Levon’s triumphant return

For some months now, I’ve been listening to Levon Helm’s most recent offering Dirt Farmer, which, I’ve decided, is totally deserving of my first music review.

Levon Helm is a veteran performer with forty-plus years of playing as a member of Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks, then The Band, and as a solo artist. As many Band fans know, the unique blend of traditional American folk and 1960’s Rock and Roll combined in the exceptional talents of The Band to produce some of the greatest North American music ever. In fact, the Band was much more a Canadian group than an American one. Robbie Robertson, Richard Manuel, Rick Danko and Garth Hudson were all from Ontario. But, coming from Marvell, Arkansas, Levon brought to the group a mellifluous, one-of-a-kind southern character which helped define their wonderful sound.

As I listen to Music from Big Pink, the Band’s 1968 classic and their pioneering 1969 self-titled release (sometimes called “The Brown Album“) I have always been amazed at the fullness of the Band’s sound, and I often sense Levon Helm’s presence, particularly in his voice, as a distinct and defining element.

However, listening to Dirt Farmer, has made me appreciate not only Levon’s role in The Band as a drummer, song-writer, singer (both lead and back-up harmony) and mandolin player, but it has helped my appreciation for the contributions of Rick Danko, Richard Manuel, Robbie Robertson and Garth Hudson all the more. I realize there is perhaps some injustice in my referring everything back to the Band, particularly when faced with such a stand-alone masterpiece as Dirt Farmer. However, I grew up on the Band, and carry that music inside me. Dirt Farmer has caused me to revisit that music and re-experience it. Just as Dirt Farmer is a journey back for Levon Helm, so too has it precipitated a return to the past for me, a humble listener.

Since the first dissolution of The Band in the mid 1970’s Levon has maintained an active role in The Band’s several reformations. The loss of Robbie Robertson to a solo career in the mid 1970’s changed the group’s dynamic, but did not prevent the remaining members from forging ahead. I had the opportunity to attend a concert in the early 1980’s at the Rainbow Music Hall in Denver with this line-up. I later saw them on a tour with Crosby, Stills and Nash not long after the tragic suicide of Richard Manuel in 1986.

Since then, we’ve lost Rick Danko (in December 1999), and nearly lost Levon to throat cancer. In fact, the story of Dirt Farmer is very much one connected to Levon’s struggle to beat cancer and the effect is had on his voice (which was all but gone for a period of time). Dirt Farmer is very much a tribute to Levon’s Arkansas roots, being a collection of songs he learned as a boy growing up in the American South. It is an effort to pay tribute to his family and heritage, and an opportunity to work side by side with his daughter Amy Helm who provides beautiful country melodies on many of the album’s most memorable tracks.

I highly recommend Dirt Farmer for anyone who has an enthusiasm for traditional American music. It is a an album full of vocal texture, clean instrumentation and soulful expression. The album won the 2008 Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album. I hope no one reads this as a history of the group or its members. For that there are numerous more reliable sources, including Levon’s own book This Wheel’s on Fire: Levon Helm and the Story of the Band.