Levon Helm

[Tyro Shooter]

From Rolling Stone

"As a member of the one of the most influential rock and roll groups, The Band, Levon Helm produced music that was as much timeless as it was timely," it said. "In the late 1960s and early 1970s when the country was divided, The Band still projected a sense of unity and brought generations of fans together from all over the world."

Helm had a voice unlike any other in rock music: definitively Southern, soulful and gritty, an oak-barreled whiskey that sometimes went down with a fiery kick.

He could be mournful, calling up ghosts, as he did in "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" and the half-chanted chorus of "King Harvest (Has Surely Come)."

He could be playful, as he was in "Ophelia" and "The Weight," where in the latter he lunges into the "Take a load off, Annie" chorus with joyful abandon.

And he could belt in sheer pleasure, galloping through "The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show" or simply lending his unique harmonies to "The Shape I'm In" and "This Wheel's on Fire."

It was an American voice

I'm afraid that we need an American Voice now more than ever.

Edited April 20, 2012 by Tyro Shooter

[3quartertime]

Levon owned a voice and vocal style that was so absolutely unique that few if any have even attempted to emulate.

Music lost a giant today.

RIP...

[Mark K]

I loved his acting as well. His Mr. Rate character in "Shooter" was a great one.

Mark K