A Barn-Raising Rocks a New Jersey
‘Love for Levon,’ Tribute to Helm at Izod
Center
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/05/arts/music/love-for-levon-tribute-to-helm-at-izod-center.html?_r=0
Love for Levon Roger Waters waves a gift from Levon
Helm, who died in April, at a show at the Izod
Center
By JON PARELES
Published: October
4, 2012
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — It takes an arena concert to save a
barn.
Collaborators and admirers of Levon Helm, who was
the drummer for the
Band, gathered on Wednesday at the Izod
Center
It was a night of gritty voices, twangy guitars and songs
steeped in American traditions and tall tales: a kind of powwow for the rootsy,
handmade styles now categorized together as Americana
The concert, which will eventually be shown on AXS TV and
released as a DVD , raised money to keep
music going at Mr. Helm’s barn in Woodstock, N.Y.; he died in April.
The barn is a recording studio and, since 2005, the home of
the Midnight Ramble, a concert series where the Levon Helm Band had been
joined, through the years, by most of the musicians at the concert.
Even in an arena it was a cozy event. Dozens of luminaries
from rock, soul and country — among them Gregg Allman, Jakob Dylan, Bruce
Hornsby, Mavis Staples, John Prine, Joan Osborne, John Hiatt, Jorma Kaukonen
and Ray La Montagne — were backed by the Levon Helm Band. It’s now led by the
guitarist and fiddler Larry Campbell and, Mr. Campbell announced, renamed the
Midnight Ramble Band. Fondly, fervently and with few displays of vanity, they
sang Band songs and songs from Mr. Helm’s 2007 solo album, “Dirt Farmer”
(including the Appalachian-style “Little Birds,” sung by Amy Helm, Mr. Helm’s
daughter).
Most of the performers echoed the inflections of Mr. Helm’s
singing, with its deep Southern memories in every unvarnished phrase. And at
their foundation were the beats Mr. Helm had played: his amalgam of bedrock
economy, R&B backbeat, military tattoo and jazzy variation. Sometimes it
took two drummers to play them.
Garth Hudson, the Band’s keyboardist, sat in vigorously on a
few songs, including a rendition of “Chest Fever” (sung by the country star
Dierks Bentley) that he opened with a sly, darting Bach pastiche as an organ
solo.
Robbie Robertson, the Band’s primary songwriter and other
surviving member, did not appear. But his songs did, with their conundrums,
gravity and humor.
Joe Walsh, though hardly the night’s most gifted singer,
cackled through “Up on Cripple Creek New Orleans
But some of the concert’s best moments moved beyond homage.
Grace Potter, accompanying herself on organ in a beautifully sparse
arrangement, made Bob Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released” a pure, lonely hymn. The Kentucky
The country singer Eric Church seized “A Train Robbery,” a
Paul Kennerley song from “Dirt Farmer,” and snarled through its depiction of
Jesse James warning, “We will burn your train to cinders.” And Roger Waters —
the non-American on the bill — gave another “Dirt Farmer” song, “Wide
River
[A version of this review appeared in print on October 5, 2012 , on
page C15 of the New York
Jakob Dylan, Roger Waters Lead Sweet 'Love for Levon'
Tribute to Levon Helm
All-star event celebrates the late, beloved Band drummer and
songwriter
Levon Helm's musical legacy revealed itself to be in good
hands on Wednesday night at Love for Levon, an open-hearted benefit concert for
the family of the late singer-drummer of the Band. Packed
with marquee musical names including Roger Waters and My Morning Jacket and
intimate anecdotal sharing that belied the enormity of its space – the Izod
Center New
Jersey Woodstock , New York
Love for Levon also served as a financial and symbolic
continuation of Helm's famous Midnight Rambles, the campfire-style jams he
established in his studio for talented folk, country and rock musicians.
Fittingly, the evening shared the affectionate give-and-take ethos that made
the Rambles so legendary: egos were nonexistent, vocals readily shared, lengthy
solos undemanded. The singer and multi-instrumentalist Larry Campbell served as
the unofficial master of ceremonies; he led the Levon Helm Band, a revolving
ensemble of 12-odd brass, keys, strings, and percussion players (now redubbed
the Midnight Ramble Band, he noted), and introduced most of the plentiful guest
stars.
