Levon Helm- Dirt Framer

Dirt Farmer

This is real mountain music, presented in the manner it was meant to be - oral tradition through song. It's not possible for me to determine which songs are relatively new and which are old, old stories derivative of Celtic tradition, brought to the mountains generations ago from Scotland and Ireland. The yearning, sorrow, and loss of some of the songs is perfectly projected in Mr Helm's evocative country voice - False Hearted Lover Blues, typical of the mountain songs I learned as a child, with the title of the song being all you need to know; Anna Lee, about a young mother cut down heartbreakingly early. There are humorous songs as well, like Got Me a Woman, with the man in the song describing a woman perhaps not what you'd call a looker but high in character that just knocks his socks off; Single Girl, Married Girl, about the things that make these two so diametrically opposed. There's even a song about Frank and Jesse James (A Train Robbery). Some of the songs have a beat reminiscent of music from The Band; I heard shadows of "Ophelia" in one piece, and nuances of other songs, but it is clear here that this album is pure tradition, and that Mr Helm is very much enjoying himself in presenting to us the music he learned as a child.

After his successful fending off of a deadly disease that by all accounts should have robbed us of his characteristic howl, it is a wonder and a blessing that this album got to be made. The first notes of his singing literally sent shivers up my spine. I truly wish I lived anywhere close enough to Woodstock, New York; I would somehow contrive to be a regular at his Midnight Rambles, the shows he periodically puts on in a barn on his property, and at which quite a few excellent old friends of his pop in to share in the musical bounty. This is real entertainment; and I know "Dirt Farmer" is only a taste of what Levon Helm has stashed away from a lifetime devoted to music. Long may he continue his Rambles; long may he continue to bring us gems like this.