Levon by Sandra B. Tooze

Author:Sandra B. Tooze
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General Fiction
Publisher: Diversion Books
Published: 2020-03-25T16:00:00+00:00

11

Restoring the Rhythm

Levon had a new band to showcase—the RCO All-Stars—when he appeared as a guest on Saturday Night Live on March 19, 1977. He wasted little time opening this new chapter of his life following the acrimony of the Last Waltz and had assembled an astonishing array of musical talent. By that spring, the recording studio in Helm’s barn was completed, and he was ready for a new adventure.

The RCO All-Stars was a band of superstars within the music industry that, nevertheless, many in the public had never heard of. Immensely talented, but often relegated to a backing role, these musicians lacked the egos of many frontmen. It was an aggregation of friends who had all been raised along the Mississippi River, and their music reflected it. Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper, and Donald “Duck” Dunn signed on from the MGs. Dr. John played keyboards along with Booker T., former Hawk Fred Carter Jr. joined Cropper on guitar, and Paul Butterfield sang and blew harmonica. Levon also enlisted members of the Saturday Night Live horn section—Lou Marini, Alan Rubin, Tom Malone, and Howard Johnson, the latter two who’d also played at the Last Waltz.

At first, the producers of Saturday Night Live told Fred Carter to take off his cowboy hat during the show. Helm stepped up and in typical fashion announced, “Well, if he doesn’t go on with that hat, I’m not going on.” Carter wore his hat. The RCO All-Stars performed two covers, Ben E. King’s “Sing Sing Sing,” and “Ain’t That a Lot of Love,” the Homer Banks song that appeared on Islands.

Cathy Smith had moved to Woodstock and claims that she’d rekindled a relationship with Levon. In her opinion, Helm was smoking too much Thai weed, the result of the pressure he felt in starting a new band in the overwhelming shadow of the previous one. The band baby was never mentioned.

That summer and into the fall, the group recorded Levon Helm and the RCO All-Stars for ABC Records at Helm’s barn studio and at Shangri-La under the supervision of Henry Glover. In the California sessions, Levon enlisted Garth and, surprisingly, Robbie to play on “Sing Sing Sing.”

Levon was back to having fun with his music. “I had as good a time with that project as I’ve ever had,” he said. “And of course, we had Henry Glover there, who was our main guidance system.” As Howard Johnson and Levon were only a year apart in age, they grew closer as friends.

The album was a bluesy, countrified, R&B-infused celebration of all that the band members brought to it—many of the songs written by them. Helm and Glover wrote “Blues So Bad,” which was later recorded by Maria Muldaur. “Milk Cow Boogie” is an example of how Levon played a shuffle against a straight eighth-note groove, an influence from Earl Palmer. “If you can equal them out,” Levon said, “that’s the sweet spot to be.”

Levon was at the top of his game, both as a singer and drummer.

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