Roger Waters and Jim James of My Morning Jacket perform
during the Love for Levon Benefit at the Izod
Center
Kevin Mazur/WireImage
At Izod, the most rabid receptions seemed reserved for those
who'd contributed to the Band's heyday, or at least held a direct connection to
it: Garth Hudson, the Band's influential organist, received a standing ovation
from much of the room as he pounded keys for "Little Birds" (from
Helm's Grammy-winning 2007 solo album Dirt Farmer). He lingered and was
accompanied by a beaming John Prine (dapper in a suit, and introduced as
"a hero of Levon's") and the Levon Helm Band for the Band's seminal
track "When I Paint My Masterpiece." Their heartfelt, drawling call-and-response
soon found folksy kinship in surprise guest Jakob Dylan's raspy, fervent spin
through "Ain't Got No Home," a Clarence "Frogman" Henry
hellraiser that the Band covered. (Bobbing in his wide-brimmed hat, Dylan could
almost duck the irony of delivering a song with the lyric "I ain't got no
father," even though Bob wasn't present to support his late friend.)
Though the old guard of the Band collaborators delivered
warmly talented moments, the younger Helm enthusiasts proved formidable as
well. Lucinda Williams' keening vocals on "Whispering Pines" (one of
Robbie Robertson's most beautiful songs for the Band) drew goosebumps, and
Grace Potter's effortlessly controlled soar through "I Shall Be
Released" tumbled steadily toward a devastating climax of vibrato and
smashing piano. Afterward, Campbell
Ray La Montagne and John Mayer delivered a beatifically
understated "Tears of Rage" (by Bob Dylan and the Band). La Montagne
maintained his gorgeous, reedy rasp while keeping his hands stuffed unassumedly
in his pockets, and Mayer contributed modest rhythm parts and evaded all
theatrics; he'd deliver those later in the virtuosic, largely instrumental
barnstormer "Tennessee Jed." The country singer Eric Church offered
an unexpectedly poignant highlight when he leant his solid twang to the Helm
rarity "A Train Robbery," a song chock full of the heartland
storytelling Helm excelled at ("We will burn your train to cinders so
throw the money on down/ Open up your damned express car and jump down to the
ground"). Church also covered the Band's "Get Up Jake" and spoke
touchingly of his experience playing a Ramble, closing with the battle cry,
"I've been told that I march to the beat of a different drummer, and I do
– Levon Helm."
Larry Campbell and John Mayer perform during the Love for
Levon Benefit at the Izod Center
Kevin Mazur/WireImage
After a blazing, funk-laden "Up on Cripple
Creek Wide River
By the cinematic ensemble closing of "The Weight,"
during which every performer of the night stuffed the stage, the room pulsed
with familial goodwill. It was appropriately similar to the benevolent mood
of The Last Waltz, the Band's spirited swan song – and with Waters'
scarlet hat resting prominently on the central microphone, a spotlight lending
it soft glow, the evening seemed far more a promise to Helm than a farewell to
him.
RELATED
Levon Helm's Loved Ones Honor His Legacy
Amy
Helm , Barbara
O'Brien , Elvis Costello , Larry Campbell , Levon Helm , Midnight
Rambles , Robbie
Robertson , The
Band , The
Last Waltz , Levon Helm Farm , Levon Helm
Rambles , Entertainment
News
Levon Helm, who died on April 19, experienced an astonishing
career resurgence all due to a tight-knit inner circle, including his daughter
Amy, his manager Barbara O'Brien, and guitarist Larry Campbell, who all rallied
around to help the legend when he was broke and in danger of losing everything.
His redemptive third act began at a time when he was without
a voice (from surgery to remove cancer from his throat), in bankruptcy, and
deeply indebted to the bank which held the mortgage on his home.
But the million dollar question remains: how could a living
legend, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, world renowned drummer, whose
soulful southern twang lent credibility to such standards like "The
Weight," "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," and "Up on
Cripple Creek," end up with nothing?
Helm's life after The Band split was checkered; there were
periods of activity when he landed movie roles, playing Loretta Lynn's father
in Coal Miner's Daughter and test pilot Jack Riddley in The Right Stuff.
He married Sandy Dodd in 1981 and continued to make great
music, with Levon Helm and the RCO All Stars
and his old friends The Cate Brothers. But a series of bad business decisions,
a fire in Helm's barn, and some personal setbacks followed.
The Band eventually reunited, toured, and recorded, sans
Robertson, but their lack of financial success and being relegated to playing
much smaller venues took its emotional toll on the group. Keyboardist and
vocalist Richard Manuel, who had been battling personal demons, hanged himself
in his hotel room after a show in Winter Park , Florida
"I'm sure there were periods of darkness but I saw a
positive guy all the time," said Happy Traum, a friend of Helm's and Woodstock
"He was just always striving to see the positive side
of things. When his barn burned down he said, 'Well, we'll just build a better
one'; When he got sick in '98 he said, 'Whatever life I got left I'll just
build a better Levon'; That attitude was pretty amazing to me."
