was a member of The Celestials, the first gospel group on Howard University's campus. That group was the first gospel act to appear at Switzerland's Montreux Jazz Festival. Richard was also a founding member of Howard's first gospel choir.

Smallwood's recording career began in 1982 with the album The Richard Smallwood Singers. The album spent 87 weeks on Billboard's Gospel chart. Its followup, Psalms was nominated for a Grammy. Two years later the album Textures was also nominated. Textures spawned the now-classic "Center Of My Joy" written by Richard Smallwood along with Bill and Gloria Gaither. He won his first Grammy, along with a Dove Award for his production on the Quincy Jones' gospel project Handel's Messiah: A Soulful Celebration.

His music has been recorded by artists such as Destiny's Child, Yolanda Adams, Karen Clark-Sheard, and many more. He even accompanied opera legend Leontyne Price at a White House Christmas celebration during the Reagan administration. Richard, with his current group Vision, has recorded several successful projects for Verity records. He finished his Masters degree in Divinity from Howard University in 2004 and was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2006.

Smallwood's next project was recorded live at the Hammerstein Ballroom at the Manhattan Center in New York. The concert features guests Kim Burrell on "I Can Make This Journey (With You By My Side)," Kelly Price on "Morning Is Breaking," Chaka Khan on "Precious Is Your Name," as well as The Hawkins Family, Tramaine Hawkins, and the original roster of singers who comprised The Richard Smallwood Singers and Vision.^[1]Aretha Franklin and The Clark Sisters will contribute to additional studio tracks to appear on the album.^[2]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

with Richard Smallwood Singers

• Richard Smallwood Singers (Onyx/Benson Records, 1982)
• Psalms (Onyx/Benson Records, 1984)
• Textures (Word, 1986)
• Vision (Word, 1988)
• Portrait (Word, 1990)
• Testimony (Sparrow, 1992)
• Live at Howard University (Sparrow, 1993)

with Vision

• Adoration: Live in Atlanta (Verity, 1996)
• Rejoice (Christmas Project) (Verity, 1997)
• Healing: Live in Detroit (Verity, 1999)
• Persuaded: Live in D.C. (Verity, 2001)
• Journey: Live in New York (Verity, 2007)
• Promises (Verity, 2011)

Compilations[link]

• Gospel Greats (Benson, 1994)
• Memorable Moments (Sparrow, 1999)
• Praise & Worship Songs of Richard Smallwood With Vision (Verity, 2003)
• Quintessential Collection (EMI Gospel, 2007)
• "Center of My Joy" (Rhino/Shanachie, 2007)

Awards & recognitions[link]

• Inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame on November 14, 2006 at the Richland Country Club in Nashville, TN.
• Received Howard University Distinguished Achievement Award.

Grammy, Stellar & NAACP Image Award Nominations[link]

• 1984: Grammy Nomination, Best Soul Gospel Performance, Duo or Group - Richard Smallwood Singers: "Psalms"
• 1988: Grammy Nomination, Best Soul Gospel Performance, Male - Richard Smallwood: "You Did It All"
• 1990: Grammy Nomination, Best Soul Gospel Performance, Album-Richard Smallwood Singers: "Portrait'
• 1991: Grammy Nomination, Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Performance, Album-Richard Smallwood Singers: "Testimony"
• 1993: Grammy Nomination, Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Performance, Album-Richard Smallwood Singers: "Live"
• 2001: Grammy Nomination, Best Traditional Soul Gospel Performance, Album-Richard Smallwood with Vision: "Persuaded: Live in DC"
• 2001: NAACP Image Award Nomination for Best Gospel Artist, Traditional - Persuaded: Live in DC
• 2003: Stellar Award Nomination for Artist Of The Year - Persuaded: Live in DC; Verity
• 2003: Stellar Award Nomination for Song Of The Year - "My Everything (Praise Waiteth)"; Verity
• 2003: Stellar Award Nomination for Choir Of The Year - Persuade: Live in DC
• 2003: Stellar Award Nomination for Producer Of The Year - Persuaded: Live in DC
• 2003: Stellar Award Nomination for Male Vocalist Of The Year - Persuaded: Live in DC
• 2003: Stellar Award Nomination for CD Of The Year - Persuaded: Live in DC
• 2003: Stellar Award Nomination for Traditional Male Vocalist of the Year - Persuaded: Live in DC
• 2003: Stellar Award Nomination for Music Video of the Year - Persuaded: Live in DC

Stellar Award Wins[link]

