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Donald Fagen
Donald Fagen, right, in concert with Steely Dan in Luzerne, Switzerland, 2007.
Background information
Birth name	Donald Jay Fagen
Born	(1948-01-10) January 10, 1948 (age 64)
Origin	Passaic, New Jersey
Genres	Rock, pop rock, jazz rock
Instruments	piano, organ, various keyboard instruments, melodica,[1] vocals, saxophone
Years active	1971–present
Labels	ABC, MCA, Reprise
Associated acts	Jay & the Americans, Steely Dan
Website	Official Site

Donald Jay Fagen (born January 10, 1948^[2]) is an American musician and songwriter, best known as the co-founder, lead singer, and the principal songwriter of the rock band Steely Dan (along with partner Walter Becker).

Fagen is known for his use of jazz harmonies, elaborate arrangements, and attention to detail. Following the breakup of Steely Dan in 1981, he launched a long-running, if sporadic, solo career in 1982, spawning three albums to date, with a fourth album in progress.^[3] Fagen has toured with Becker since Steely Dan reunited in 1993.^[4]

Early life[link]

Fagen was born in Passaic, New Jersey, on January 10, 1948 to Joseph "Jerry" Fagen, an accountant and his wife Elinor.^[5] From the age of 12 to 17, Elinor sang in a hotel band in upstate New York's Catskill Mountains until bouts of stage fright (a condition her son would later be afflicted with) forced her to discontinue performing live.^[5] Fagen would later recall: "I can't ever remember when there was silence around the house. She was either playing records or singing."^[5]

Around 1958, the Fagen family moved from Passaic first to the suburb of Fair Lawn, and then quickly moved and settled into a ranch-style house in Kendall Park, New Jersey.^[6] The transition greatly upset Donald: he detested living in the suburbs. He would later recall to an interviewer that it "was like a prison. I think I lost faith in [my parents'] judgment… It was probably the first time I realised I had my own view of life." His life in Kendall Park would later inspire tracks on his album The Nightfly.^[5]

In the late 1950s, Fagen became interested in rock and R&B music; his first record purchase being Chuck Berry's "Reelin' and Rockin'".^[5] Around age 11, after receiving musical recommendations from a cousin and attending the Newport Jazz Festival, he quickly became a self-declared "jazz snob. I lost interest in rock n' roll and started developing an anti-social personality."^[7] Fagen would regularly take the bus to Manhattan to see Charles Mingus, Sonny Rollins, Thelonious Monk, and Miles Davis perform.^[7] Soon afterwards, he learned to play the piano, and also played baritone horn in the in high school marching band.^[7] Fagen also began a life-long fondness for table tennis during his teenage years.^[8]

After graduating from South Brunswick High School in 1965, Fagen enrolled at Bard College to study English literature, having been inspired by Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, Gregory Corso, Allen Ginsberg, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti.^[9] While at Bard, Fagen met musician Walter Becker. The duo, along with a revolving assortment of musicians which included future actor Chevy Chase, formed various groups called The Leather Canary, The Don Fagen Jazz Trio, and the Bad Rock Band.^[10] Fagen would later describe his college bands as sounding like "The Kingsmen performing Frank Zappa material".^[11] None of the groups lasted long, but the partnership between Fagen and Becker would continue for decades. The duo's early career included a stint with Jay and the Americans (where they went by pseudonyms), and in the early 1970s, as pop songwriters for ABC/Dunhill Records, which would go on to release all of Steely Dan's 1970s output.

Career[link]

Steely Dan[link]

Responding to an ad in The Village Voice in the summer of 1970, Fagen and Becker met guitarist Denny Dias and started a musical partnership that formed the basis of what would eventually become Steely Dan. However, the original group's line up would only be assembled in full around December 1971 in Los Angeles, California, to where Becker and Fagen had relocated, initially to work as staff song writers for ABC/Dunhill. Fagen and Becker formed the core of the band and co-wrote all the group's music; on tour and record, Becker played bass (and later lead guitar) and Fagen played keyboards, as well as performing almost all of the lead vocals on their recordings.

After releasing their third LP in 1974, the other members gradually left (or were fired from) the band, which gradually evolved into a studio project headed by Becker and Fagen. From the mid-1970s onwards, Steely Dan recorded their albums exclusively with top-notch jazz and rock session musicians. They scored their biggest success in 1977 with the platinum-selling album Aja.

After a lengthy period of inactivity as a band which began in the early 1980s, the duo of Becker and Fagen revived Steely Dan in the mid 1990s, and have since produced two more Steely Dan studio albums: 2000s Two Against Nature which won several Grammys, Everything Must Go (2003), as well as the live CD Alive in America (1995) and a live concert DVD entitled Two Against Nature, which included material spanning much of the band's history.