Helm managed to stay afloat but there were some very serious
financial issues that weren't going to go away, and by the end of 2003 he was
out of options. Then with his home in foreclosure, he made a phone call that
would change his life.
Barbara O'Brien, the administrative assistant for the Ulster
County Sheriff, was well aware of Levon Helm's bankruptcy and foreclosure
troubles but she wasn't yet clear about what he wanted from her the day she
spoke to Helm on the phone. Yet she gladly accepted his invitation to visit
him.
O'Brien, 58, got to know Helm when she became active in
local Woodstock
"He had it in his mind that I was going to work there
before I agreed to come over," laughed O'Brien who recalled the first time
she went to Helm's studio.
"He literally walked me around in his unfinished
basement with a flashlight saying, 'We'll put your desk there, put a phone
here, a computer.' I had absolutely no idea about what he wanted me to do. On
the other hand, I couldn't bear the thought of him getting kicked out because
he couldn't pay his bills.
One of the first things she did was help Helm organize the
first rent parties in 2004, live shows in his three-story barn's studio so he
could begin paying off his debts. She also helped him consolidate all of his
bills, and stave off the vultures from the bank.
They began calling the rent party performances, "The
Midnight Ramble" after the tent shows he enjoyed as a kid.
With O'Brien's help he could finally organize his life in a
way to bring in money and build a business around the Rambles.
The next step was building a band, a task which fell into
the hands of multi-instrumentalist Larry Campbell.
"As soon as I left Bob Dylan's band in 2004, Levon
called me and said, "Come up and let's make some music,' Campbell
"All he wanted to do was make good music and have a
good time doing it, with no other agenda involved. If we made some money, great
-- and certainly starting these Rambles was an attempt to get himself out of
debt -- but the means to that end was only about playing music you enjoyed
playing.
A list of people that Helm really admired in the industry
wound up playing the Rambles: Allen Toussaint, Kris Kristofferson, Hubert
Sumlin, Charlie Louvin, John Hiatt, Robbie Dupree, Ralph Stanley, Mavis
Staples, Elvis Costello, Steve Earle, Gillian Welch, and many more.
He recorded Dirt Farmer in 2007, followed
by Electric Dirt in 2009, and then Ramble at the Ryman in
2012. All three recordings won Grammys.
On Saturday, March 31, Levon Helm meandered, in his own
perfect rhythm, onto a stage for the very last time to play a Ramble. He
complained earlier that night of a serious headache and backache but didn't
want to disappoint his old friends in Los Lobos who were co-headlining that
night.
Tony LoBue, Helm's Ramble manager and web developer, shared
his recollections about the last show.
"So, he played and when we got in the house afterward
he said to me, 'Tony, I wasn't on my game tonight. I just couldn't do it. It
hurt.'"
Helm checked into the hospital soon after.
Before he died on April
19, 2012 Helm gave specific instructions from his hospital bed to
Amy, Campbell, and O'Brien to carry on the tradition of the Ramble. His exact
words were, "Keep it goin."
"He's gone, we miss him, and we wish he was back,"
said Campbell
"But we all realized how wonderful this thing was and
what a shame it would be to let it dissipate and it's certainly what we got
from his spirit. But we own it now. We're as qualified to do this as we ever
were because we've absorbed the magic that Levon gave us."
"He was just the happiest guy the last years of his
life because he was getting accolades from fans, respect from his fellow
musicians and very fulfilling musical output," Traum said.
"Also, his very positive association with his daughter
Amy -- that was such a strong and palpably fulfilling thing for him. To see him
onstage with her singing you could just see the pride in his eyes."
In addition to putting on more Rambles, the eventual goal is
to secure the property ($900,000 still left to pay on the mortgage) and develop
it into a music center, a place where children could receive musical
instruction, where musicians could interact with other musicians, and attend
workshops and master classes.
"I think there's an incredible joy in trying to live up
to my father's musical legacy, for me and a lot of other musicians," said
Amy who is now on tour to promote her debut her solo album.
"He set a high mark of having a relentless joy and
passion and just pure groove and spirit in his musicianship and I think that's
what people responded to in him, and living up to that. I try to emulate and
aim for that in my own music.