• 2000: Stellar Award for Choir of the Year - Healing – Live in Detroit ^[3]
• 2000: Stellar Award for Traditional Male Vocalist of the Year - Healing – Live in Detroit ^[3]
• 2000: Stellar Award for Traditional Choir of the Year - Healing – Live in Detroit ^[3]
• 2003: Stellar Award for Choir of the Year - Healing – Live in Detroit ^[4]

References[link]

1. ^ "Ladywoo Ministry of Music". August 3, 2005. http://www.freewebs.com/ladywoo/gospelnewshappenings.htm. 
2. ^ Murray, Jawn (August 30, 2005). "Jubilant Journey". AOL Black Voices. http://blackvoices.aol.com/black_entertainment/bvbuzzcanvas/_a/august-30-2005/20050829171909990001. 
3. ^ ^{a b c} "15th Annual Stellar Award Results". GospelFlava.com. http://www.gospelflava.com/stellar/stellarresults-2000.html. 
4. ^ "18th Annual Stellar Award Results". GospelFlava.com. http://www.gospelflava.com/stellar/stellarresults-2003.html. 

External links[link]

• Richard Smallwood on Myspace - (Official Richard Smallwood Site)
• Richard Smallwood at Allmusic
• Richard Smallwood Awards
• Richard Smallwood Chart History on Billboard
• Photos of Smallwood's Journey Concert from Landru Design

Jessy Dixon (March 12, 1938 – September 26, 2011) was an American gospel music singer, songwriter, and pianist, with success among audiences across racial lines. He garnered seven Grammy award nominations during his career.

Musicians with whom he worked include Paul Simon, Andrae Crouch, DeGarmo & Key and most recently Bill Gaither in the Homecoming series of concerts. He wrote songs for Amy Grant, Natalie Cole, Cher, and Diana Ross. ^[1]

Dixon was an ordained minister with Calvary Ministries International of Fort Wayne, Indiana.^{[citation needed]}

Biography[link]

Born in San Antonio, Texas, Dixon sang and played his first song at the age of five. As a youngster he moved to Chicago, where he was discovered by James Cleveland, one of the first artists to sing and record Jessy Dixon's compositions, "God Can Do Anything But Fail," and "My God Can Make A Way." The organizers of the Newport Jazz Festival invited him to perform his new song, "The Wicked Shall Cease Their Troubling," at New York's Radio City Music Hall in 1972. After the performance, Dixon and The Jessy Dixon Singers were requested to do four encores. Paul Simon (of Simon & Garfunkel fame), was in the audience and invited Dixon to share the stage with him as lead vocalist on NBC-TV's Saturday Night Live.

Dixon found himself touring with Simon across the U.S., France, Canada, Scandinavia, Israel, and Japan. Dixon's affiliation with Simon lasted eight years, during which time he recorded two albums, Paul Simon in Concert: Live Rhymin' (1974) and Still Crazy After All These Years (1975), both of which sold a million copies.

Bill and Gloria Gaither invited him to sing at a Homecoming video taping. Dixon was a favorite on the series, and has traveled all over the United States and abroad surprising gospel audiences with his stirring performances of "It's A Highway To Heaven," "Operator", "Leaving On My Mind", "Blood Bought Church", "The Wicked Shall Cease Their Troubling", "Lord Prepare Me To Be A Sanctuary", and "I Am Redeemed". Dixon performed in the show, Black Nativity with The Jessy Dixon Theater Group.^{[citation needed]}

Death[link]

Dixon was diagnosed with cancer in 2010, and waged a very hard battle against the disease. Dixon died on September 26, 2011 at his home in Chicago, aged 73. ^[2][3]

Quotes[link]

• Natalie Cole: "Jessy's music is just like him, beautiful."
• Bill Gaither: "I have traveled with Jessy Dixon for the past several years and never have I been with an artist with more heart. He is the real thing."
• Bette Midler: "I've heard Jessy Dixon sing many times and in all of gospel music, Jessy Dixon is my favorite. Jessy Dixon has the gospel soul."
• Diana Ross: "There's an element in Jessy's music that can't be mistaken. That element is love, and wow do I feel it."