Solo career[link]

After Steely Dan's breakup in 1981, Fagen released his critically acclaimed solo debut album, The Nightfly, in October 1982. It reached #11 on the Billboard album chart and was certified Platinum for sales of over a million copies in the United States alone. Its premiere single was "I.G.Y. (What a Beautiful World)". The song hit the Adult Contemporary Top 10 and peaked at #26 on the Billboard Hot 100. The follow-up single, "New Frontier" peaked at #34 AC and #70 Pop and was aided by a popular MTV music video. The Nightfly was nominated for several Grammy Awards including Album Of The Year. It was significantly more jazz-based than Fagen's Steely Dan work. Rhino Records released a special DVD Audio version of The Nightfly in honor of the album's 20th anniversary in 2002.

Fagen's second solo album, 1993's Kamakiriad, was produced by Becker. It climbed into Billboard's Top 10 but sold fewer copies than The Nightfly, topping off at 900,000 in sales. Kamakiriad was also nominated for a Grammy Award for Album Of The Year.

Recording sessions for Fagen's third solo album, Morph the Cat, began in August 2004 and the album was released March 14, 2006. Performing on the album are Wayne Krantz (guitar), Jon Herington (guitar), Keith Carlock (drums), Freddy Washington (bass), Ted Baker (piano), and Walt Weiskopf (sax). Upon its release, Morph the Cat received universal acclaim^{[citation needed]} and was later named Album of the Year by Mix magazine. Fagen was also given 'Producer of the Year' award.^{[citation needed]}The 5.1 mix of Morph the Cat won the 2007 Grammy Award for Best Surround Sound Album.^[12]

All three of Fagen's albums previously released on the DVDA format have now been released in Warner's latest format MVI (Music Video Interactive) as a boxed set. Each album features a DTS 5.1, Dolby 5.1 and PCM Stereo mix but no MLP encoded track, along with bonus audio and video content. Customers will also be able to select any track or any portion of a track and use it as their mobile phone ringtone.

In March 2006, Fagen embarked on his first-ever solo tour to support Morph the Cat. This theater tour of the Northeast (including one Canadian date in Toronto), the Midwest, and the West Coast played to sold-out houses and excellent reviews.^{[citation needed]} Fagen's management also sold VIP packages for the tour, which included a pre-show party, premium seats, and access to the band's sound checks. This was mocked on his song-writing partner Walter Becker's website.^[13] Fagen joined Becker for a Steely Dan/Michael McDonald tour the following summer of 2007.

He also toured with the New York Rock and Soul Revue. The 1986 debut album by Rosie Vela, Zazu, inspired the first collaboration between Fagen and Becker following the disbanding of Steely Dan.^[14] This led to their reunion as a writing team and the creation of a new touring version of Steely Dan. The following year Fagen co-produced Becker's solo debut, 11 Tracks of Whack.

Fagen has stated in a recent interview that he plans to record his fourth solo album in spring of 2010 that will be lighter in tone and not an extension of his Nightfly/Kamikiriad/Morph The Cat trilogy.^[15] It is expected to be released in 2012^[16]

Musical style[link]

Fagen has classified himself as both a self-taught pianist and self-taught vocalist. He is said to have taken some vocal lessons in the mid 1970s as a precaution after feeling the straining effects of years of touring. Although he learned to become a consummate entertainer, early on Fagen suffered from severe stage fright which originally prompted Steely Dan producer Gary Katz to hire David Palmer to sing two songs on Steely Dan's debut album "Can't Buy a Thrill". This also lead to the hiring of Royce Jones and Michael McDonald as additional singers in the band's early 1970s' tours. Eventually, Becker, Katz, and the rest of the band convinced Fagen that he was the only one capable of delivering Steely Dan songs with the attitude they needed and by the mid 1970s his confidence in his voice had grown immensely. Jeff Baxter once went on to call Fagen one of the greatest rock voices of all time. Fagen's name routinely appears on all time underrated lists when talking about rock singers and his influence and phrasing can be heard in artists such as Joe Jackson, Ben Folds, and Elvis Costello who have all paid tribute to him with Steely Dan covers. Fagen sings almost exclusively in a nasally tenor, usually with a thick North Jersey accent and many of his songs feature lead vocals sung in 3 or 4 part harmony with himself. Fagen plays keyboards on many of his own songs. He predominantly features the Fender Rhodes Electric Piano and Wurlitzer Electric Piano driving the chord progressions. He's often a featured soloist as well contributing piano (Fire in the Hole), organ (Do it Again, My Rival, etc.), synthesizer (Home at Last, Lunch with Gina, I.G.Y. (What a Beautiful World), etc.), and even saxophone (East St. Louis Toodle-oo).

