Midnight Ramble, Inspired by Levon Helm
They used to have the show start, right? They’d have the singers and the players and the different parts of the show. Then the master of ceremonies would come out just before the finale and explain that, after the kids go home, they’d have the midnight ramble.
When you watch The Last Waltz, I imagine you’re supposed to think that Robbie Robertson, The Band’s lead guitarist, is the virtuoso behind all of this incredible music. Swaying behind his microphone and conjuring legitimately incredible sound from his 1954 Fender Stratocaster, the camera frames him as if he’s using the guitar’s neck like either a baton or a magic wand. Robertson and the film’s director Martin Scorsese, as it turns out, were buddies, and still are. Most of the film’s interview segments are spent with Robertson. And it was later revealed that he was the only member of The Band who actually wanted to stop playing shows. The rest of the group reunited a few years later and played together for 17 more years.
It’s a shame that the film focuses so much on Robbie Robertson (which is not a slight against Robertson, who is a legend), because to me the real story of The Band is Levon Helm. (This is not to slight Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, and Richard Manual, who are all icons and also deserve better than The Last Waltz, and frankly, this blog post.)
To me, Levon was a genius in three ways:
- His drumming: Never flashy or showy, he kept a perfect, relentless beat while weaving perfectly with guitar riffs, bass fills, and horn hits. He starred by supporting better than just about anyone. As a kid playing drums, I always wanted to fit as much as I could into a fill, and it sounded like shit a lot of the time. Levon demonstrated better than anyone that less is usually more. (Don’t get me wrong, he could also let it rip.)
- His singing: Levon sang lead on many of The Band’s best and most well known songs. His speaking voice was the twangiest, most stereotypical southern drawl, and when he sang, he always sounded like he had smoked the exact right amount of cigarettes and drank the exact right amount of whiskey. You can’t train your voice to sound like that, and you’d hurt yourself if you tried. And speaking of letting it rip, singing and drumming at the same time is HARD. There’s a reason there are so few singing drummers. It’s a little bit like patting your head and rubbing your belly at the same time, while also tapping your foot. And doing it all steadily without speeding up or slowing down. A lot of people are good at one, and a lot of people are good at both separately, but not a lot of people are good at both at the same time.
- His sense of history: The quote at the top of this blog post is from Levon. I have never researched what he describes because I just believe him. It seems like he was born knowing all there was about musical traditions and how they evolved into everything The Band was playing. It was less like he was creating and more like these melodies were always there, but he was just the first person to sing them.
I put together a playlist inspired by Levon. I picture these songs as the set list at concert in a big old barn on some late summer night, full of fully vaccinated friends with plenty of drink, a bonfire outside, and lots and lots of big hats worn unironically. It’s going to be great — I’ll see you there.
I ignored my usual playlist rules for this: it’s two and a half hours long with a lot of repeat artists. I’ve also been tweaking it for the better part of two weeks, and by publishing it, I am committing myself to making it final. Of course, if this big party someday does happen — I’ve got a couple venues in mind — I reserve the right to change the set list.
Some highlights:
- The Band: Obviously, this is a playlist inspired by Levon Helm and The Band, so there’s a lot of them on here. My favorite is Don’t Do It, which was the very last song they played at The Last Waltz the concert, but the song that opens the film. It’s a cover of a Marvin Gaye song, which encapsulates what The Band is really all about: amalgamating all these genres together into rock and roll. Levon said it best:
Bluegrass and country music … if it comes down into that area and if it mixes there with the rhythm and if it dances, then you’ve got a combination of all that music….rock and roll.
- Bob Dylan: The Band had been playing together for a decade before they became The Band. They started as a backing band for Ronnie Hawkins and later Bob Dylan, so I made sure he was also well represented. I included some early Dylan (Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right), as well as electric Dylan. (Side note, when Dylan started playing shows with an electric guitar, the audience would boo him. Can you imagine?) I’ve been especially enjoying Tangled Up In Blue lately.
- I did include a couple contemporary songs on this playlist. Satan Pulls The Strings by The Avett Brothers would fit right in at a midnight ramble, but I much prefer the live version to the studio version. And Rye Whiskey by Punch Brothers is a masterpiece. I’ve seen Punch Brothers live twice and they could’ve played a two hour version of that song and I would’ve been very happy.
- Mannish Boy by Muddy Waters featuring The Band: This is probably the song that pops in your head when you think of the blues. It’s the classic “answer song” structure with one riff played over and over. It’s a modern example of a protest song in the tradition of work songs sung by enslaved people in the American south. The refrain (“I’m a man…no B-O-Y child”) is a direct rebuttal to the common slur (“Boy”) used by white people to demean and belittle Black men. Muddy Waters performed this song at The Last Waltz, and the song is featured in the film. His performance is remarkable. Captured by the filmmakers in one single shot, Muddy Waters demands the spotlight on that stage with power and stillness, and among the incredible lineup of musicians featured in The Last Waltz, he’s the star.
See you at the midnight ramble, hopefully sooner rather than later. I’ll be the one wearing a big hat.
