{"id":2029,"date":"2009-07-20T09:40:23","date_gmt":"2009-07-20T13:40:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thetrickismusic.com\/?p=2029"},"modified":"2021-02-01T11:39:36","modified_gmt":"2021-02-01T15:39:36","slug":"electrified-levon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetrickismusic.com\/?p=2029","title":{"rendered":"Electrified Levon"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"float:right;margin: 12px;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\"><!--\r\ngoogle_ad_client = \"pub-1213643583738263\";\r\ngoogle_ad_slot = \"8050392339\";\r\ngoogle_ad_width = 234;\r\ngoogle_ad_height = 60;\r\n\/\/-->\r\n<\/script>\r\ngoogle.com, pub-3680554235834172, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\"\r\nsrc=\"http:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/show_ads.js\">\r\n<\/script><\/div><div style=\"float:right;margin: 12px;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\"><!--\ngoogle_ad_client = \"pub-1213643583738263\";\ngoogle_ad_slot = \"5294177075\";\ngoogle_ad_width = 234;\ngoogle_ad_height = 60;\n\/\/-->\n<\/script>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\"\nsrc=\"http:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/show_ads.js\">\n<\/script><\/div><p><!-- Global site tag (gtag.js) - Google Analytics --><br \/>\n<script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.googletagmanager.com\/gtag\/js?id=UA-6115888-3\"><\/script><br \/>\n<script><br \/>\n  window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];<br \/>\n  function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);}<br \/>\n  gtag('js', new Date());<\/p>\n<p>  gtag('config', 'UA-6115888-3');<br \/>\n<\/script><br \/>\nTwo years ago, Levon Helm, legendary singer and drummer for The Band, released his first solo album in 25 years, Dirt Farmer. A bluegrass leaning record with elements of country, blues and R&amp;B, it brought Helm back in a big way after his bout with cancer of the vocal cords in the early 2000s.<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-2035\" title=\"levon-helm-electric-dirt\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thetrickismusic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/levon-helm-electric-dirt.jpg?resize=240%2C240\" alt=\"levon-helm-electric-dirt\" width=\"240\" height=\"240\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thetrickismusic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/levon-helm-electric-dirt.jpg?w=240&amp;ssl=1 240w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thetrickismusic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/levon-helm-electric-dirt.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 240px) 100vw, 240px\" \/>His voice had changed somewhat but the trademark quality that graced so many of The Band&#8217;s signature tunes&nbsp;was intact with a slightly raspier flavor.<\/p>\n<p>Now Helm has followed up the Grammy winner with Electric Dirt, on which he comes a little closer to the style of The Band while retaining his own musical identity. With the help of extraordinary guitarist\/producer Larry Campbell, who among many other projects has played with Bob Dylan&#8217;s Never Ending Tour band, Helm&#8217;s daughter Amy of Olabelle and a host of other distinguished musicians,&nbsp;Helm has shaped a rocking, bluesy, down home sounding record that is about as earthy as it gets when it comes to roots music.<\/p>\n<p>There are tracks as good but none better than the opener Tennessee Jed, a Jerry Garcia\/Robert Hunter tune, on which Campbell plays an infectious slide riff in answer to Helm&#8217;s vocal. It&#8217;s augmented by a full horn section that includes Howard Johnson on tuba. An easy rocking groove makes this a song you can&#8217;t sit still to.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>The gospel flavored Move Along Train follows with Amy Helm and Teresa Williams, Campbell&#8217;s wife, on harmonies, as they are on much of the album. Jimmy Vivino, a repsected studio musician and member of Conan O&#8217;Brien&#8217;s Tonight&nbsp; Show Band adds a second electric guitar to Campbell&#8217;s.<\/p>\n<div style=\"float:left;margin: 12px;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\"><!--\ngoogle_ad_client = \"pub-1213643583738263\";\ngoogle_ad_slot = \"5294177075\";\ngoogle_ad_width = 234;\ngoogle_ad_height = 60;\n\/\/-->\n<\/script>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\"\nsrc=\"http:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/show_ads.js\">\n<\/script><\/div><div style=\"float:left;margin: 12px;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\"><!--\r\ngoogle.com, pub-3680554235834172, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0\r\ngoogle_ad_client = \"pub-1213643583738263\";\r\ngoogle_ad_slot = \"8050392339\";\r\ngoogle_ad_width = 234;\r\ngoogle_ad_height = 60;\r\n\/\/-->\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\"\r\nsrc=\"http:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/show_ads.js\">\r\n<\/script><\/div><p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-2038\" title=\"levon-helm-drums\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thetrickismusic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/levon-helm-drums.jpg?resize=344%2C266\" alt=\"levon-helm-drums\" width=\"344\" height=\"266\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thetrickismusic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/levon-helm-drums.jpg?w=344&amp;ssl=1 344w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thetrickismusic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/levon-helm-drums.jpg?resize=300%2C231&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 344px) 100vw, 344px\" \/>Campbell often is playing more than one instrument on the album, including mandolin, fiddle, dulcimer and resonator and acoustic guitar as well as singing background. He&#8217;s a master of strings who is a marvel to watch live as I&#8217;ve seen&nbsp;him play twice with Dylan and as a guest on about six songs with Elvis Costello during his tour with Emmylou Harris in support of Delivery Man.