Levon, Sandra B. Tooze
Levon, Sandra B. Tooze
3 Rating(s)
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.49

Levon
From Down in the Delta to the Birth of The Band and Beyond

Author: Sandra B. Tooze

Narrator: Rosemary Benson

Unabridged: 13 hr 27 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/26/2021

Synopsis

A dazzling, epic biography of Levon Helm—the beloved, legendary drummer and singer of the Band.

He sang the anthems of a generation: "The Weight," "Up on Cripple Creek," and "Life Is a Carnival." Levon Helm's story—told here through sweeping research and interviews with close friends and fellow musicians—is the rollicking story of American popular music itself.

In the Arkansas Delta, a young Levon witnessed "blues, country, and gospel hit in a head-on collision," as he put it. The result was rock 'n' roll. As a teenager, he joined the raucous Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks, then helped merge a hard-driving electric sound with Bob Dylan's folk roots, and revolutionized American rock with the Band. Helm not only provided perfect "in the pocket" rhythm and unforgettable vocals, he was the Band's soul.

Levon traces a rebellious life on the road, from being booed with Bob Dylan to the creative cauldron of Big Pink, the Woodstock Festival, world tours, The Last Waltz, and beyond with the man Dylan called "one of the last true great spirits of my or any other generation."

About Sandra B. Tooze

Sandra B. Tooze garnered world-wide acclaim for her book Muddy Waters: Mojo Man. Eric Clapton wrote the foreword, and Levon Helm and Mick Jagger both endorsed it with back-cover quotes. She currently resides in British Columbia, Canada.

Reviews

AudiobooksNow review by Anthony on 2023-05-04 00:57:08

I haven't gotten all the way through the book (no complaints so far) but I'm far enough to say that this narrator is tremendous. She's got a normal very feminine woman's narrator voice that works really well for the text, but when one of the characters is speaking she can totally sound like a crusty old southern dude. It's uncanny. It's not over the top - she just slides into Levon or Ronny Hawkins and then slides right back to the narrator voice without missing a beat.

Goodreads review by Lynn on October 04, 2020

This is more of a superficial fan biography than something more meaningful. I was disappointed. I enjoyed learning about Levon Helm’s life but I’m hoping something better comes along. Everything is just breezy and cute even when discussing some serious things. The cancer is the most major but also j......more

Goodreads review by Joseph on October 13, 2020

I was really excited for this, expecting a more substantial biography. I think this would have worked better as an oral history, considering how many extensive quotations are included from those who knew Levon. The real value of the book is in these new interviews, as the author doesn't offer much i......more

Goodreads review by Rick on October 28, 2020

I thought maybe I knew the whole Levon story after reading Levon's "This Wheel's On Fire" and Robertson's "Testimony," but Sandra Tooze's "Levon" goes much deeper. Her dozens of interviews from Turkey Scratch to Woodstock and everywhere in between really make Levon three-dimensional. Everyone loved......more

Goodreads review by Jennifer Tate on August 28, 2020

Excellent biography of one of America's most be!oved and influential musicians. As a fan of Levon Helm for over 50 years I was excited to hear about the release of this biography. I have listened to, watched, and read everything available connected to The Band and its individual members, especially L......more

Goodreads review by Barry on January 21, 2021

As a member of The Band, Levon Helm became an American icon because of his singing and drumming. This biography by Sandra B. Tooze gives a detailed account not only of his early life and rise to fame and the vast influence The Band's music had but all the many other projects he did in music over his......more

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