Levon Helm Leads An All-Star Lineup in NYC

Tweet

How you know you're getting long in the tooth: you're at a Levon Helm concert, vibing out to the song you sparked your first joint to in 1967 when Helms pauses to give a shout out to his surgeon. Silly, yes. Depressing, maybe. But in this case, the tribute was apropos: Without his doc, Helm -- who battled throat cancer in the '90s -- wouldn't be able to sing the songs that have endeared him to multiple generations of rock fans.

And sing he did this Saturday night at New York's Beacon Theatre. With help from a surprise lineup of guests that included New Orleans homeboys Dr. John and Allen Toussaint, Dylan session guitarist Larry Campbell and the Allman Brothers' Warren Haynes (in town for a thirteen-gig run at the Beacon), the ex-Band drummer -- who introduced each performer with reverence -- segued seamlessly from a cover of Springsteen's "Atlantic City" on mandolin to killer renditions of Band classics "Ophelia," "Tears of Rage," "Chest Fever" and "Up on Cripple Creek." Despite looking a bit frail, Helm didn't stop smiling for the whole three-and-a-half-hour show.

Throughout the night, Helm powered through raucous, on-your-feet numbers (helped by a blazing horn section and bouncy fiddle), countrified, harmony-filled ditties and tear-inspiring slow burners. A high point of the evening came when Haynes -- joined by the evening's all-star cast of music heavyweights -- led a tribute-concert-caliber performance of "I Shall Be Released."

But the best part of the night almost didn't happen. When the house lights brightened (after a phenomenal rendition of "The Weight"), most of the crowd got up to go home. The faithful kept cheering, though, and five minutes later, Levon and company -- including former Band keyboardist Garth Hudson -- shuffled back onstage for a wild, winding "Take Me to the River." It was a sweet reward for the audience members who -- for whatever reason -- don't move too fast.

• 
  MUSIC 100 Greatest Debut Albums
• 
  MOVIES The 10 Best Zombie Movie Scenes
• 
  TV The Most WTF? Moments of 'Mad Men'
• 
  POLITICS No Price Big Banks Can't Fix

Song Stories

“He Will Break Your Heart”

Jerry Butler | 1960

A lightly swinging Latin-influenced, almost cha-cha groove and close harmonies decorated Jerry Butler's early soul hit "He Will Break Your Heart," delivering a stately warning that his rival would never love his girl like he did. The melody came to Butler as he was driving on the highway from Atlantic City, New Jersey, to Philadelphia with Curtis Mayfield, and as Butler told Rolling Stone, "I just sang the melody and Curtis put the chords to it." The song's premise, Butler added, "was something that I'd lived ...The lyric was an experience rather than a revelation. Whereas music is usually a revelation."

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter