(Note: I cannot claim to be a fan of Levon Helm's or The Band, in fact, I know very little about them. However I did write about him a while back for reasons, I hope, will be plain in the post. I thought it worth re-posting in light of the passing of Helm today. - Mike)
I'm sure most people with cable TV notice that there are all kinds of channels that broadcast programming of, shall we say, limited appeal. Some of them look like they were shot inside someone's house using lamps with the shades taken off for some really harsh lighting. And they look that way because it was shot inside someone's house using lamps with the shades taken off for some really harsh lighting.
For example, take this one program on Mediacom here in Springfield. It was shot in a nightclub and the focus of the program is the musical act that is performing there. More specifically, the subject seems to be this scraggly, old drummer with a gravelly voice who does all the lead singing. I watched it a for a few minutes and I thought, "Eh." They're probably some regional act that does all the hotspots in the college towns around here. And they probably drink up all their profits.
The things they show on TV.
And, it's interesting, in view of the discussion of popular music here at "The Porch" lately. Many of the acts that we admire would be old, gravelly and scraggly, like the drummer on this cable show. I heard a new Bob Seger song the other day and you can definitely hear some age in his voice.
Cousin Bob posted his list of favorite songs from 1973 and we've been having fun with it. He listed "Dancing In The Moonlight" by King Harvest and someone from that group was kind enough to reply and we got a kick out of that. Later, I posted in response and playfully asked Bob if his new friends, King Harvest, would explain how their name came about. Lo and behold! I got a reply from them! What generous and friendly people! It's an interesting story.
"In 1970 we made a last minute entry into a R&R contest in Paris, France. They asked for our band's name, which we had not yet decided on. On the stereo we had one of our favorite albums by The Band playing. The song was King Harvest Has Surely Come. So we gave them King Harvest as a name. As it turned out we won the contest and never changed the name. Two years later, still in Paris, we recorded Dancing in the Moonlight."
I think that is a cool story and it's a good band name. I think a lot of creativity is like this - it just happens, it's not forced.
So, in reading this reply, I had a thought. The record was by a group called The Band? That sort of rang a bell, so I did what any self-respecting person would do at this moment, I Googled. (I Google, therefore I am?)
I Googled "the band king harvest has come" and up came the typical Google page with lots links. At the top was a You Tube video of the song, so I clicked it and about 20 seconds later, I was floored.
The video opens with a shot of a cabin and the camera zooms in to look through the window. At about :20, I recognized someone. I recognized this bobbing head and the shrugging shoulders. I recognized the inelegant twisting neck so the singer could line up with a microphone.
It was the scraggly old drummer from the show on my local cable provider! Only he wasn't so old in this video! Amazing! You mean this guy on my local cable was SOMEBODY?
Quick! More Googling! I Googled The Band and got the Wikipedia page. (There is a sentence that would have been meaningless 10 years ago!) I saw a picture of The Band and their names. And I saw it! Levon Helm! He's the drummer for The Band and he's the drummer on my cable show! I remember seeing it when the credits rolled!
So, Levon Helm was the drummer for The Band and they recorded a song called King Harvest Has Come which inspired a nameless band in Paris to name themselves King Harvest and two years later they recorded "Dancing In The Moonlight" which my cousin listed as one of his favorite songs from 1973 on this blog and somebody from the band King Harvest replied to that and then I asked a question and they answered with a story about The Band and I looked it up and saw the drummer from my cable show was not a club guy but a real rock and roll pro, the drummer for The Band. Amazing.
Did I just win "Six Degrees of King Harvest"?
(Originally posted October, 2008)
Showing posts with label The Band. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Band. Show all posts
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Friday, October 10, 2008
There goes Robert E. Lee
I took the advice of my elders, cousin Bob and King Harvest, and watched the video of The Band playing "The Night They Drove Ol' Dixie Down" and, as they both said, it is a terrific performance.
I was one of those, as Bob mentioned, who was only familiar with the Joan Baez version. And it's fine in it's own right. In fact, as a young adolescent, I remember listening to that tune on KBHM-AM, Branson, Mo., and I liked it. Like Bob, I thought it odd that a woman was Virgil, a working man, however, I was content to let her to tell her story.
