He Shall Be Levon

I would be willing to wager that when most people think of Levon Helm (those who are aware of his long legendary career), the word "integrity" cannot be too far behind. The word conjures images of something strong or solid like an ancient oak, or a strict adherence to a noble code. Levon Helm is the epitome of musical integrity. Musical integrity isn't something that can be studied for, bought, or affected. It's not necessarily a byproduct of talent either, even though talent is it's intrinsic ingredient. It comes from being born of music, nurtured on it, and basically, eating, sleeping, living, breathing, and eventually dying with music. All of the great classic musicians had it, Coltrane, Charlie Patton, Hank Williams, Django just to name a few.
Levon Helm grew out of the musically fertile ground of the Mississippi delta where so many of the greats of American music were harvested, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Robert Johnson, Skip James... even "Rice" Miller, one of Levon's lifelong musical heroes, better known to the world as "Sonnyboy Williamson" (even though there already existed a famous blues man with the same moniker when Miller "adopted" the title) was from the same town of Helena, Arkansas that spawned Levon. But geographical proximity to music can only play so much of a role in musical integrity. In the end, it's an intangible that some people have in greater degrees than the rest of us. Levon Helm is one of those people. His greatest work (usually within the context of "The Band") stands easily amongst the finest of the aforementioned greats, as well as many more. He literally oozes musicality no matter who he's playing with, or what instrument he's plucking, banging, or blowing. He IS music. It's this absolute love of music that has driven him all of these decades regardless of the success of the outcome, health concerns, or personal tragedy. This is the code that Levon Helm lives by. No matter how high he flies, or how dark it gets, he follows the music of his soul wherever it takes him. That's not to say that ALL of Levon Helm's musical endeavors fall into the "classic" category, but I think that's true of all of the greats. In fact, Levon's musical success (or lack of) is, as is everyone's, dependent upon material, arrangement, production, and performance. Not being a prolific songwriter himself, he has sometimes had to rely on sub par material, been the victim of misguided production perhaps aimed at radio airplay, or just playing with musicians that he loved regardless of their fitness (or again, lack of) to play well.
Sometimes, the material is great, but the musicians wrong for it. Sometimes the material's fine, the musicians perfect, but the production too this or that. Sometimes it's all wrong, but sometimes... sometimes! every once in a rarest of rare moments, everything is musically perfect. Not in the sense that it's technically flawless, but in a way where the artist, material, musicians, and production are totally in sync, conjuring a harmonious spell even greater than the sum of it's ingredients... this brings me to Levon's magnificent instant classic, "Dirt Farmer."
With daughter Amy, and fellow Dylan alumni, Larry Campbell at the production helm (yep, I said it!) the sound is earthy, haunting, and grand all at the same time. It's a record that stands easily next to any Alan Lomax field recording for sheer authenticity, yet has the benefit of crystal clear modern production with master strokes of evocative light and shade. Thuddy drums, mountain fiddles, mandos, church harmonies (often supplied by Helm's daughter, Amy, and singer Teresa Williams) and a powerful new post-cancer plaintive wail all add up to the richest musical feast I've digested in too long a while. The material is interesting in the sense that it's very traditional sounding even though some of it is new, like his brilliant reading of Steve Earle's "The Mountain" or Byron Isaac's soulful "Calvary." The stunning "Anna Lee" with it's glorious harmonies and lone fiddle brings me to tears every time I hear it. It's really astounding that in his long and varied career, this is the first time Levon has ever taken a full record in this direction, directly to his roots. The Band always hinted at this type of music, but morphed it into a brilliant form that sounded completely new, yet felt a hundred years old. Every song on "Dirt Farmer" is a story told by a master storyteller, each mini film with it's own heartrending soundtrack... but then again, the whole record is a bigger story, the story of a soul. A soul known to the rest of us as "Levon." This is Mark Lavon Helm come back home to jam with parents, Nell and Diamond, and sister, Modena, in Marvell County... The fact that he enables us to take that trip with him, makes us extremely fortunate. Now, kick on back, swig on this, close your eyes, and just listen.