Here is an appreciation of Levon Helm from today's Chicago Tribune.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/turnitup/sc-ent-0419-levon-helm-obit-hold-20120420,0,626190.columnIt has been quite a week at the Tribune. (Hoping there are no cranky old men around to bust my chops for thread drift). Mary Schmich, who has been a favorite of mine since she was at the Orlando Sentinel in the mid 1980s, won a Pulitzer Prize. She wasn't one of those like Maureen Dowd or Dan Barry who you necessarily expect to win a Pulitzer so this was a very pleasant surprise. We have conversed a few times over the years, in strictly fan to goddess mode. She is down to earth and wears her writing ability lightly.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-mary-schmich-pulitzer-prize,0,1878119.storyProbably her best known piece was an imaginary commencement speech she wrote for her column one day. It gained fame by being falsely attributed as a real commencement speech by Kurt Vonnegut. As things can do on the net, the fake story took on a life of its own.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wear_Sunscreenhttp://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-schmich-sunscreen-column,0,4054576.column>You know my take on The Band. No other group ever came close. Sad to see Levon go. He did leave a daughter though, and she has some chops.
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>Last man standing will probably be Robbie. Garth will be sitting. ;)
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>>Charles, I am addressing this to you because I know you were at The Band's farewell concert, "the last waltz," in person. I have seen the movie at the theater or on DVD probably 10 times but was not there. The news just brought the sad news that Levon Helm has died.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/20/arts/music/levon-helm-drummer-and-singer-dies-at-71.html?_r=1&hp>>
>>One of my two favorite parts of the movie, along with Eric Clapton's incendiary guitar solo, is Levon being interviewed about the musical influence of Memphis. It's in the middle of the country, he says. Elvis. Carl Perkins. You've got bluegrass, country, blues, show music. "Is there a name for this kind of music?" the off camera interviewer (Martin Scorsese I think) asks. "Yeah," he says with a smile. "Rock and roll."
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDnlU6rPfwY>>
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feEBEpDLTKI>>
>>Richard Manuel and Rick Danko are both also gone. It would be funny in a way if Garth was the last man standing.
