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srshea -> RE: Just heard Levon Helm passed away (Apr. 20 2012 18:46:48)
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Yup, very sad. His singing and drumming were always my favorite elements in The Band, and he had a very strong and natural on-screen presence as a character actor. His performance in Cole Miner’s daughter is killer. He was mentioned on the local classical radio station yesterday, and during last night’s baseball game (here in the far northwestern corner of the country, far from Helm's Arkansas home), and I was a bit surprised that news of his passing had crossed over into those worlds.
quote:
That it was written by a Mohawk-Jewish Canadian adds a touch more poignancy.
I don’t wanna stir up any ill feelings so soon after Helm’s death, but Robbie Robertson’s authorship of that and numerous other Band songs is a hotly contested issue and one that Helm felt a great deal of bitterness about. It’s been nearly twenty years since I read Helm’s autobiography, but if I recall correctly, Robertson, at the urging of Albert Grossman or whoever, hogged up sole writing credit and copyright claims for many of those songs himself, even though they were written in collaboration with Danko, Helm, et al. Who knows if it's just sour grapes or the truth, but my gut tells me that many of those songs were a true collective effort, and in the case of Dixie in particular, I dunno, man. Hard to believe that Robertson just handed that over as is…..
Richard, beautiful post!
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