Robbie Robertson is Greedy

chaboneobaiarroyoallende:

Helm

losetheboyfriend:

Bob Dylan & Levon Helm

asteakandmilkshake:

The Band - “Jawbone”

He didn’t know it at the time, but when Richard Manuel’s voice breaks as he sings “I’m a thi-eeef and I dig it,” he’s really talking about the Internet decades in the future.*

Steal it, digg it, and then understand everyone else has already seen it, and implicitly acquiesces that you’re not perpetuating anything but the fact you’re a lemming. We all are. 

I can(‘t) dig that. 

*Robbie is a greedy, thieving prick, so he wasn’t talking about anybody but himself when he wrote the lyrics. Richard’s Grand Marnier-infused soul, sang it from a very different place. Whether it was clairvoyance or just an epiphanic moment while trying to get rid of some nasty tremors before hitting the studio, Richard will always sound like, and be, an artist, but without the debilitating self-aggrandizment that comes with that designation while alive; since, typically, he dropped off this mortal coil the only way he could: hanging from a shower curtin with a little blow near the sink. Robbie was just a shitty poet that knew some guitar licks and didn’t mind stealing Levon’s South and Richard’s (M)elancholy. There’s a difference between the writer and the singer of the song, but only a corporeal Levon ever had the balls to say it in print. 

Any time you read a Buzzfeed post that just feels like déjà vu, remember this song.

Levon Helm

“Co-founder”

Garth better outlast Robbie.  

(via ready-for-primetime-deactivated)

themostperfectrice:

Dylan and The Band, “Yazoo Street Scandal”, from The Basement Tapes.

This is 1967. As someone points out in the comments on the youtube video, for 67, these were almost unprecedented approaches for rock musicians to take on each of their instruments. Danko’s bass is incredibly elastic, for one thing. Garth Hudson was always insane, so that works.

But god, Levon. His voice, still fresh, still pristine, so fucking STRONG—this is a vocal performance par excellence, even by his lofty standards.

Levon FTW

leeanna41:

levon & the hawks!

(Source: discreetlee)

gravitysgone:

Today, our awesome Tuesday drummer is Mr Levon Helm. Now, Levon Helm is one of these guys you could easilly just be completely jealous of. Dude can drum, he can sing and he can play a whole bunch of other instruments really well too. But I think the thing I envy most is that he can drum AND sing. It’s only recently I discovered how difficult that actually is. My brain just completely short circuits when I try. I can do one, or the other.

Now, some people would say he’s not a complicated drummer, but he is very technical. Much like Charlie Watts of The Stones (who I’ll probably talk about some Tuesday in the future) and Brad Morgan of The Drive-By Truckers, he doesn’t over play. He plays just enough. It’s only really been since learning to play properly I’ve realised how important this is. I used to think Ringo Starr was a poor and lazy drummer, now I have a very different understanding of what it is he does.

Levon Helm also holds the title of ‘Dude Who Sings My Favourite Song’. It was only last week I decided my favourite song ever, the end, is The Weight by The Band. That’s it. It’s been decided. I won’t change my mind. I think the version in the above video is possibley the best recorded on tape, mostly due to the inclusion of The Staple Singers. It’s got great vibe and a lot of that comes from the driving drums and the honest vocal.

Ultimately though, Levon Helm is awesome because he’s 70 and he still performs live every week in some capacity. If you’re looking for a great newish album, check out 2007’s Dirt Farmer or the follow up, 2010’s Electric Dirt. Sadly, not on Spotify, but probably on GrooveShark.

musicandreverie:

I just finished reading This Wheel’s on Fire, which is Levon Helm’s autobiography and his version of The Band’s story.

He chose to start the story near the end, and then go back to the beginning. We begin by walking into Richard Manuel’s bathroom with Levon, hearing Manuel’s wife scream, visualizing the sight of Richard’s hanged body. Heartbreaking.

The entire story was very well written (Levon cowrote it with Stephen Davis). It had tons of funny moments and gave insight into lots of things I’d been interested in. The history of The Band, of course; stories about other musicians that their lives were interwoven with, like Bob Dylan; and a really interesting portrait of the Canadian music scene of the ‘60’s and ‘70’s from the perspective of an Arkansas boy.

Levon made some bold claims, some passionate claims, with regards to the almost dictator-like role Robbie Robertson and The Band’s management started to take once fame hit. In Levon’s opinion, The Last Waltz should never have happened. That was also kind of sad, because Levon readily admits that when Robbie first got involved with them (Robbie was fifteen years old at the time), they were close friends.

Well, anyway: this first song is one of my all time favourites of theirs. It’s a song that really gives every member a chance to shine in true equality - an element that was really important to them when everything started, ten years or more before fame. You see Robbie Robertson’s incredible songwriting and his undoubtable skill on his instrument. It’s such a bottom heavy song that Rick Danko’s bass and Levon Helm’s vocals and drumming really hold their own. Garth Hudson’s technical skill with the organ takes the whole thing to a higher level, and of course, Richard Manuel. Who sings like that anymore? On a good day, on a sober day, he could tear you in half with that voice of his.

King Harvest has Surely Come by The Band