Levon Helm, Unmistakable Voice & Sound, Dead at 71

by Julian Spivey
His sound and voice were unmistakable. Unmistakable and inimitable. Robbie Robertson might have been the genius behind the words, but the late Levon Helm was the soul behind The Band.
​
Helm died on Thursday (April 19) from throat cancer. He was 71.

Helm was the drummer, one of music’s most iconic, for The Band and vocalist on not all, but many of their biggest and most recognizable tunes like “The Weight,” “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” and “Up On Cripple Creek.”

Along with Robertson, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel and Garth Hudson, Helm helped make some of the most distinctive and original sounding music that rock history has ever seen. The Band was known for its rootsy Americana type sound that honestly sounded like it could’ve come out of any era and dealt with outside the box topics like the American Civil War (“The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”), Unions (“King Harvest (Has Surely Come)”) and particularly the American South.

You could argue that no band has ever sounded as American as The Band, which is particularly interesting given the fact that Helm was the only American born member of the group. Robertson, Danko, Manuel and Hudson all hailed from Canada. Helm was born in the small town of Elaine, Ark. and grew up in Turkey Scratch, Ark the son of cotton farmers. This upbringing naturally leads credence to Robertson’s lyrics. It brings it to life so effortlessly that you see the picture the song is painting so vividly in your mind, despite the fact that most of us have never experienced such topics. Last week in an Esquire piece Charles P. Pierce stated that Helm was the “Real Voice of America” and he hit the nail right on the head.

After The Band split up in 1976, something I’m not sure Helm (who didn’t want the group to split) ever got over with Robertson on, Helm had a successful solo career which included winning Grammy Awards for his final two albums “Dirt Farmer” (2007) and “Electric Dirt” (2009). He also won a Grammy earlier this year for his live album “Ramble at the Ryman.”

The truly tragic thing about Helm and The Band, in general, is that I fear they have or at least will become forgotten by this generation or future generations. The music is timeless, but the minds and attention spans of listeners are increasingly becoming more and more dumbed down. Helm and The Band’s music was anything but typical, even for its day and time and that would probably be its curse among new listeners, if they even gave it a chance from the beginning.  

Helm is now gone, but his legendary music will live on forever. One of The Band’s best recordings was “When I Paint My Masterpiece.” Levon Helm has painted his and what a masterpiece it proved to be.