Bob quoted from Rolling Stone magazine which captured the spirit of the song: “Nothing I have read … has brought home the overwhelming human sense of history that this song does…It has that ring of truth and the whole aura of authenticity." This was much more evident in the version by The Band. It has a great feel to it, emotional heft.
Here's the video, if you have not already seen it.
One more musical note, totally unrelated to King Harvest. (Gee, I hope we're not keeping those guys from something important!) The song I most enjoy on my Yahoo radio station these days is "Aime" by Pure Prairie League. Those guitars are perfect and elegant, in a mountain music way. To play like that would be a delight!
If one played like that however, he must have a front porch - it's not even an option.
I was one of those, as Bob mentioned, who was only familiar with the Joan Baez version. And it's fine in it's own right. In fact, as a young adolescent, I remember listening to that tune on KBHM-AM, Branson, Mo., and I liked it. Like Bob, I thought it odd that a woman was Virgil, a working man, however, I was content to let her to tell her story.
Bob quoted from Rolling Stone magazine which captured the spirit of the song: “Nothing I have read … has brought home the overwhelming human sense of history that this song does…It has that ring of truth and the whole aura of authenticity." This was much more evident in the version by The Band. It has a great feel to it, emotional heft.
Here's the video, if you have not already seen it.
One more musical note, totally unrelated to King Harvest. (Gee, I hope we're not keeping those guys from something important!) The song I most enjoy on my Yahoo radio station these days is "Aime" by Pure Prairie League. Those guitars are perfect and elegant, in a mountain music way. To play like that would be a delight!
If one played like that however, he must have a front porch - it's not even an option.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
More fan commentary on music by the pro's
First, when Mike says he’s tickled about the response we’ve gotten here at “The Porch” from King Harvest, that goes for me too. What a nice thing to do.
Time passes...oh boy, might as well enjoy it
From Cousin Mike…
“Many of the acts that we admire would be old, gravelly and scraggly, like the drummer on this cable show. I heard a new Bob Segar song the other day and you can definately hear some age in his voice.”
True enough, and it is kind of a shock when you detect that in a voice, or see a recent photo or video of someone we listened to in our teen years. It’s as if, “How in the world could those guys be the same ones I used to hear on WHB or KUDL-AM…and still hear from time to time on KCMO-FM, KCFX, or KBLV? (Pardon my five local radio references, a.k.a. shameless plugs.) What happened?”
It’s like you mentioned on your blog when you turned 50, that you didn’t feel all that different. That, and something I heard in a sermon by one of my pastors once. He observed that your spirit doesn’t age (which could also explain why some guys get into trouble when they attempt some stunt they used to be able to do, but their body can no longer handle. Intellectually, they should know better. But deep inside, it just doesn’t seem like things could have changed that much.)
On occasion I’ll tune across our public television station and watch part of a rock concert. Something like Austin City Limits, but the one in particular I’m thinking of was another show…a name I don’t recall at the moment. Anyway, a year or two ago, I saw part of a festival of some sort, too many big names to be one band on tour with one other opening act. After a few notes got my attention – oh yeah I recognize the song. That’s really Joe Walsh? Still sounds great, but how can I put this kindly…um, obviously some time had passed.
I’ll mention a few other examples. The Rolling Stones - all in their 60’s, though one member of that band might be 70 by now. I *think* Eric Clapton is 60, but I’d have to check that. Sir Paul McCartney is either 64 or 65, the last I heard. Richard Wright passed away on September 15th, at the age of 65. He was one of the founders of Pink Floyd (I know Mike, not one of your favorite bands).
(As an aside, I also like a lot of 1980's music; so a lot of this isn't as obvious with the younger bands. Not yet, anyway.)
I guess the only point here is that we’re oblivious to time passing until some event or bit of news actually catches our attention. We open our eyes a bit and say, “Oh! Really?” No big revelation, that; it’s the same old story.
“So teach us to number our days…” (Psalm 90:12)
The Band
Mike continues...
“Levon Helm! He's the drummer for The Band and he's the drummer on my cable show!”
Yes, when I think of The Band, three names pop into my mind; Levon Helm, Robbie Robertson, and Rick Danko. I had to look up on Wikipedia to find the other two names from their late ‘60s, early ‘70s lineup, Richard Manuel and Garth Hudson.
