Levon Helm Biography

Fast Facts

• Hired at age 17 by rockabilly singer Ronnie Hawkins to play drums in his backing band, the Hawks
• Became known as Levon when his fellow Hawks had difficulty pronouncing his given name of Lavon
• By 1961 the Hawks consisted of the personnel that would become the Band: Rick Danko (bass), Helm, Garth Hudson (organ), Robbie Robertson (guitar) and Richard Manuel (piano); they split from Hawkins in 1963 due to personal differences
• Hired with fellow Hawk Robbie Robertson to back Dylan on his first all-electric tour in 1965
• Dylan soon brought in the full band to accompany him
• Quit the Hawks in 1965 because he was fed up with being booed and jeered while backing Dylan, whose transition to rock music was not well received by folk fans
• He rejoined the group in 1967
• The Hawks were rechristened Crackers after their manager got them a deal with Capitol Records
• Capitol didn't like the new moniker, however, and released the group's 1968 debut album, Music From Big Pink, under their individual names
• They became known as The Band because of the credits, which listed the unnamed group's members beneath a header that read "The Band
• " The Band's influence proved to be far greater than its chart success: one Top 40 single ("Up on Cripple Creek"); and three Top 10 albums (The Band, Stage Fright and Rock of Ages)
• Disliked The Last Waltz, the Martin Scorsese-directed documentary of the Band's 1976 farewell concert
• Backed legendary bluesman Muddy Waters on the 1975 album The Muddy Waters Woodstock Album, which was recorded at Helm's Woodstock, NY, recording studio
• Published his autobiography, This Wheel's on Fire, in 1993
• It was cowritten with rock journalist Stephen Davis
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (as part of the Band) in 1994
• Began hosting biweekly "Midnight Ramble" concerts at his Woodstock, NY, barn-studio in 2004
• They often featured such unannounced guests as Elvis Costello and Gillian Welch