A dazzling, epic biography of Levon Helm—the beloved, legendary drummer and singer of the Band.
He sang the anthems of a generation: "The Weight," "Up on Cripple Creek," and "Life Is a Carnival." Levon Helm's story—told here through sweeping research and interviews with close friends and fellow musicians—is the rollicking story of American popular music itself.
In the Arkansas Delta, a young Levon witnessed "blues, country, and gospel hit in a head-on collision," as he put it. The result was rock 'n' roll. As a teenager, he joined the raucous Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks, then helped merge a hard-driving electric sound with Bob Dylan's folk roots, and revolutionized American rock with the Band. Helm not only provided perfect "in the pocket" rhythm and unforgettable vocals, he was the Band's soul.
Levon traces a rebellious life on the road, from being booed with Bob Dylan to the creative cauldron of Big Pink, the Woodstock Festival, world tours, The Last Waltz, and beyond with the man Dylan called "one of the last true great spirits of my or any other generation."
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“Narrator Rosemary Benson creates the voices of the major and minor figures in this biography of Levon Helm, drummer for The Band. She delivers a convincing voicing of Helm’s soft Arkansas dialect and even mimics incidental characters such as saxophonist Bobby Keys and folk singer Happy Traum. Author Tooze’s excellent research keeps the biography interesting.”
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