I clicked on the link and enjoyed watching the "King Harvest Has Surely Come" video. I can’t say for certain that I recall hearing that song. It kind of rings a bell, well, the title does anyway. I didn’t have that album.
Of course I had to watch the video of my favorite song of theirs, “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”. This was from a live concert, I think it was “The Last Waltz”; the studio version was released in 1969.
I know I have only a few regular readers here, and some of you might only be familiar with Joan Baez’s cover version of that song. Pretty enough song in it’s own way, but as a kid I thought it was strange that this gal would sing a guy’s part “Virgil Caine is my name…”, and say things like “…I’m a working man” (actually “…I will work this land” in the original). Not until I heard the original by The Band did I realize what an amazing song it was. If you haven’t heard it by The Band, then you haven’t heard it. I invite you to take a few minutes and treat yourself here...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38JpAMG65Dg
Since I still had Wikipedia open (my research on the other members of The Band), I clicked on their “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” article. Here’s an excerpt from a quote by Rolling Stone Magazine reviewer Ralph J. Gleason, describing the impact of the song on listeners…
“Nothing I have read … has brought home the overwhelming human sense of history that this song does…It's a remarkable song, the rhythmic structure, the voice of Levon and the bass line with the drum accents and then the heavy close harmony of Levon, Richard and Rick in the theme, make it seem impossible that this isn't some traditional material handed down from father to son straight from that winter of 1865 to today. It has that ring of truth and the whole aura of authenticity."
That pretty much describes it, I think. Further down the article is another interesting comment by Band member Robbie Robertson:
"At some point [the concept] blurted out to me. Then I went and I did some research and I wrote the lyrics to the song." Robertson continued, "When I first went down South, I remember that a quite common expression would be, 'Well don't worry, the South's gonna rise again.' At one point when I heard it I thought it was kind of a funny statement and then I heard it another time and I was really touched by it. I thought, 'God, because I keep hearing this, there's pain here, there is a sadness here.' In Americana land, it's a kind of a beautiful sadness."
Back to the videos. What I find interesting is that in both of them, there isn’t a whole lot of showmanship. By that I mean there’s not people running around jumping on the stage, no pyrotechnics, no big overblown laser light shows. Just five talented performers, putting their efforts into their music. I like that.
“Did I just win "Six Degrees of King Harvest"?”
Yes Mike, and here it is. Your gift is the permission to participate in the dance. It’s your choice, whether to dance outside or more privately inside, with the moonlight streaming through the window. And you don’t have to wait until the night of a full moon, just as long as “the moon is big and bright”.
Okay, I made mention of 1969 earlier. Hmmm...maybe I ought to tackle that year next for a music list. Right off the bat I recall a whole lot of change...from Jay and the Americans "This Magic Moment" early on, up to Led Zeppelin's first album by the end of the year.
I do try to keep some variety in my posts here. But I gotta admit, I've been enjoying this music theme.
Time passes...oh boy, might as well enjoy it
From Cousin Mike…
“Many of the acts that we admire would be old, gravelly and scraggly, like the drummer on this cable show. I heard a new Bob Segar song the other day and you can definately hear some age in his voice.”
True enough, and it is kind of a shock when you detect that in a voice, or see a recent photo or video of someone we listened to in our teen years. It’s as if, “How in the world could those guys be the same ones I used to hear on WHB or KUDL-AM…and still hear from time to time on KCMO-FM, KCFX, or KBLV? (Pardon my five local radio references, a.k.a. shameless plugs.) What happened?”
It’s like you mentioned on your blog when you turned 50, that you didn’t feel all that different. That, and something I heard in a sermon by one of my pastors once. He observed that your spirit doesn’t age (which could also explain why some guys get into trouble when they attempt some stunt they used to be able to do, but their body can no longer handle. Intellectually, they should know better. But deep inside, it just doesn’t seem like things could have changed that much.)
On occasion I’ll tune across our public television station and watch part of a rock concert. Something like Austin City Limits, but the one in particular I’m thinking of was another show…a name I don’t recall at the moment. Anyway, a year or two ago, I saw part of a festival of some sort, too many big names to be one band on tour with one other opening act. After a few notes got my attention – oh yeah I recognize the song. That’s really Joe Walsh? Still sounds great, but how can I put this kindly…um, obviously some time had passed.