To view more posts like this, go to http://web2carz.com
Stars honor Levon Helm at 'Love for Levon' concert
John Mayer, My Morning Jacket and Roger Waters were among
the musicians who came together last night to honor the late Levon Helm for the
“Love for Levon” concert. Held at the Izod
Center New
Jersey
The concert was held to raise money to help Helm’s family
keep their Woodstock
According to Rolling
Stone, songs performed at “Love for Levon” included Mayer and Ray
LaMontagne's take on “Tears of Rage” (a track by Bob Dylan and The Band), Joe
Walsh and Robert Randolph's rendition of the The Band classic, “Up on Cripple
Creek," and Pink Floyd singer/bassist Waters teaming up with My Morning
Jacket to perform “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” another The Band hit. Rogers Wide
River
The concert wrapped with all of the night’s performers --
which also included surprise guests Jakob Dylan, Mavis Staples, Lucinda
Williams and Band organist Garth Hudson -- gathering for a spirited performance
of The Band’s most famous song, “The Weight.”
Photo: Mavis Staples, Joe Walsh and Roger Waters
perform at the Love for Levon benefit concert.
Musicians honor Helm at benefit concert
Proceeds aim to keep Rambles alive
By Steve Israel
Times Herald-Record
Published: 2:00 AM
- 10/04/12
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — No wonder they called it "Love
for Levon."
Even before Warren Haynes kicked off the benefit concert to
save the late Levon Helm's home/studio in Woodstock
For these stars and others, like Joan Osborne, Jorma
Kaukonen and Grace Potter, gathered at the Izod Center, the late singer and
drummer of The Band wasn't just about his earthen voice and in-the-pocket
drumming.
Related Stories
Helm was a one-of-a-kind, salt-of-the-earth musician,
"who tapped into the best of American music," said concert producer
Don Was, "the best soul music, the best gospel music, the best rock 'n'
roll."
"He showed the way to do it: with class, with grace,
with integrity," said Walsh, who once teamed with Helm in Ringo Starr's
All-Starr Band, and joined Robert Randolph Wednesday night in a sizzling
version of The Band's "Up on Cripple Creek."
"He was really generous to us when we were trying to
break in," said Dylan, whose father, Bob, played with The Band when they
all lived in Woodstock Midnight ) Ramble."
Dylan — who played a raucous version of the old Woody
Guthrie tune, done by The Band and his father, "Ain't Got No Home,"
was one of the many musicians who mentioned the Midnight Ramble, the intimate
concerts Helm hosted most weekends at his woodsy studio that attracted many of
the stars who played the benefit. The proceeds of Wednesday's concert, which
drew about 15,000, will go toward keeping those rambles going, one of Helm's
last wishes.
"It was such an incredible feeling of community,"
said Hornsby, who played two rambles and joined the Levon Helm Band, led by
Larry Campbell and featuring Levon's daughter, Amy, on a Helm favorite,
"Anna Lee." You could feel that sense of community, even in the
cavernous Izod Center
After all, it was only a musician as generous and talented as
Helm — a man with "a smile that seeped from his mouth on through to his
body," said Mike Gordon of the band Phish, who could bring musicians as
diverse as Waters of Pink Floyd, John Mayer, Mavis Staples and more than
two-dozen other musical fans and friends of Helm on the tune that closed the
rambles and this remarkable evening, "The Weight."
Levon Helm is gone, but his backbeat is still echoing.
Wherever rock music and storytelling mix, chances are there’s a disciple of the
late Band member on the drum stool.
"The foundation of Levon’s greatness as a drummer is
that he was a great musician overall," says Joe Walsh. "He could
see the message of the song. He was aware of what the lead vocalist was doing
and what the other musicians were doing, and based on all of that, he’d come up
with a drum part. He’d put the drums in special places, he never overplayed,
and he never stepped on anybody."
"As long as I can remember, he’s been one of my rock
heroes, and his music can’t be exhausted," says concert producer Keith
Wortman. "I don’t think a day goes by when I don’t listen to the Band or
something from one of Levon Helm’s solo albums. They’re that great."
Thousands of musicians and passionate fans feel the way. But
Wortman has the means to put his appreciation of Helm, who
died of throat cancer in April at 71, into action.
