Pulling Into Nazareth

I was sitting the other day at Starbucks, drinking a mocha and discussing the great drummers of rock and roll. Drummers don’t often get a lot of credit, certainly not as much as frontmen and lead guitarists. Hell, even bass guitarists get more action, and yet, ironically, rock and roll is dead without a drummer. Somebody’s got to keep time.

The conversation wound this way and that, covering the jazz education of Charlie Watts, the ever changing tempo of Max Weinberg, the question of how important the Eagles would be minus Don Henley (yeah, that’s right, Henley was the drummer). Finally, I brought up Levon Helm, who just may be my all-time favorite Keeper of the Big Beat.

My friend, sadly, had never heard of ol’ Levon (yes, this was most definitely a strike against him…our relationship is now, currently, on shaky ground). Which meant it was my obligation to educate him, and in doing so I found myself returning to my own collection of music from The Band.

You could do worse.

There’s a young faith healer, a woman stealer
He will cure by his command
When the music’s hot you might have to stand
To hear the Klondike Klu Klux Steamboat Band
Don’t you sweat it
Can’t forget it
The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show

Helm was the drummer for The Band, who had once been the Hawks and had been Bob Dylan’s backing band when Dylan stormed the world and went electric. After, the Hawks became The Band, and created a string of brilliant albums of American music entirely unlike any other group in history. They don’t sound like anyone. Not like the Beatles, not like the Stones, not even like CCR, which you might almost expect, given the deep influence of Southern roots music on The Band.

They got your number
Scared and runnin’
But I’m still waitin’ for the
Second Coming
Of Opehlia
Baby, come back home

They were, as a group, quite possibly the most talented musicians in rock and roll history. Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel, Garth Hudson, and Levon Helm. Each of them played multiple instruments, and their signature sound included their three vocalists (Manuel, Danko and Helm), weaving in and out of the harmony. Their music, built upon Americana, folk, blues, bluegrass, country and gospel was so vastly different from the rock and roll of the day (late 60’s and early 70’s) that it’s hard to place it even now.

Levon was an intricate part of that sound, providing a folksy, Southern drumming style and a voice that could move you, shake you and break your heart. Levon was the definitive vocal, the voice behind their greatest tracks: The Weight, The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, Up On Cripple Creek, Don’t Do It.

Break the news
Pepote Rouge is coming to town
We stand accused, Pepote Rouge, of bein’ hellbound
She can help us find our way and get across
You don’t know what you gained till you find out what you lost


And he sang while playing the drums. To watch him work was stunning. Every part of him is in motion, his hands whirring across the toms and snare, his feet stomping the bass, and his head swaying back and forth, snapping up to the mike to belt out the next string of lyric. He was intense in a way most people only dream of. He made you sweat just watching him work.

The Band’s music is a treasure. If you get a chance, buy a copy of their greatest hits. Or, if you’re thinking of a Christmas gift for someone who might like it, I’d suggest The Band: A Musical History. It’s a six disc compilation spanning their entire career. And trust me, the six disc are well worth it.

If you’re looking for just a few tracks to download, check out:

The Weight
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
Up On Cripple Creek
Acadian Driftwood
The Saga of Pepote Rouge
The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show

Rock on.