References[link]

External links[link]

• Allmusic
• Official website

Levon Helm
Levon Helm performing in 2004 on the Village Green in Woodstock, New York.
Background information
Birth name	Mark Lavon Helm
Born	(1940-05-26)May 26, 1940 Elaine, Arkansas, United States
Died	April 19, 2012(2012-04-19) (aged 71) New York City, New York, United States
Genres	Rock and roll, rhythm and blues, rock, blues, country, folk
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, actor, producer
Instruments	Vocals, drums, percussions, mandolin, guitar, bass, harmonica, banjo, violin
Years active	1957–2012
Labels	Capitol, Mobile Fidelity, MCA, Breeze Hill, Levon
Associated acts	The Band, Ronnie Hawkins & The Hawks, Bob Dylan, Levon Helm's Ramble on the Road, Levon Helm and The RCO All-Stars, Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band, Eric Clapton
Website	levonhelm.com

Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm (May 26, 1940 – April 19, 2012)^[1] was an American rock multi-instrumentalist and actor who achieved fame as the drummer and frequent lead and backing vocalist for The Band.

Helm was 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.^[2] 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.^[3] In 2011, his live album Ramble at the Ryman was nominated for the Grammy in the same category and won.^[4]

On April 17, 2012, his wife and daughter announced on Helm's website that he was "in the final stages of his battle with cancer" and thanked fans while requesting prayers. Two days later, Helm died at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.^[5][6]

Biography[link]

Early years[link]

Born in Elaine, Arkansas,^[7], Helm grew up in Turkey Scratch, a hamlet west of Helena, Arkansas. His parents, Nell and Diamond Helm, cotton farmers and also great lovers of music, 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 to become a musician.

Arkansas in the 1940s and 50s stood at the confluence of a variety of musical styles—blues, country and R&B—that later became known as rock and roll. Listening to all these styles on the Grand Ole Opry show on radio station WSM and R&B on radio station WLAC out of Nashville, Tennessee influenced Helm. 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 rhythm and blues on the King Biscuit Time radio show on KFFA in Helena and performed regularly in Marvell with blues guitarist Robert Lockwood, Jr. 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 Southern country music, 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.

The Hawks[link]

After graduating from high school, Helm was invited to join Ronnie Hawkins' band, The Hawks, a popular Southern bar and club act which also had success in Canada, where rockabilly acts were very popular. Soon after, Helm joined The Hawks, and they moved to Toronto, Ontario, 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 to pronounce.

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 the 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 of the United States, 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, songwriter and musician 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 drummer 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 with Dylan, they followed him to live around Woodstock, New York, and remained under salary to him. The Hawks recorded a large volume of demo and practice tapes in Woodstock, 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 also 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.

The Band[link]

Helm returned to the group, then referred to simply as "the band." While contemplating a recording contract, Helm had dubbed the band as "The Crackers." However, when Robertson and their new manager Albert Grossman worked out the contracts, the group's name was cited as "The Band." Under these contracts, The Band was contracted to Grossman, who in turn contracted their services to Capitol Records. This arrangement allowed The Band to release recordings on other labels 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. The Band also recorded their own album Music from Big Pink, which catapulted them into stardom.

Helm, center, performing with The Band. Hamburg, 1971.

On Music From Big Pink, Manuel was the most prominent vocalist and Helm sang mainly backup, with the exception of "The Weight." However, as Manuel's health deteriorated and Robbie Robertson's songwriting increasingly looked to the 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,^{[citation needed]} 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 guitar. The entire group was multi-instrumental and certain songs 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).^[8]

Helm remained with The Band until their 1976 farewell performance, The Last Waltz, which was recorded in a documentary film by director Martin Scorsese.The documentary is widely considered the greatest rock and roll film ever made.

Many music enthusiasts 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. However, Helm repudiated his involvement with The Last Waltz shortly after the completion of its final scenes. In his autobiography, Helm offers scathing criticisms of the film and of Robertson, who produced it.^[9]

Solo artist and the reformed Band[link]

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, followed by Levon Helm. Helm recorded solo albums in 1980 and 1982 entitled American Son and (once again) Levon Helm. Helm also participated in musician 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 1981, Helm married the former Sandra Dodd.

In 1983, The Band reunited without Robbie Robertson, with Jim Weider on guitar. In 1986, while on tour, Manuel committed suicide. 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 Danko toured with drummer Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band. Other musicians in the band included singer/guitarist Joe Walsh, singer/pianist Dr. John, guitarist Nils Lofgren, singer Billy Preston, saxophonist Clarence Clemons and drummer Jim Keltner. Garth Hudson was a guest on accordion on certain dates. Levon played drums and harmonica, and sang "The Weight" and "Up On Cripple Creek" each night.

Helm performed with Danko and Hudson as The Band in 1990 at Roger Waters' epic The Wall – Live in Berlin Concert in Germany to an estimated 300,000 to half a million people.