<\/p>\n<p>Growing Trade, a Helm\/Campbell composition, talks of the farmer who has had to abandon his usual farming techniques to enter a growing business, which one gets the impression is on the wrong side of the law. Happy Traum&#8217;s bluegrass ballad Golden Bird, the one tune played without trap drums save for&nbsp;Amy on bass drum,&nbsp;and Carter Stanley&#8217;s melancholy waltz-time White Dove are both given effective readings wrapped around Muddy Waters&#8217; Stuff You Gotta Watch, a full-on blues rendition.<\/p>\n<p>Helm returns to Waters&#8217; book once more for You Can&#8217;t Lose What You Ain&#8217;t Never Had, another lyrical lesson in down-to-earth philosophy. The full band is again recruited&nbsp;for the alternately dixieland and rocking treatment&nbsp;of Randy Newman&#8217;s Kingfish and the closing uptempo and uplifting I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps the highlight besides the opener comes in Campbell&#8217;s When I Go Away, a meditation on leaving this life, with a moderate groove and wonderful vocal chorus. Heaven&#8217;s Pearls, an Ollabelle tune, completes the album.<\/p>\n<p>The musicianship, lead and harmony vocals and arrangements are executed with a rootsy feel, adept playing and precision. And yet&nbsp;the&nbsp;album still retains a looseness that rocks in a way the music of America can only rock,&nbsp;all&nbsp;driven by one of our great band leaders in Helm.<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-2041\" title=\"levon-helm-dog\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thetrickismusic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/levon-helm-dog.jpg?resize=535%2C354\" alt=\"levon-helm-dog\" width=\"535\" height=\"354\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thetrickismusic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/levon-helm-dog.jpg?w=535&amp;ssl=1 535w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thetrickismusic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/levon-helm-dog.jpg?resize=300%2C198&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 535px) 100vw, 535px\" \/><br \/>\n<code><\/code><\/p>\n<p><code><\/code><\/p>\n<div style=\"float:right;margin: 12px;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\"><!--\ngoogle_ad_client = \"pub-1213643583738263\";\ngoogle_ad_slot = \"5294177075\";\ngoogle_ad_width = 234;\ngoogle_ad_height = 60;\n\/\/-->\n<\/script>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\"\nsrc=\"http:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/show_ads.js\">\n<\/script><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>google.com, pub-3680554235834172, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 Two years ago, Levon Helm, legendary singer and drummer for The Band, released his first solo album in 25 years, Dirt Farmer. A bluegrass leaning record with elements of country, blues and R&amp;B, it brought Helm back in a big way after his bout with cancer of the vocal cords in &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetrickismusic.com\/?p=2029\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Electrified Levon<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8],"tags":[679,43,44,45,377,328,76,385,78,680,681,310,685,114,486,683,678,677,1376,684,207,214,487,682,238],"class_list":["post-2029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music","tag-amy-helm","tag-blog","tag-blues","tag-blues-rock","tag-bob-dylan","tag-classic-rock","tag-country","tag-country-blues","tag-country-rock","tag-dirt-farmer","tag-electric-dirt","tag-elvis-costello","tag-emmylou-harris","tag-folk","tag-gospel","tag-jimmy-vivino","tag-larry-campbell","tag-levon-helm","tag-music","tag-never-ending-tour-band","tag-rb","tag-rock","tag-rock-n-roll","tag-teresa-williams","tag-the-band"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/puDy0-wJ","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetrickismusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetrickismusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetrickismusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetrickismusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetrickismusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2029"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetrickismusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2029\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5516,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetrickismusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2029\/revisions\/5516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetrickismusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetrickismusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetrickismusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}