Along with the Helm family and his creative partner —
producer and bassist Don Was — he’s throwing a party in the Meadowlands, and
inviting some of Helm’s famous friends to sing and play.Love
for Levon, taking place at the Izod
Center
Folk-influenced modern rock acts (My Morning
Jacket, Ray LaMontagne), classic rockers (Gregg Allman, Jorma
Kaukonen), country hit-makers (Eric Church, Dierks Bentley) and others
will gather to express their appreciation. Was and longtime Helm collaborator
Larry Campbell are the musical directors, and have recruited veteran drummer
Kenny Aronoff (John Mellencamp, Melissa Etheridge, John Fogerty) to hit the skins
for the house band.
Montclair-raised Walsh, a longtime friend of Helm’s, was
eager to participate.
"I called Levon’s wife when I heard that this was
coming together," says Walsh, who will sing "Up on Cripple
Creek
Early this week, Love for Levon netted
another big fish: Roger Waters, formerly of Pink Floyd. Water had
never met Wortman, who produced a similar tribute to Johnny Cash earlier this
year. But Helm, who played at the 1990 Berlin
"Everybody wanted to do it," says Wortman.
"We sat down and put a wish list together for the artists we wanted to get
involved, and every time we made a call, it was, ‘Wow, anything for Levon
Helm.’ "
Band organist Garth Hudson will make an appearance, and the
show promises surprise guests, too. But Wortman wouldn’t say if Robbie
Robertson — the other surviving member of the Band — will participate. Helm’s
relationship with Robertson was famously strained: for decades, Helm blamed
Robertson for tearing the Band apart. Helm even refused to play with him at the
Band’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Yet earlier this year,
Robertson visited the ailing Helm and attempted reconciliation.
Robertson was the Band’s great lyricist, but it was Helm,
the only American in a group of Canadians, who brought those stories to life.
Instead of driving the backbeat or pushing into psychedelic netherworlds as his
contemporaries did, Helm favored slow shuffles and imaginative half-time
rhythms that gave the group’s singers (including himself) plenty of expressive
latitude. His playing lent dignity and authority to Robertson’s tales.
In addition to being one of rock’s first singing drummers,
Helm was the Band’s most distinctive vocalist. He gave voice to the weary
Confederate soldier in "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," howled
out "Ophelia" and put the soul into "The Weight."
"When (the Band’s 1968 debut album) ‘Music From Big
Pink’ came out, we all studied it," says Walsh, who remembers driving from
Akron Cleveland
Those songs assured Helm’s legendary status. But when he was
diagnosed with throat cancer in 1998, he found himself, as many sick
professional musicians do, without enough money to pay his medical bills.
Instead of sacrificing his Woodstock , N.Y.
The barn’s Midnight Rambles began as fundraisers, but
quickly grew into attractions in their own right. Musicians who felt Helm’s
influence made the trip to sit in with him at loose, joyful shows that often
had the feel of a jam session. Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris, Rickie Lee
Jones, Kris Kristofferson and many other stars sang at the Rambles. Those who
attended them say the experience was unforgettable.
"I’ve been an avid attendee," says Wortman.
"It’s the most intimate, direct connection to Levon and his music that you
can ever hope to get. The first time I went, I remember leaving and saying to myself,
‘That was the best live music experience I’ve ever had in my life.’ And then
the next time I went, I thought the same."
The Love for Levon concert, too, is a benefit for the barn
and an attempt to keep the Midnight Rambles going. Many of the performers are
Ramble veterans, and possessors of the spirit of the concert series. "It
won’t have a Ramble-type atmosphere, not exactly," says Wortman. "But
that sense of camaraderie and people sitting in with each other, that’ll be
there."
"The combinations of musicians onstage — that’s what’s
going to bring the magic," says Walsh. "This is a group of players
who don’t normally get the chance to make music together. But we’re all going
to be there, and as far as I’m concerned, Levon is going to be there, too."
Wortman and Was chose a medium-sized venue — the Moody
Theatre in Austin
"It’s a perfect place for a multi-artist show — plenty
of dressing rooms backstage, plenty of parking," says Wortman. "And
Levon Helm had a long history with New Jersey Montclair Woodstock
Tris McCall: tmccall@starledger.com, Twitter: @TrisMcCall
Love for Levon
Who: Garth Hudson, Roger Waters, Gregg Allman, John Mayer, Joe Walsh, Lucinda Williams, Mavis Staples, David Bromberg, My Morning Jacket, Dierks Bentley, Eric Church, Bruce Hornsby, Ray LaMontagne, John Hiatt, Grace Potter, Warren Haynes, Allen Toussaint, Robert Randolph, John Prine, Jorma Kaukonen, Marc Cohn, the Levon Helm Band
No comments:
Post a Comment