Work for, and with, other artists[link]

In 1977, he played synthesizer on Poco's Indian Summer album.

In 1978, he coproduced, with Walter Becker, "Apogee,"^[17] an album of straight-ahead jazz featuring Warne Marsh and Pete Christlieb, both on Tenor, and Lou Levy on piano. Also co-wrote, with Walter Becker, "Rapunzel", the third track on the album.

In 1983, he played synthesizer for the track "Love Will Make It Right", which he also wrote, on Diana Ross's solo album Ross.^[18]

Fagen wrote and co-arranged the track "Lazy Nina" on Greg Phillinganes' 1984 album Pulse.

In 1986, he wrote the title track to the Yellowjackets' album Shades.^[19]

Also in 1986, Fagen and Becker contributed to Rosie Vela's album Zazu

In 1991, The Manhattan Transfer recorded Fagen's song "Confide in Me" on their album The Offbeat of Avenues.^[18]

In 1992, Jennifer Warnes recorded "Big Noise New York" (co-written by Fagen and Marcelle Clements) on her solo album The Hunter.^[20]

Fagen's own versions of both "Confide in Me" and "Big Noise New York" were released as 'B' sides for the CD singles of the Kamakiriad tracks "Tomorrow's Girls" and "Snowbound," respectively. They were subsequently made available on the Bonus CD of The Nightfly Trilogy boxed set in 2007.^[21]

In 2008, Fagen played synthesizer on the album I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too by folk singer Martha Wainwright.^[22]

Since 2008, Fagen has made regular appearances with the Levon Helm Band, performing at Levon's Midnight Ramble concerts in Woodstock, New York. He plays keyboards and sings with his stepdaughter, Amy Helm (Amy's mother is Fagen's wife, Libby Titus).

Soundtrack contributions[link]

In 1978 Steely Dan recorded "FM (No Static at All)" (sometimes referred to as "FM"). It is the title theme to the film FM. The soundtrack to the film won the 1979 Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, with engineers Roger Nichols and Al Schmitt taking the honors. This was the first single Steely Dan released on MCA Records (which had released the soundtrack), predating MCA's acquisition of ABC Records by one year.

He recorded "True Companion" for the 1981 animated cult film Heavy Metal.^[23]

He wrote "The Finer Things", which appeared on the soundtrack to the Martin Scorsese 1983 film The King of Comedy, as well as sang background vocals on the song. David Sanborn is given credit for the main part of the song.^[24]

He recorded "Century's End" for 1988's Bright Lights, Big City.^[25]

He recorded "Reflections", a Thelonious Monk cover, along with guitarist Steve Khan, for the film 1988 Arthur 2: On the Rocks.^[18]

He recorded "Blue Lou" an instrumental piece, for the 1992 film Glengarry Glen Ross.^[26]

Other works[link]

Fagen wrote briefly in the 1980s for Premiere magazine, including a few witty pieces on Henry Mancini and Ennio Morricone. These are available online from his website.^[27] His website also features other articles he has written, such as ones for Slate.com.

In 1988, Fagen was a co-producer of the Broadway soundtrack album The Gospel at Colonus.^[28]

In the late 2000s, he appeared as the "Wise Man" in a promotional video for the Electro-Harmonix Stereo Memory Man with Hazarai digital delay/looper. This short promo video was directed by frequent Steely Dan trumpet player Michael Leonhart.^[29]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Other releases[link]

• 2007 The Nightfly Trilogy (3-MVI DVD + 4-CD Box Set)

Awards[link]

In 1984, Fagen was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Arts degree by his alma mater, Bard College.

In 2001, both Fagen and Becker received Honorary Doctor of Music degrees from Berklee College of Music. They both accepted their degrees in person.^[37]

In 2001, Steely Dan (Fagen and Becker) were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.^[38]

Personal life[link]

In 1993, Fagen married fellow songwriter Libby Titus.^[39] Although the two of them had attended Bard College at around the same time, they did not become friends until 1987 when they were both going backstage after a Dr. John concert.^[40] Libby Titus co-wrote the song "Florida Room", which appears on 1993's album Kamakiriad.^[41]

Fagen is Jewish;^[5] his writings and interviews show a close identification with Jewish culture,^[42] but indicate skepticism about all religion.^[43] Donald celebrated his bar mitzvah at Kendall Park's Congregation Beth Shalom in 1961, a synagogue his father helped found.^[44]

References[link]

External links[link]

• donaldfagen.com

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