Levon Helm dies at 71

[redsmetz]

Well here's the second shoe, long time member of The Band, Levon Helm, has died from cancer.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/20/ar...ies-at-71.html

Here's a nice version of The Weight performed with one of Ringo's All Starr Bands

http://youtu.be/YrdeBTBsR60

[Spazzrico]

Time to watch "The Last Waltz" again. RIP

[Chip R]

Very sad to hear about this.

[Mutaman]

Wow. Too young.

Levon was from Helana, Arkansa. He said the best band he ever saw was Elvis and Scotty Moore.

His book "This Wheel's on Fire" is a good read.

He said when Ronnie Hawkins recruited him and the boys to be his back up band, Ronnie said: "Well, son, you won't make much money, but you'll get more ---- than Frank Sinatra. "

If you want to listen to some music tonight, you could do a lot worse than "Big Pink".

[Mutaman]

Originally Posted by Spazzrico

Time to watch "The Last Waltz" again. RIP

Actually Levon hated "The Last Waltz".


"People ask me about The Last Waltz all the time. Rick Danko dying at fifty-six is what I think about The Last Waltz. It was the biggest ---- rip-off that ever happened to The Band—without a doubt.
Foreword to This Wheel's on Fire: Levon Helm and the Story of The Band, p. 312 (Chicago Review Press, 2000); on the book, Helm says that his bandmate died because he "worked himself to death", and that he, Danko, Garth Hudson and Richard Manuel never received any money for the various home videos, DVDs and soundtracks released by Warner Bros. after the project.


"I'm pretty sure that Levon [Helm] is the only honest, live element in The Last Waltz, with the exception of Muddy Water's vocal. Everything else was overdubbed and redone. Levon was basically gone, because he was disgusted with certain of the business practices. Robbie asked him to do his part over again, but Levon had nothing to do with it."

John Simon (producer)

[westofyou]

Pure musician, no Rock Star BS

Godspeed

[Chip R]

Levon also had a nice acting career after The Band broke up.

[Roy Tucker]

I'm bummed. A true American original artist and an authentic guy. No BS.

RIP Levon

[Sweetstop]

Originally Posted by Chip R

Levon also had a nice acting career after The Band broke up.

coal miner's daughter comes to mind...3 burials of melquiades estrada w/ tlj...


r.i.p., levon.

[Mutaman]

Originally Posted by Sweetstop

coal miner's daughter comes to mind...

r.i.p., levon.

I had totally forgotten about that. He was outstanding!

[Chip R]

Originally Posted by Sweetstop

coal miner's daughter comes to mind...3 burials of melquiades estrada w/ tlj...


r.i.p., levon.

Shooter.

[Chip R]

Robert Earl Keen - The Man Behind The Drums (Levon Helm) - YouTube

[lollipopcurve]

May he rest in peace.

really liked the guy

[Spitball]

RIP, Levon Helm.

A few years ago, I was teaching a poetry unit. I had a lesson planned but ran into a problem that required an emergency change of plans.

"The Weight" was being used with a cell phone commercial, and so I ran off the lyrics before first period. I had the students work in groups to analyze literal meanings of the lyrics and was amazed at the enthusiasm and insights. I had never realized how many religious references were in that song.

I realize Robbie Robertson has claimed it wasn't about religion, but I have my doubts.

The word weight never appears in the actual song but load does appear in the chorus and may refer to sin.

The first stanza is about the traveler trying to find a place to sleep (Mary and Joseph). He is turned away. The setting is Nazareth which is the location of a guitar manufacturor in Pennsyvania but also the home of Jesus.

Every stanza has a reference. The devil and temptation are mentioned. Moses, Luke, and Judgement Day in the following stanzas. At the end, the narrator is waitng in a cannonball to take him away. The Cannonball Express was a mythical train that took people to Heaven.

Btw, I have a friend who claims to know Anna Lee who lives in northwest Arkansas.