In his memoir, Bill Graham Presents, Bill Graham wrote, “Albert Grossman had probably the best ears of anybody I knew, and [when] he played me some tracks off Music from Big Pink, I was just blown away.” When Music from Big Pink hit turntables in 1968, it ushered in a new genre of music: Americana. Musicians as diverse as Eric Clapton, Larry Campbell, and Warren Haynes will tell you that The Band’s sound changed their lives. Levon Helm’s drumming and his voice created and shaped the new genre. Helm, a native of Turkey Scratch, Arkansas, and a son of cotton farmers, picked cotton in his youth, visited juke joints, and started drumming at the age of eight. He absorbed the music of the rural south through visits to the F. S. Wolcott Original Rabbit’s Foot Minstrels (which featured top black artists of the day) and by listening to the Grand Ole Opry. The influence of the Mississippi Delta blues, folk, and gospel music became his birthright, and the thump of his drums and his southern-steeped voice articulated its sonic signature. Together with his mates, Garth Hudson, Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, and Richard Manuel, he created a unique sound that spiraled out from Woodstock, NY, to touch and influence a generation of music fans and musicians alike.

Over the years, Levon Helm’s resources rose and fell. By the time the millennium passed, his fortunes were waning, and eviction from his home was imminent. A house fire, the subsequent rebuilding of his beloved home, and throat cancer had drained his bank account. These untimely events pressed Helm to find a way to keep the creditors at bay. Helm decided to host a series of rent parties. Ticket prices were set at the unheard-of price of $100. In the early 2000s, the internet was proving helpful in connecting communities and promoting ticket sales. Gradually a group of volunteers, including Jimmy Vivino and general manager Barbara O’Brien, brought Helm’s Midnight Rambles to life. As the concept developed legs and proved to be a money-maker, Helm’s lawyers were able to sell the idea to his bankers and stave off eviction.

From 2004 to 2012, the Midnight Ramble era proved immensely successful and drew hundreds of music fans to Levon Helm’s home for Saturday night gigs. Each week built on the success of the previous Ramble. In 2005, after an appearance by Emmylou Harris, ticket sales took off. Soon A-List music groups like Mumford & Son and My Morning Jacket were opening for the Levon Helm Band. The musical soirees lasted three hours or more. In the beginning, Levon Helm shunned playing the old Band music, but as time went on, songs like “The Weight,” The Shape I’m In,” and “Ophelia” made their way into the set lists. These moments forever cemented Rambles into the fans’ memory banks.

In 2004, Barbara O’Brien contacted John Barry, the music writer for the Poughkeepsie Journal, and invited him to talk with Levon. John came up to Woodstock and conducted the interview. And then, he stayed around and became a regular attendee at The Rambles. Mike Dubois, the owner of Happylife Productions, a musical merchandiser in Woodstock, and designer of the Midnight Ramble artwork, remembers seeing John, always with his recording device, interviewing Helm and the other musicians over the years. Dubois proved to be one of Barry’s strongest supporters, urging him to write Levon Helm: Rock * Roll * Ramble: The Inside Story of the Man, the Music, and the Midnight Ramble.

Book signing with John Barry at Cafe Espresso

John Barry has done a masterful job documenting the disparate parts of the Ramble story. It wasn’t easy, and it took 18 years. His book is a recommended resource for fans of Levon Helm, musical library collections, and music students. It retails for $29.95 and is available through this website, Woodstockarts.com, and from fine bookstores everywhere.

~ Weston Blelock