(but it's nearly the same...)
Not surprising, because Mark Lavon Helm (1940-2012) was one of the singers and the drummer of the Canadian group whose very first name was… Levon and The Hawks ! He was also the only American in the group and, as most of his Band mates, a multi-instrumentalist who could also play harmonica, mandolin, guitar and bass.
 |
| The "original" Band : Levon Helm, Robbie Robertson, Richard Manuel, Rick Danko & Garth Hudson |
Listening to Helm, who would guess “Washer Woman” and “The Tie That Binds” are from Dr John, “Sing, Sing, Sing”, from Earl King, or “Havana Moon”, from... Chuck Berry ?! Even the traditional “Milk Cow Boogie” sounds totally Helm's. In fact, the musical texture of the whole album strongly reminds the sound of The Band, and not only because of Helm's voice.
 |
| Helm's boyhood home in Arkansas |
 |
| Donald “Duck” Dunn (left) & Steve Cropper |
One characteristic of this album is that it's entirely made of songs written, specially for the album or not, by some of the guests (Dr. John, Booker T. Jones, bassist Donald “Duck” Dunn, guitarist Fred Carter, Jr.), of re-arranged traditionals, and of covers of Earl King and Chuck Berry. Helm only co-wrote “Blues So Bad” with Henry Glover, and worked on the arrangements of the couple of traditionals.
 |
| The RCO All-Stars band |
 |
| Paul Butterfield |
After the swampy “Blues So Bad” (later covered by Tab Benoit in his 2005 album “Fever For The Bayou”) or the rocking R'n'B version of “Milk Cow Boogie”, Paul Butterfield's harmonica is flavoring the down-beat “Rain Down Tears” with a swamp atmosphere again, as well as “A Mood I Was In”, also enlightened by an electric piano.
From Chuck Berry, Helm didn't chose one of the usual great classics but “Havana Moon”, a song that many would attribute to somebody else (Carlos Santana for instance who covered the song with a tropical style on his 1983 eponymous album). Helm's version is halfway between Berry's original cut and Santana's tropical cover, and he had the brilliant idea to use a warm steel-drum sound (probably produced by a keyboard) which gives the song just the necessary dose of exotic dancing groove.
The closing track, the traditional “That's My Home”, arranged by Helm and Dr John, underlines, like all the previous tracks, the warm and attractive “Southern country boy” voice of Helm.
The whole album is really enjoyable, and could almost pass for a Band's opus (which shouldn't displease the fans of the Canadian group). Almost...
Actually, five years after recording this album, Helm managed to reunite the Band in 1983, except Robertson who refused to come back and was replaced by guitarist Earl Cate. They began a difficult second career marked by Richard Manuel's suicide in 1986 and in the late 1990's by Helm's fight against a throat cancer. Finally, The Band disappeared definitely when Rick Danko died in December 1999.
After a decade-long remission, his cancer reappeared in a bad end-stage and Helm died in April 2012, at 71. ■
 |
| Bob Dylan with The Band |
The concert was filmed by Martin Scorsese, and the resulting concert-documentary including interviews with the group and two studio performances of The Band with Emmylou Harris and The Staple Singers shot later, was released in 1978, along with a three-LP soundtrack.
■ The Last Waltz |
| With Neil Young |
■ Levon Helm live
► "Got Me A Woman" & funny intro, King Biscuit Blues Festival, Helena, AR, 1989 : https://youtu.be/E4JNca0QBDc
 |
| Levon Helm & his daughter Amy Helm |
► With many guest + daughter Amy Helm, The Greek Theater, Los Angeles, 2010 : https://youtu.be/WKci1ASldoU
No comments:
Post a Comment