Levon Helm was the drummer and lead vocalist of The Band. His was the signature voice on “The Weight” “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” and “Up On Cripple Creek.” Adept on most instruments, and versed in genres from bluegrass to rock and everything in between, Levon’s legacy includes providing a popular home for live music concerts called The Midnight Ramble Sessions at The Barn in Woodstock, NY. Judging by the diverse and impressive talents who have made a joyful trek to play there, Levon was one of the best-loved gentlemen in rock and roll.

Mark Lavon “Levon” Helm was born May 26, 1940, in Elaine, Arkansas. Yet another son of cotton farmers, Lavon as he was called, grew up in Turkey Scratch, outside of Helena, AR. The family played and sang music, and listened keenly to the Opry and King Biscuit Time radio broadcasts. When he was 6, Lavon was awed by seeing Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys. He got his first guitar at 9, and for the next couple of years could be found hanging around the radio station in Helena where Sonny Boy Williamson performed. At 14, Lavon saw Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins on the same show as Elvis, Scotty Moore and Bill Black on upright bass. A year later, he was struck by how much better Elvis sounded with Bill on electric bass and with a drummer, DJ Fontana.

By this time, Lavon & Linda (his sister) were a well-known local act. In high school, Lavon formed his first band, The Jungle Bush Beaters, and started messing around on the drums. While still in school, Lavon sat in with Conway Twitty. When he was 17, local rockabilly bandleader Ronnie Hawkins was looking for a drummer to tour Canada with his band, the Hawks. Lavon got the call. Lavon became Levon during this time, when it became easier to live with the band’s mispronunciation than to keep correcting them. After a few forays to Canada and back, Hawkins realized they could do better as one of the few rockabilly bands in Canada, than as one of many in the South. He relocated to Toronto.

Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks (Levon Helm at left)

Between 1960 and 1961, Hawkins brought four talented Canadians into the band: Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, Rick Danko and Robbie Robertson. The band soon tired of Hawkins’ dictatorial and penurious ways and quit him in early 1964. They toured their same old haunts under a few different names, Levon Helm Sextet, Levon and the Hawks, the Canadian Squires, and finally, just the Hawks. 

The Hawks – 1961 (Levon Helm center)

In the summer of 1965, Bob Dylan was looking for a band to tour behind his new electric music. Dylan first hired Robertson, then Levon, and finally the whole band. After some rehearsal time in Toronto, Bob Dylan and The Band hit the road in September, 1965. This was the tour where die-hard folkies showed up to ritually boo the entire concert to protest Dylan’s sell-out. Levon couldn’t handle the nightly down vibe, and left to head back to Arkansas. When the tour ended in May, 1966, Dylan and the Band retreated to Woodstock, NY, where most of them lived together in a big pink house. They played and wrote music, thought about where they wanted to go, and learned to breathe again. This idyllic down time lasted for almost 2 years.

Levon was enticed to rejoin the group at the end of 1967, and in early 1968, The Band recorded their impressive debut album, Music From Big Pink. Tours and more successful albums followed. In 1975, Levon built his home and recording studio, The Barn, in Woodstock. “Nothing sounds better than a barn.” The Band broke up in 1976, after its famous Last Waltz concert, filmed by Martin Scorcese. Levon began to record as a solo act, and started a film career. His film appearances include Coal Miner’s Daughter, The Right Stuff, In The Electric Mist, and Shooter. 

Coal Miner's Daughter - Levon Helm and Sissy Spacek

Levon and Rick Danko joined together for an acoustic tour in 1983, and Garth Hudson and Richard Manuel joined them the following year. Robbie Robertson did not participate. The (new) Band continued on through Manuel’s suicide in 1986, releasing 3 albums culminating with Jubilation for their 30th Anniversary in 1998. Helm and Danko also toured with Ringo Starr’s All-Stars in 1989. 

3 Drummers (1989): Ringo Starr – Jim Keltner – Levon Helm

The end of The Band coincided with Levon being diagnosed with cancer of vocal cord. He underwent aggressive treatment that put the cancer in remission, but lost his clear tenor voice in the bargain. He wouldn’t sing for the next 6 years, and when he began singing again in 2004, was a raspy baritone. This is when Levon began hosting his Midnight Ramble Sessions at The Barn. Over time, Levon’s voice would recover nicely, and he produced 3 Grammy winners: Dirt Farmer (2007), Electric Dirt (2009), and Ramble at the Ryman (2011).

Unfortunately, Levon’s cancer recurred in early 2012. He was unable to attend The Band’s induction into the rock HOF that year. Levon passed away on April 19, 2012. His legacy lives on in recordings, films, and at The Barn, where you can still attend a Midnight Ramble. And, yes, that Elton John song is named for Levon, even if it’s not about him.