Record Collection Revisited: Levon Helm "Electric Dirt"

The Band was a group of musicians that started out as the backing band for singer, Ronnie Hawkins back in the '60s.  Their core members were Robbie Robertson on guitar, Garth Hudson on organ and saxophone, Richard Manuel on piano, Rick Danko on bass and mandolin, and Levon Helm on drums.  Well, more about The Band in a future post.  Levon Helm has recently had a great solo career and has formed a new group of musicians he now plays with, mostly at his home studio in Woodstock, New York.  This band has made a couple of albums and I'd like to highlight their 2009 release, "Electric Dirt" in this blog entry.

Helm's band is made up of many talented players who he probably discovered at one point or another.  The bulk of the Levon Helm band is:

Levon Helm: drums & vocals
Amy Helm: harmony vocals
Teresa Williams: harmony vocals
Byron Isaacs: bass
Brian Mitchell: keyboards (B3 organ, piano, harmonium, accordion)
Jimmy Vivino: guitar & keyboards (B3 organ)
Larry Campbell: acoustic & electric guitar, resonator guitar, banjo, mandolin, pedal steel guitar, fiddle (Campbell is a master of any type of stringed instrument, and produced the record, to boot)

Horn section (varies by song):

Steven Bernstein: horn arrangements, trumpet, cornet, & alto horn
Jay Collins: tenor saxophone, backing vocals
Erik Lawrence: baritone & soprano saxophone
Clark Gayton: trombone, tuba
Howard Johnson: tuba

Here is the track list.  A lot of the songs are covers of old blues and folk songs.  Helm and his bands (whether it's his current band or The Band), drew on everything from rock and roll, blues, country/bluegrass, folk melodies, and Dixieland jazz.  He is truly a musician who respects the roots of American music in all it's forms.  Here is the track listing for "Electric Dirt" with songwriter credits.

1. Tennessee Jed (Jerry Garcia & Robert Hunter
2. Move Along Train (Roebuck Staples)
3. Growin' Trade (Levon Helm & Larry Campbell)
4. Golden Bird (Happy Traum)
5. Stuff You Gotta Watch (McKinley Morganfield: a.k.a. "Muddy Waters")
6. White Dove (Carter Stanley)
7. Kingfish (Randy Newman)
8. You Can't Lose What You Ain't Never Had (McKinley Morganfield: a.k.a. "Muddy Waters")
9. When I Go Away (Larry Campbell)
10. Heaven's Pearls (Anthony Leone, Byron Isaacs, Fiona McBain, Amy Helm & Glen Patscha)
11. I Wish I Knew (How It Would Feel To Be Free) (Richard Carroll Lamb & William E. Taylor)

Any roots music fans out there, check out this record.  Will also review later, an acoustic Levon Helm record very similar to this one called "Dirt Farmer".