In 1993, Helm published an autobiography entitled This Wheel's on Fire – Levon Helm and the Story of The Band.

The Midnight Ramble[link]

Helm's performance career in the 2000s 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, allowed Helm to raise money for his medical bills and to resume performing after a nearly career-ending bout with cancer.

In the late 1990s, Helm was diagnosed with throat cancer suffering hoarseness. Advised to undergo a laryngectomy, Helm instead underwent an arduous regimen of radiation treatments at Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. Although the tumor was then successfully removed, Helm's vocal cords were damaged, and his clear, powerful tenor voice was replaced by a quiet rasp. Initially Helm only played drums and relied on guest vocalists at the Rambles, but Helm's singing voice grew stronger. On January 10, 2004, he sang again of his Ramble Sessions. In 2007, during production of Dirt Farmer, Helm estimated that his singing voice was 80% recovered.

The Levon Helm Band featured his daughter guitarist Amy Helm, along with Larry Campbell, Teresa Williams, Jim Weider (the Band's last guitarist), Jimmy Vivino, Mike Merritt, Brian Mitchell, Erik Lawrence, Steven Bernstein, Howard Johnson (tuba player in the horn section who played on The Band's "Rock of Ages" and "The Last Waltz" live albums), Byron Isaacs, and blues harmonica player Little Sammy Davis. Helm hosted Midnight Rambles at his home in Woodstock that were open to the public.

Helm performing in Central Park, New York, 2007

The Midnight Ramble was an outgrowth of an idea Helm explained to Martin Scorsese in The Last Waltz. Earlier in the 20th century, Helm explained, traveling medicine shows and music shows such as F.S. Walcott Rabbit's Foot Minstrels, featuring African-American blues singers and dancers, would put on titillating performances in rural areas. This was also turned into a song by the Band, "The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show," with the name altered so the lyric was easier to sing.

"After the finale, they'd have the midnight ramble," Helm told Scorsese. With young children off the premises, the show resumed: "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."

Artists who performed at the Rambles include Helm's former bandmate Garth Hudson, as well as Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris, Dr. John, Chris Robinson, Allen Toussaint, Donald Fagen of Steely Dan, Jon Herington of Steely Dan, Jimmy Vivino of "Late Night with Conan O'Brien's" The Max Weinberg 7, Sean Costello, The Muddy Waters Tribute Band, Pinetop Perkins, Hubert Sumlin, Carolyn Wonderland, Kris Kristofferson, Gillian Welch, David Rawlings, Justin Townes Earle, Bow Thayer, Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson, Rickie Lee Jones, Kate Taylor, Ollabelle, The Holmes Brothers, Catherine Russell, Norah Jones, Elvis Perkins in Dearland, Phil Lesh (along with his sons Grahame and Brian), Hot Tuna (although Jorma Kaukonen introduced the group as "The Secret Squirrels"), Michael Angelo D'Arrigo with various members of the Sistine Chapel, Johnny Johnson, Ithalia, David Bromberg and Grace Potter and the Nocturnals^[10].

As for his drumming, in recent years Helm switched to the matched grip and adopted a less busy, greatly simplified style, as opposed to his years with The Band when he played with the traditional grip.^[11]

Helm was busy touring every year during 2000s, generally traveling by tour bus to venues in Eastern Canada and the Eastern United States. Since 2007, Helm had performed in large venues such the Beacon Theater in New York. Dr. John and Warren Haynes (The Allman Brothers Band, Gov't Mule) and Garth Hudson played at the concerts as well along with several other guests. At a show in Vancouver, Canada, Elvis Costello joined to sing "Tears of Rage." The Alexis P. Suter Band was a frequent opening act. Helm was a favorite of radio personality Don Imus and was frequently featured on Imus in the Morning. In the Summer of 2009, it was reported that a reality television series centering around the Midnight Ramble was in development.

[edit] Dirt Farmer and after

The Levon Helm Band performing at Austin City Limits Music Festival 2009

Levon Helm at Life is Good Festival in 2011

The Fall of 2007 saw the release of Dirt Farmer, Helm's first studio solo album since 1982. Dedicated to Helm's parents and co-produced by his daughter Amy, the album combines traditional tunes Levon recalled from his youth with newer songs (by Steve Earle, Paul Kennerley and others) which flow from similar historical streams. The album was released to almost immediate critical acclaim, and earned him a Grammy Award in the Traditional Folk Album category for 2007.

