King Harvest

The Band was an ensemble, a quintet of the finest caliber of musician-vocalists (well, but Robbie couldn't sing and Garth didn't) to ever produce rock and roll music. Their sound evoked contrived memories of an idealized American identity. Technically, they led a reserved rebellion against psychedelic Brit-rockers whilst paying tribute to the very same country, blues and early rock 'n roll legends who were so influential to the Beatles, Eric Clapton and Cream, and the Rolling Stones. It was Levon Helm kept The Band's unapologetic American image authentic - being the only non-Canadian in the group.

Born in Marvell, Arkansas, Levon met Rick Danko, Richard Manuel, Robbie Robertson, and Garth Hudson as each joined him in the backing band for eleventh-hour-Rockabilly small-potato Ronnie Hawkins (I like the Hawk, but reality is he never enjoyed recognition). The boys cut their teeth in latter day saloons across Canada, going on to persevere an illustrious if tumultuous sixteen-year nine-album career. The Band disbanded when Robbie's cinematic, broad and experimental vision clashed irreconcilably with Levon's old-time-religion approach to instrumentation and invention.

If we cannot have another Band album (some members have passed, and a certain guitarist is irreplacable), we must count ourselves fortunate to receive Helm's October 2007 Vanguard Records release, Dirt Farmer. The collection of performances personifies the element Levon brought to the fold in his ensemble days, but independently. Yet the production possesses the gritty humility and potent minimalism of the Brown Album (The Band). Consequently the listener is allowed on the porch with Levon and his family and friends, allowed even to clap and holler along with the players.

This is not the brawling dirty-blues of a midnight ramble but the flat-picked twang of an America underrepresented in even the finest contemporary country music recordings. Consider: Levon Helm is 67; he has not recorded in 25 years. His voice endured utter depletion in response to throat cancer treatments which confined his expression to drums, mandolin, and guitar for some fourteen years; Helm sang for the first time since only four years ago. Apparently he regained his capacity for rich wailing and tender gospel harmony rather quickly.

The album is a triumph for Levon as much as it is for the New-Deal folksongs of his childhood. Like the farmer so saved by the labor unions, the subject of The Band's "King Harvest," Levon recaptures the masterful execution of a studio recording that has eluded his career since American Son (a 1980 solo effort which included his cover of "Blue Moon of Kentucky"). Indeed, for Levon Helm, king harvest has surely come. I just hope that fate brings me to Woodstock before long to witness a Midnight Ramble first-hand. AWS