Good-Bye, Levon Helm . . .
Levon Helm
Woodstock, NY, 2004
Woodstock, NY, 2004
Good-bye to Levon Helm, May 26, 1940 to April 19, 2012, fellow Arkansawyer who died yesterday (April 20th, Seoul time). An Arkansas friend sent me a link to this video of Helm being interviewed on PBS recently by Marco Werman, one of Helm's last interviews.
Sigh . . .
Man, I remember being a teenager in the early seventies and helping out my friend Robert Adler with the milking on his parents' Ozark dairy farm, but taking time off to listen to Helm and The Band play their music, like this song, "Up on Cripple Creek," a favorite of mine:
That opening line always did it for me, 'cause I figured I'd sometime get off my own mountain, meet my own 'Bessie', and make something of myself.Up on Cripple Creek
When I get off of this mountain, you know where I want to go?
Straight down the Mississippi River, to the Gulf of Mexico
To Lake Charles, Louisiana, little Bessie, girl that I once knew
She told me just to come on by, if there's anything she could do
Up on Cripple Creek she sends me
If I spring a leak she mends me
I don't have to speak, she defends me
A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one
Good luck had just stung me, to the race track I did go
She bet on one horse to win and I bet on another to show
The odds were in my favor, I had 'em five to one
When that nag to win came around the track, sure enough she had won
Up on Cripple Creek she sends me
If I spring a leak she mends me
I don't have to speak, she defends me
A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one
I took up all of my winnings, and I gave my little Bessie half
And she tore it up and threw it in my face, just for a laugh
Now there's one thing in the whole wide world, I sure would like to see
That's when that little love of mine, dips her doughnut in my tea
Up on Cripple Creek she sends me
If I spring a leak she mends me
I don't have to speak, she defends me
A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one
Now me and my mate were back at the shack, we had Spike Jones on the box
She said, "I can't take the way he sings, but I love to hear him talk"
Now that just gave my heart a throb, to the bottom of my feet
And I swore as I took another pull, my Bessie can't be beat
Up on Cripple Creek she sends me
If I spring a leak she mends me
I don't have to speak, she defends me
A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one
Now there's a flood out in California and up north it's freezing cold
And this living on the road is getting pretty old
So I guess I'll call up my big mama, tell her I'll be rolling in
But you know, deep down, I'm kind of tempted
To go and see my Bessie again.
Up on Cripple Creek she sends me
If I spring a leak she mends me
I don't have to speak, she defends me
A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one
I managed the first two . . .
Labels: Music, Ozark Mountains
posted by Horace Jeffery Hodges @ 6:53 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Thanks, Jeff. One major, major Arkie down, I'm afraid. The heart and soul of The Band, I'd say. As I told Ben in an email (with fairly obvious apologies..), Levon is not Bob, but he's gettin' there...Pete
It's not dark yet . . .
Jeffery Hodges
* * *
Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe directed Arkansans to fly state flags at half-staff Friday in honor of Helm.
"Citizens of this State extend deepest sympathy to Levon’s wife, Sandra, and daughter, Amy, and all of the loved ones of Levon Helm, an enormously talented performer and gifted musician, whose Arkansas roots can be heard and felt in his voice and in his music," Beebe said in his announcement Thursday.
Thought you might like to see this - Jay
Thanks, Jay.
Jeffery Hodges
* * *
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