The Levon Helm Midnight Ramble

By Paul LaRaia

Levon Helm's Rambles have quickly become the stuff of legend. Helm, of course, is the charismatic drummer, singer, and sometimes mandolin picker for The Band, a group whose songs and stature have made them a pillar of classic rock and rootsy Americana. Beyond their work with Bob Dylan, their own hits (“Up on Cripple Creek ” “The Weight ” “The Night They Drove Ol' Dixie Down ” to name just a few) have landed them in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the consciousness of music fans everywhere.

The Ramble is Levon's down-home jam session for friends and fans, held on Saturday nights in his studio “Barn” in Woodstock. Levon based his Ramble Sessions on the Southern medicine shows of his youth, and has invited some of the most notable blues entertainers and musicians of our time to perform with him including Robert Plant, Elvis Costello, Rickie Lee Jones, Clarence Clemons, Allison Krauss and others. This book is the official record of these incredibly intimate sessions: the next best thing to being there. Accompanying the spectacular photos are testimonials and remembrances from the superstars who have joined the Ramble.

• Language: English
• Publisher: RowmanLittlefield
• Release date: Sep 1, 2009
• ISBN: 9781617130878

Book preview

THE MIDNIGHT RAMBLE

WOODSTOCK, NY

FIVE OR SIX YEARS AGO, I WAS LIVING OUT WEST AND VISITING MY OLD friend Levon in Woodstock when he confided that he had begun to sing again with his daughter Amy and a few other musician friends. He played me a Little Sammy Davis tape, and in the raspy whisper that was his voice back then, said that he and his new musical cohorts hoped to find a way to perform together right there in the barn.

By the time I moved to New York a few years later, the Midnight Ramble was a full-blown reality, and man, the joint was jumping. There were a few bugs to be worked out—too large crowds, noise that interfered with taping and serious housekeeping issues after the show—but the music was coming together in an almost magical way. Along with Little Sammy, Levon had recruited hot guitarist Jimmy Vivino and cool bass player Mike Merritt and had all the makings of a first-class band. Blues powerhouse Alexis P. Suter and her group of gifted musicians were opening the shows, and word was spreading that these were the best parties in the tristate area. Over time, Amy and her fabulous Ollabelle band mates, musician extraordinaire Larry Campbell, country chanteuse Teresa Williams, funky pianist Brian Mitchell, and a heavenly host of hot horn players—including Erik Lawrence on sax and Steve Bernstein on trumpet—filled out the roster of players eager to be part of the infectious Ramble excitement. The events ran more smoothly, and the staff smiled more and seemed more relaxed.

From 2005 through 2008, I attended a dozen shows at the barn that I consider the most intimate and authentic musical experiences I have been privileged to witness. Along with my children, my sister, my niece, and many of my friends, I heard cool young acts like Martha Scanlan and the Chris Bergson Band and sat mere feet away as big stars like Elvis Costello, Allen Toussaint, and Emmylou Harris performed with and paid homage to Levon Helm. Watching Levon perform with the veteran bluesmen in the Muddy Waters Band was another unforgettable thrill. But the best part of all was hearing Levon sing stronger every time and watching his incandescent joy in playing great music with world-class musicians just a few steps away from his own living room. While I never doubted that Levon would pull something special out of his hat, who could ever have imagined that the Midnight Ramble would turn out to be the phenomenon it is today? What Rolling Stone rightly called the best jam session in the rock universe is truly a tribute to the personal grace and largeness of spirit of this man who has inspired such enterprise and loyalty from his friends, family, fellow musicians, and ardent fans.

—KAY CORDTZ

SOMETIMES I THINK OF THE RAMBLE

as being like an old jalopy with bad springs riding down the road, and that’s the way it’s supposed to be: you can’t tune it up too much—it’s all about stream of consciousness. But Levon is definitely the driver, and he’s an excellent driver."

—JIMMY