Helm declined to attend the Grammy Awards ceremony, instead holding a "Midnight Gramble" and celebrating the birth of his grandson, named Lavon (Lee) Henry Collins.^[12][13][14]

In 2008, Helm performed at Warren Haynes' Mountain Jam Music Festival in Hunter, New York. Helm played alongside Warren Haynes on the last day of the three-day festival. Levon also joined guitarist Bob Weir and his band RatDog on stage as they closed out the festival. Helm performed to great acclaim at the 2008 Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee.^[15][16]

Helm drummed on a couple of tracks for Jorma Kaukonen's February, 2009 album River of Time, recorded at the Levon Helm studio.

Helm released the album Electric Dirt on his own label on June 30, 2009.^[17] The album won a best album Grammy for the newly created Americana category in 2010. Helm performed on the CBS Television program David Letterman Show on July 9, 2009. He also toured that same year in a supporting role with the band Black Crowes.

In March, 2010, a documentary on Helm's day-to-day life titled Ain't in It for My Health: A Film About Levon Helm was released. Directed by Jacob Hatley, it made its debut at the South by Southwest film festival in Austin, Texas, and went on to screen at the Los Angeles Film Festival in June 2009.^[18]

On May 11, 2011, Helm released Ramble at the Ryman, a live album recorded during his September 17, 2008 performance at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium. The album features Helm's band playing six songs by The Band and other cover material, including some songs from previous Helm solo releases.^[19] The album won the Grammy Award for Best Americana Album.^[20]

Acting career[link]

In addition to his work as musician, Helm also acted in several dramatic films after the breakup of The Band. His first acting role was the 1980 film Coal Miner's Daughter in which he portrayed Loretta Lynn's father, followed three years later when he appeared as U.S. Air Force test pilot and engineer, Jack Ridley, in The Right Stuff. He also had a brief cameo as a weapons expert in the film "Shooter (film)" with Mark Walberg.

Death[link]

Levon Helm's grave at Woodstock Cemetery, May 26, 2012

In 2012, during the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies in Cleveland, Robbie Robertson sent “love and prayers” to Helm, fueling speculation on Helm's health. Helm had previously cancelled several performances, citing poor health or a "slipped disk" in his back.^[21]

On April 17, 2012, Helm's wife Sandy and daughter Amy revealed that Helm had end-stage cancer. They posted the following message on Helm's website:

"Dear Friends,

Levon is in the final stages of his battle with cancer. Please send your prayers and love to him as he makes his way through this part of his journey.

Thank you fans and music lovers who have made his life so filled with joy and celebration... he has loved nothing more than to play, to fill the room up with music, lay down the back beat, and make the people dance! He did it every time he took the stage...

We appreciate all the love and support and concern.

From his daughter Amy, and wife Sandy"^[22]

On April 18, Robertson revealed on his Facebook page that he had a long visit with Helm at the hospital the previous Sunday.^[23] On the same day, Garth Hudson posted on his personal website that he was "too sad for words". He then left a link for a video of himself and the Alexis P. Suter band performing Bob Dylan’s song "Knocking on Heaven's Door".^[24]

Surrounded by family and friends, Helm died on April 19, 2012, at 1:30 pm at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.^[25][26][27]

Fans were invited to a public wake at Helm's Barn studio complex on April 26. Approximately 2,000 fans came to pay their respects to the fallen musical icon. After a private funeral service and a procession through the streets of Woodstock, Helm was interred in the Woodstock Cemetery the following day, within sight of the grave of his longtime bandmate Rick Danko.

Tributes[link]

Elton John wrote the song "Levon" and named his son after Helm.^[28]

Marc Cohn wrote the song "Listening to Levon" in 2007. "The Man Behind the Drums," written by Robert Earl Keen and Bill Whitbeck, appeared on Keen's 2009 album The Rose Hotel.

In 1994, Helm was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Band.^[29]

At their May 2, 2012 concert at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performed "The Weight" as a tribute to Helm.^[30]Springsteen called Helm "one of the greatest, greatest voices in country, rockabilly and rock 'n' roll ... staggering ... while playing the drums. Both his voice and his drumming were so incredibly personal. He had a feel on the drums that comes out of certain place in the past and you can't replicate it." Springsteen also said it was one of the songs that he had drummer Max Weinberg audition with prior to joining the band.

