Levon Helm, The Band ... by gimleteye

It was scary to imagine Levon Helm being 71, as it is of musicians and songwriters who were heroes when I was a young teenager. In my imagination he is always in his twenties and I am always on the verge. I never stopped loving the music of The Band, a legendary icon of the 1960's generation. So when one falls whose spirit ingrained so deeply in my consciousness, it inevitably raises prospects.

I can offer a few insights for younger readers. For one, the world really was different when rock and roll was improvised out of earlier innovations. American culture had not yet become a multi-billion dollar marketing engine. We waited for those vinyl LP's at the record store, with the benefit of only rumor and a few singles teased onto the radio.

I was a college student when Bob Dylan and The Band rolled through. Dylan had disappeared in a mysterious silence lasting years. He re-emerged in the early 70's, faced painted white and an Indian feather in his hat, with Levon Helm setting the backbeat like a train conductor determined to make the whole work on syncopated time, America seemed to erupt. Or maybe it was just me.

The other day on the phone with friends we were talking about Levon Helm. One mentioned seeing The Band at Woodstock. I told the story of being a young high schooler at the time, about to sneak out into a car filled with older friends who were honking in front of my house, on the way to start the eight hour drive to upstate New York. My father came out and pulled me from the car. That's how I missed Woodstock. Too young to go. But not too young, now, to feel the passing of Levon Helm.