Album of the Week
There must be something potent in the Arkansas soil that grows great
musicians. Among the legions of pickers and players to come out of the
state are such giants as Glen Campbell, Johnny Cash, Louis Jordan,
Pharoah Sanders and Johnnie Taylor.
And, of course, Levon Helm.
Among that august crowd, few have shown such a depth and masterful
grasp of American musical idioms as Helm has over his storied career.
Helm's tenure in the Band is legendary, and while it seems that Robbie
Robertson has spent the years since The Last Waltz reinventing the
history of that group to make it seem as if it were Robertson and
Company, the Band's excursions into the territory of
Americana-freighted music would not have carried the heft it did
without Helm, the lone American in the group.
What the hell did a bunch of Canadians know about "The Night They Drove
Old Dixie Down" anyway? Robertson might have wrote the song, but
without Helm singing it, it just would have been a second-hand
historical exercise.
Helm is not only quintessentially American, he's a Southern American, which led him to absorb a variety of musical styles as
diverse as bluegrass, blues, country and early rock and roll. These are
the ingredients with which he's managed to cook up his own unique
musical gumbo.
We got a taste of that stew when Helm released Dirt Farmer last year.
The collection of traditional songs and interpretations of rootsy
tunes by people like Paul Kennerley and Buddy and Julie Miller garnered
plenty of accolades for Helm and took home the 2008 Grammy for Best
Traditional Folk Album.
With Electric Dirt, Helm goes back to the same field as before, but
picks a newer, hybrid crop that incorporates material gleaned from the
Grateful Dead, Muddy Waters, Randy Newman, the Staples Singers and his
own compositions.
The results are impressive and, as one would expect, heavy on the roots.
The opening track, a cover of the Grateful Dead's little gem "Tennessee
Jed" is a fun number that features acoustic guitars, horns and, of
course, Helm's wonderful backwoods vocals. Larry Campbell's production
works well here -- as it does throughout the album -- giving the song a
feel that's a little bit "Dixie Chicken"-era Little Feat, but without
the L.A. gloss that somewhat distracted from Feat's studio work.
And with "Tennessee Jed" setting the scene, we're off on a trip through
an America that might be hard to find in these days of corporate
homogenization -- or might not even exist at all anymore -- but we've all
known it or can feel it if we listen down
into ourselves.
Helm's take on Happy Traum's "Golden Bird" is beautiful, stark, elegiac
... and a treat for those whose only exposure to Traum has been through
folk-guitar instruction books.
Lightening the mood after "Golden Bird," is a delightful cover of Muddy
Waters' "Stuff You Gotta Watch," that tosses away all the conventions
of Chicago blues and reworks the song as a back porch sing-along
complete with accordion breaks. Helm does the same thing with the
album's other Waters cover, "You Can't Lose What You Ain't Never Had,"
that showcases Helm's always tasty mandolin work alongside some really
first-rate, understated acoustic slide guitar.
Also nice is Helm's take on Randy Newman's tip of the hat to New
Orleans, "Kingfish." With a horn arrangement by New Orleans legend
Allen Toussaint and Helm's crack band driving the song along, this
thing is pure chicken grease ... the tasty kind.
Adding a little flavor to the mix is producer Campbell's "When I Go
Away" which features some fine white gospel vocals. A simple song, but
there's a lot going on with those vocals. Catchy. One of those songs
that invite you to join in on vocals ... even if you can't sing a lick.
Helm seems to spin all this out effortlessly. The songs picked for the
album are all smart choices and the arrangements are masterful. The
acoustic instruments never get lost in the mix, the horns are punchy
and tight, and the drums are always in the pocket.
Credit has to be given to Campbell's production. While he did an
amazing job, it never screams out, "Look at me!" and remains an
unobtrusive constant on which Helm can showcase what he does best.
Electric Dirt is plugged in and switched on. Crank up the volume.
