His story is so compelling: he started out the decade with his band, The Band, pretty much over following the death of bassist/singer Rick Danko. Levon himself was suffering from throat cancer and was told he may never sing again, and he was running out of money. He started doing his "Midnight Rambles" at his farm as a way to help pay the bills. A few years later, his rambles are super popular concerts, he tours a bit and plays bigger audiences than he has since the original lineup of The Band toured, and his amazing voice is back. I imagine all of this will be covered in the upcoming documentary, Ain't In It For My Health: A Film About Levon Helm. I know there's a website, but it doesn't seem to be up yet. There is, however, an official Facebook group. Join it here.
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I think it's worth mentioning that Levon had a lot to do with Until The Frost/Before The Freeze. I didn't think the Black Crowes had another good album in them, but it was great. Some of the songs are downright derivitive of Levon's music, and just the live atmosphere of his space added the right timbre.
Kent, I totally agree. I'm not a huge Black Crowes fan, but I did get the new album (actually Larry gave me his) and I was suprised how much I liked it. I agree, the space they recorded it in - Levon's barn - is like an extra member of the band, and I don't think it would have been as great had it been recorded in a studio.
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