This Wheel's on Fire: Levon Helm and the Story of the Band

"If your mem'ry serves you well You'll remember you're the one That called on me to call on them To get you your favors done And after ev'ry plan had failed And there was nothing more to tell You knew that we would meet again If your mem'ry serves you well This wheel's on fire Rolling down the road Best notify my next of kin This wheel shall explode " Lyrics to 'This Wheel's On Fire' Bob Dylan 'The Band' "They were grown men who had climbed the mountain together, spoken to the Gods, and returned to the valley, where they once again became mortal" said the Philadelphia Inquirer. The Band comprised Levon Helm (drums, mandolin, guitar, bass), Robbie Robertson (guitar); Richard Manuel (piano, harmonica, drums, saxophone); Garth Hudson (organ, piano, clavinet, accordion, synthesizer, saxophone); Rick Danko (bass guitar, violin, trombone), and at the beginning Ronnie Hawkins. Levon Helm was the unofficial leader of the band. He gathered the troops together one at a time. His memoir tells the story. Mark Lavon Helm was born on a cotton farm in Arkansas, Turkey Scratch was the name. He grew up on country music and started playing drums, and then along came Elvis Presly and rock n'roll was born. Levon as he came to be known, would travel to the local music places, and then up to Memphis where he would listen to Conway Twitty and a new guy called Hawk, Ronnie Hawkins. He hooked up with the Hawk, and they played music dates around the south, and then traveled to Canada where the big music houses and money was to be found. They started as the Ron Hawks Quartet and traveled the highways and by-ways. They had a good time, booze, women, yes, many, many women, fun and music. Eventually Hawk found marriage and family life and bowed out of the band. Levon and the Hawks were born, and they met Bob Dylan and their entire world changed. They played with Bob as his back up band. Nothing much happened after this, and Levon took a two year hiatus. He found the group again after they moved to Woodstock, NY, Bob Dylan's home, and they started a recording career. In 1967 the group recorded 'Music From Big Pink' and their band took off. The album, 'Big Pink' used the name 'The Band', much to Levon's dismay, but he grew to like the name. Thus the group had a new name and a new career. For ten years they recorded, toured, got rich, booze and drugs and women were the name of the game. One by one each band member got married and started a family. 1975 the group was tired and torn, drugs and booze had taken their toll. Robbie Robertson had taken over the day to day management and the group decided to split. 'The Last Waltz' a movie of 'The Band' and their friends was planned, and this was a deciding moment in their lives. Levon Helm has expressed his distaste for the editing of the concert movie and in his memoir, this chapter is full of the life, times and making of 'The Last Waltz'. He was so angry about the financial arrangements for the group, asserting that a disp

Levon Helm's hybrid personal memoir/Band autobiography provides a necessary Yang to the Yin of the story of The Band that the public usually gets from their remastered liner notes, rock critics, and Robbie Robertson-heavy rock biographies. Although he does get pretty bitter at times with regards to Robbie Robertson, Levon's side of the story is totally essential, from the very beginning. His tales of his youth and membership in Ronnie Hawkins' Hawks explains a lot about the mishmash of influences that made The Band so great, and it's great to hear it from someone who lived the experience. Additionally, as the only American in the so-called "Americana" band, it's an important account of lots of the roots of that Americana, historical and musical alike. Helm's memoir provides information on the group's success and failure (it's fascinating to read how he abandoned Dylan's harrowing first electric tour to work on a dangerous oil rig instead). He also paints loving, straight portraits of his bandmates (yep, even Robbie, before his ego got in the way). It's really cool to hear an insider's perspective on the making of their classic albums and a lot more about The Band makes sense when you've heard the background from Levon. Although he gets pretty militant about Robertson toward the end of the book, I recommend This Wheel's On Fire as an excellent supplement to The Band's catalog and an enjoyable read on its own. Helm is a true character, and it's a pleasure to hear his story from his early days to his post-Band life as an actor and solo musician.

...you must read this book.Levon's down-home personality floods every page, and makes you wish you'd known him and his family growing up. Honestly, I probably enjoyed the chapters about his childhood as much or more than the chapters about being in one of my favorite groups--The Band.There are some self-serving moments, but hey, they're illuminating too! Check out how casually Levon dismisses his own drug addiction in the early 70s, and completely ignores the fact that THAT might have contributed to the rift between the rest of them and Robbie (Rick and Richard were addicts too). He blames the rift primarily on Robbie's receiving most of the writing credits, but if everybody else was strung-out, SOMEBODY needed to write the songs!!! Oh yeah, and Levon devotes a few paragraphs too many to an incident in which Ronnie Hawkins claimed that Levon had a large genital appendage...not really the sort of information I was looking for... Apparently these guys were knee-deep in the hedonistic lifestyle too, but Levon doesn't much go into that...which is probably for the best. And oh boy, there are shades to the relationship between Robbie Robertson and Levon Helm that go far beyond what I previously realized...after reading this, you'll NEVER watch "The Last Waltz" the same way again. Man, oh man! Robbie comes off as less than likable, to put it kindly. And I gotta say, this isn't just a one-sided account, because Rick is quoted extensively too. Seems like money and fame can really wreck the best of friendships. Here's how.If you'd prefer to think of the Band as a bunch of kindly guys who simply had fun recording good albums, you might want to stay away from this book! But if you'd like to see what sort of stuff was going on behind the scenes, and what fuels the continuing bitterness between the surviving members, or if you want to know more about Richard Manuel's untimely death, this book is your best source.

Levon Helm tells the story of The Band beautifully and sincerely. This is a book about friends more than it is a book about a band. I had always heard that Levon Helm and Robbie Robertson have grown to hate each other. After reading this book I really don't think this is the case. Although Levon sounds a bit angry at times when referring to Robbie (often calling him "Robertson"), his words carry the tone of hurt feelings (of someone who misses one of his best friends) more than they do of anything even remotely close to hatred. This book has all of the great road and recording stories but the best part is the story that is told in between. Imagine a band that lives and creates together for the greater part of thirty some years. It is something that (unfortunately) you don't see anymore (imagine N'sync living in a small house together and writing songs in the basement!!!). Levon Helm had four best friends, three of which he lost to either death or lawyers and Hollywood. This is the story you will hear him tell. If everyone bought a copy of this book and gave it to the youngest musician they know, there might be some hope for the future of popular music.

Levon gives an honest,if bittersweet recollection of the difficult years of living on the road with The Band.From young prodigal R & B sidemen through pain,anguish,suicide and remorse-he weaves a captivating tale.Delightful reading for any one envious of the glorified myth of rock and roll stardom.One of the most sincere accounts of 60's bedlam,70's indulgence and 80's malaise I've read.