Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm was an American rock musician best called the drums, lead singer as well as mandolinist in the rock group The Band. Helm is known for its genuine, country-like voice and also the powerful way he play the drums on. These 2 components influenced The Band's recordings, as well as this is specifically ahead on his contributions to songs like "The Weight," "Up on Cripple Creek," "King Harvest," "Ophelia" and also not the very least on "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down ".
While the remainder of the Band was Canadians, Helm included soutstate history to the team, both interpretations and an understanding of exactly how the message can be revealed for a U.S. southstate audience, which are specifically evident on the tune "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down."
Helm had roles in the films Coal Miner's Daughter, The Right Stuff and also The Three Burial of Melquiades Estrada.
Helm likewise played in cries team The Levon Helm Band, starring his little girl Amy.
He published his autobiography This Wheel's on Fire-- Levon Helm as well as the Story of The Band, where he was very critical of the band participant Robbie Robertson's duty throughout the split of The Band.
Helm died 19 april of cancer at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.
Our collection contains 34 quotes who is written / told by Levon.
"When the second record came out, they started calling it The Band. I voted to call it The Crackers. I'm no fool"
"The Band never really played big concert tours. We never sold millions and millions of albums"
"Dad and mom would have preferred that I be a doctor, a lawyer, a scientist, or a great humanitarian"
"The Jungle Bush Beaters didn't last too long as a group, but we had a pretty good time while we did"
"If things are going slow, I'm itchy"
"I've had all the lessons I could get. I've learned from everybody I've ever met"
"I never subscribe to the stay-at-home policy. I'm not sick of the road or sick of eating in good restaurants around the country. I like to travel"
"I love horns, and the bigger the band, the better it sounds to my ear"
"Anytime I switch to another instrument, I immediately turn it into another kind of drum so that I can understand it better"
"You can either make it come around or you can't. By the time we would be ready to record a song, we would know for sure that it was the best way we could do it"
"Most of our stuff was trial and error. You live with a tape recorder, you turn it on, you play the song and you listen to it"
"I played some Yamaha drums that I like a lot. And I like the Yamaha people a lot too. They've been really nice to me and The Band"
"With horns and a full rhythm section, the drums always looked like the best seat in the house"
"The crowd is just as important as the group. It takes everything to make it work"
"I was in high school, trying to get out of high school. The only thing slowing me up was grades"
"I like walking on the edge"
"A friend of mine took me to Memphis advised me that I should get in the musicians' union. He gave me a set of drums and said, Stay on the job, son"
"We're all dealt with the same hand here, so to speak. I feel like I've had it a lot better than most people. I've had the opportunity to travel and play music all my life"
"My dad and I played music. He teaches me a song or two every time I'm home"
"Lord, when the song wants to pick up and go a little faster towards the end, it's hard for me to resist"
"If you pour some music on whatever's wrong, it'll sure help out"
"If you feel like you're getting into a rut with a song, a night off usually fixes it"
"I don't fool with a lot of things that I can't have fun with. There's not much reward in that"
"Good times don't last long sometimes"
"The way to do it is to put as much life into the song as I can. You can either get it to breathe or you can't"
"If you give it good concentration, good energy, good heart and good performance, the song will play you"
"I like to get within handshaking distance of the crowd. If it happens, they know it, we know it, and that's all we came here for"
"Drums usually seem to tune themselves"
"Don't we all want what's best for each other?"
"Conway Twitty was always our local hero while I was growing up. He had a series of good bands. I wanted to sit in, if Conway would let me. And he did a couple of times"
"By the time The Band did The Last Waltz, the chemistry had changed, and it wasn't a thrill anymore to live that studio kind of life"
"The rock star stuff never came up for us. The Band was never attacked by groupies before, during or after any show that we ever played"
"Forever Young, by Dylan, is one of my favorite songs"
"Drums just always sounded like the most fun part of that good music for me"
