Levon Helm - Ramble at the Ryman

The Band had three vocalists – Levon Helm [the only American in a band with mostly Canadians], Rick Danko, and Richard Manuel. Levon Helm sang my favorite Band songs [Up on Cripple Creek, The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, Ophelia, The Weight, The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show, Mystery Train (with Paul Butterfield)]. As the lone American, Levon witnessed traveling minstrel shows as a kid growing up in Arkansas. One such minstrel show was the F.S. Wolcott's Rabbit's Foot Minstrel Show, immortalized in The Band’s The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show [W.S. Walcott rolled off the tongue easier..]. The Rabbit's Foot Company (also known as Rabbit Foot Minstrels) was a long running minstrel and variety troupe that toured as a tent show between the 1900's and 1950's. The company had a brass band and traveled in its own private railroad car. The show included minstrel performances, dancers, circus acts, comedy and musical ensemble pieces. It was owned and operated totally by African-Americans. After the minstrel shows, there would be the rambles. In The Last Waltz, Levon talked about the Midnight Rambles of his youth:


“After the finale, they’d have the midnight ramble. With young children off to bed, the festivities resumed, but with a rowdier feel: the songs would get a little bit juicier, the jokes would get a little funnier and the prettiest dancer would really get down and shake it a few times.”


Toward the end of The Band’s run in the 1990s, Levon was diagnosed with throat cancer. He was told he’d have to have a laryngectomy, which would deprive him of his voice and his livelihood. Levon opted for radiation treatments. For awhile Levon was voiceless, and because of his medical bills he was almost homeless too. According to Levon, "You got to pick one -- pay your medical bills or pay the mortgage. Most people can't do both, and I'm no different." So before the bank took the house and the barn, Levon would start having Midnight Rambles like he saw when he was a boy. Levon’s friends [and Levon has LOTS of friends] would show up and play the shows with him. As a result, Levon’s medical bills were paid, he got to keep the house and the barn, and he also re-started his career. He’s recorded two highly acclaimed studio albums, Dirt Farmer [2008] and Electric Dirt [2009].


Levon Helm still keeps the spirit of the rambles alive with his weekly Midnight Rambles at his barn/recording studio in Woodstock, N.Y. He’s been doing this since the early 2000s. Over the years the rambles featured guests too numerous to mention here. Every now and then Levon and his band take the show on the road. In 2008 they took the show to the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. Like the rambles held in Woodstock, this ramble also had many guests. Lucky for us, the show was recorded too. Buddy Miller showed up to sing his own Wide River to Cross, which Levon recorded for Dirt Farmer. John Hiatt dropped in to sing Rick Danko’s parts on the show’s finale, The Weight. Larry Campbell, the evening’s Master of Ceremonies, added a touch of the Grateful Dead with Deep Elem Blues. He owned The Band’s Chest Fever, which he not only sang but also provided a nimble Garth Hudson fugue on his guitar. This guy has played with Dylan, Phil Lesh & Friends, and now Levon Helm. Why is this man not a star in his own right? Teresa Williams [Mrs. Larry Campbell] offered a sassy Time Out for the Blues. Bluesman Little Sammy Davis chimed in with Fannie Mae and Scratch My Back.

Not to be overly critical, but why Sheryl Crow? How come she keeps popping up as a “guest” with other people [the Stones, the Allman Brothers, Eric Clapton, Willie Nelson, etc]? Maybe it’s just me but her voice sounds like fingernails on a chalkboard. Does she have pictures of all these people that are suitable for blackmail? She sang a duet with Levon on The Band’s Evangeline, but she sounded lost. She sounded ok on the Carter Family’s No Depression In Heaven, but Emmylou Harris she is not. The keyboard player Brian Mitchell sang a very raspy [almost TOO raspy] The Shape I’m In. If he tried to sound like Richard Manuel, he missed the mark. That aside, the horn section sounded great, and Larry Campbell played a blazing solo.


I like the tracklist. There are just enough Band songs to keep things rooted in Levon’s own history [six], but there enough is other material to keep this ramble from being too much of a nostalgia trip. Levon sings his share of the songs, but there are enough good singers to insure Levon doesn’t have to carry all the vocal weight by himself. Levon’s voice is not what it once was, but considering what he’s been through this CD [along with Dirt Farmer and Electric Dirt] is proof that miracles can and do happen. This is a great-sounding set played by people who sounded like they were having a lot of fun doing it. Ramble at the Ryman is a "must buy." Buy Dirt Farmer and Electric Dirt too. No fan of The Band should be without them. With these releases Levon’s keeping the spirit of The Band alive.


The tracklist
Ophelia / Back to Memphis / Fannie Mae / Scratch My Back / Evangeline / No Depression In Heaven / Wide River to Cross / Deep Elem Blues / Anna Lee / Rag Mama Rag / Time Out for the Blues / A Train Robbery / The Shape I’m In / Chest Fever / The Weight