I’ll mention a few other examples. The Rolling Stones - all in their 60’s, though one member of that band might be 70 by now. I *think* Eric Clapton is 60, but I’d have to check that. Sir Paul McCartney is either 64 or 65, the last I heard. Richard Wright passed away on September 15th, at the age of 65. He was one of the founders of Pink Floyd (I know Mike, not one of your favorite bands).
(As an aside, I also like a lot of 1980's music; so a lot of this isn't as obvious with the younger bands. Not yet, anyway.)
I guess the only point here is that we’re oblivious to time passing until some event or bit of news actually catches our attention. We open our eyes a bit and say, “Oh! Really?” No big revelation, that; it’s the same old story.
“So teach us to number our days…” (Psalm 90:12)
The Band
Mike continues...
“Levon Helm! He's the drummer for The Band and he's the drummer on my cable show!”
Yes, when I think of The Band, three names pop into my mind; Levon Helm, Robbie Robertson, and Rick Danko. I had to look up on Wikipedia to find the other two names from their late ‘60s, early ‘70s lineup, Richard Manuel and Garth Hudson.
I clicked on the link and enjoyed watching the "King Harvest Has Surely Come" video. I can’t say for certain that I recall hearing that song. It kind of rings a bell, well, the title does anyway. I didn’t have that album.
Of course I had to watch the video of my favorite song of theirs, “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”. This was from a live concert, I think it was “The Last Waltz”; the studio version was released in 1969.
I know I have only a few regular readers here, and some of you might only be familiar with Joan Baez’s cover version of that song. Pretty enough song in it’s own way, but as a kid I thought it was strange that this gal would sing a guy’s part “Virgil Caine is my name…”, and say things like “…I’m a working man” (actually “…I will work this land” in the original). Not until I heard the original by The Band did I realize what an amazing song it was. If you haven’t heard it by The Band, then you haven’t heard it. I invite you to take a few minutes and treat yourself here...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38JpAMG65Dg
Since I still had Wikipedia open (my research on the other members of The Band), I clicked on their “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” article. Here’s an excerpt from a quote by Rolling Stone Magazine reviewer Ralph J. Gleason, describing the impact of the song on listeners…
“Nothing I have read … has brought home the overwhelming human sense of history that this song does…It's a remarkable song, the rhythmic structure, the voice of Levon and the bass line with the drum accents and then the heavy close harmony of Levon, Richard and Rick in the theme, make it seem impossible that this isn't some traditional material handed down from father to son straight from that winter of 1865 to today. It has that ring of truth and the whole aura of authenticity."
That pretty much describes it, I think. Further down the article is another interesting comment by Band member Robbie Robertson:
"At some point [the concept] blurted out to me. Then I went and I did some research and I wrote the lyrics to the song." Robertson continued, "When I first went down South, I remember that a quite common expression would be, 'Well don't worry, the South's gonna rise again.' At one point when I heard it I thought it was kind of a funny statement and then I heard it another time and I was really touched by it. I thought, 'God, because I keep hearing this, there's pain here, there is a sadness here.' In Americana land, it's a kind of a beautiful sadness."
Back to the videos. What I find interesting is that in both of them, there isn’t a whole lot of showmanship. By that I mean there’s not people running around jumping on the stage, no pyrotechnics, no big overblown laser light shows. Just five talented performers, putting their efforts into their music. I like that.
“Did I just win "Six Degrees of King Harvest"?”
Yes Mike, and here it is. Your gift is the permission to participate in the dance. It’s your choice, whether to dance outside or more privately inside, with the moonlight streaming through the window. And you don’t have to wait until the night of a full moon, just as long as “the moon is big and bright”.
Okay, I made mention of 1969 earlier. Hmmm...maybe I ought to tackle that year next for a music list. Right off the bat I recall a whole lot of change...from Jay and the Americans "This Magic Moment" early on, up to Led Zeppelin's first album by the end of the year.
I do try to keep some variety in my posts here. But I gotta admit, I've been enjoying this music theme.
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