List of works[link]

Discography[link]

Filmography[link]

• The Last Waltz (1978)
• Coal Miner's Daughter (1980)
• The Right Stuff (1983)
• The Dollmaker (1984)
• Smooth Talk (1985)
• End of the Line (1987)
• Staying Together (1989)
• Feeling Minnesota (1996)
• Fire Down Below (1997)
• The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005)
• Shooter (2007)
• In the Electric Mist (2009)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Levon Helm

• Official website
• Levon Helm at the Internet Movie Database
• Allmusic
• Review of Dirt Farmer
• RS Editor's Review: Electric Dirt
• Levon Helm lyrics

Paul Collier, CBE is a Professor of Economics, Director for the Centre for the Study of African Economies at The University of Oxford and Fellow of St Antony's College. From 1998 – 2003 he was the director of the Development Research Group of the World Bank.^[1]

Life[link]

Collier is a specialist in the political, economic and developmental predicaments of poor countries.^[2] He was brought up in Sheffield where he attended King Edward VII School.^[3] He holds a Distinction Award from Oxford University,^[1] and in 1988 he was awarded the Edgar Graham Book Prize for the co-written Labour and poverty in rural Tanzania: Ujamaa and rural development in the United Republic of Tanzania.^[4]

The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It (ISBN 0195311450), has been compared^[2] to Jeffrey Sachs's The End of Poverty and William Easterly's The White Man's Burden, two influential books, which like Collier's book, discuss the pros and cons of developmental aid to developing countries.

His 2010 book The Plundered Planet^{[5][6][7][8][9]} is encapsulated in his formulas: Nature - Technology + Regulation = Starvation, Nature + Technology - Regulation = Plunder, and Nature + Technology + Regulation (Good Governance) = Prosperity. The book describes itself as an attempt at a middle way between the extremism of "Ostriches" (Denialism, particularly climate change denial) and "Environmental Romanticism" (for example, anti-genetically modified organisms movements in Europe). The book is about sustainable management in relation with the geo-politics of global warming, with an attempt to avoid a global tragedy of the commons, with prime example of overfishing. In it he builds upon a legacy of the economic psychology of greed and fear, from early Utilitarianism (Jeremy Bentham) to more recently the Stern Review.

He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours.^[10] He is a patron of the Media Legal Defence Initiative.

In 2010 and 2011, he was named by Foreign Policy magazine to its list of top global thinkers.^[11][12]

Work[link]

Research topics[link]

• Governance in low-income countries, especially the political economy of democracy
• Economic growth in Africa
• Economics of civil war, aid, globalisation and poverty
• The greed vs grievance debate in international relations

Selected publications[link]

• The Plundered Planet: Why We Must, and How We Can, Manage Nature for Global Prosperity (2010) Oxford University Press ISBN 978-0-19-539525-9.
• Labour and poverty in rural Tanzania: Ujamaa and rural development in the United Republic of Tanzania, Oxford University Press, New York 1991, ISBN 0-19-528315-6.
• The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It. ISBN 0-19-531145-0.
• (with Anke Hoeffler) ‘On economic causes of civil war’ Oxford Economic Papers, vol 50 iss 4, (1998), pp 563–573.
• (with Anke Hoeffler) ‘Greed and grievance in civil war’ Oxford Economic Papers, vol 56 iss 4, (2004), pp 563–595.
• (with Lisa Chauvet and Haavard Hegre) 'The Security Challenge in Conflict-Prone Countries', Copenhagen Consensus 2008 Challenge Paper, (2008).
• Wars, Guns and Votes: Democracy in Dangerous Places, Harper, (March 2009)

Video[link]

• The Royal Economic Society's 2006 Annual Public Lecture, by Coller (Royal Economic Society)
• Interview with Fareed Zakaria on Foreign Exchange
• TED Conference, Paul Collier on "The Bottom Billion"
• TED Conference, Paul Collier's new rules for rebuilding a broken nation

Press[link]

• Review of The Plundered Planet by the Financial Times
• Review of the Bottom Billion by the Financial Times
• Review of the Bottom Billion in The New York Times
• Review of The Bottom Billion by William Easterly in The Lancet
• Samuel Grove, "The Bottom of the Barrel: A Review of Paul Collier's The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries Are Failing and What Can Be Done about It."

See also[link]

	Environment portal
	Politics portal
	Economics portal

• Environmental politics
• Good Governance
• Tanzania

References[link]

External links[link]

• Paul Collier's home page at Oxford University
• Links to downloadable research papers on Africa, Aid, Conflict, Political Economy and other topics
• Interview with Paul Collier by J. Tyler Dickovick
• Interview with the Oxonian Review in March 2009
• Video of recent talk at Oxford University - "The Bottom Billion"
• TED Talks: Paul Collier shares 4 ways to help the "bottom billion" at TED in 2008