Yes folks - today is the one and only Levon Helm's birthday. He's 69. Anyone who knows us knows how much we love Levon and his amazing cannon of work, so we're not even going to go into it. You can read our review from one of his Midnight Rambles HERE.
Levon is celebrating his 69th year with the release of Electric Dirt, another amazingly strong collection of vintage Americana songs. Electric Dirt expands the sonic palate from Helm's previous Grammy winning effort Dirt Farmer. Electric Dirt finds Helm drawing more upon his stellar horn section as well as on his chorus of back-up singers including daughter Amy Helm. While the back-up singers can at times sound grating (not sure why) - Electric Dirt's greater emphasis on the soul and R&B chapters of the Americana catalog succeeds for the most part. It's hard not to love everything that Levon touches, but we would have to give it to Dirt Farmer by a nose over Electric Dirt. Yet, for anyone familiar with Levon's work, in The Band or otherwise Electric Dirt is clearly a must buy. It comes out June 30th on Vanguard Records. Happy birthday Levon!
No comments:
Post a Comment