Post by rootyrootz on Dec 2, 2023 22:38:33 GMT
Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm (May 26th, 1940 - April 19th, 2012)
Associated acts: The Hawks (1958 - 1965, 1967), The Band (1968 - 1976, 1983 - 1999), Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band (1989, 2008)
Voice Type: High Baritone
Vocal Range: G2 - B4 - C♯5 (2 octaves + 6 semitones)
Significant High Notes:
C♯5: “Up On Cripple Creek”
B4: “Life Is a Carnival”, “Shoot Out In Chinatown”, "Temptation, Lust and Laziness", "Uh Uh Uh", “Up On Cripple Creek”
B♭4: “A Woman, a Love and a Man”, "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to be Free", "Where Do We Go From Here?"
A4: “Acadian Driftwood”, “Across the Great Divide”, “Blue Moon of Kentucky”, “False Hearted Lover Blues”, "Go Go Liza Jane", "Key to the Highway", “Look Out Cleveland”, “Loving You (Is Sweeter Than Ever)”, “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”, “Ophelia”, “The River Hymn”, "Same Thing", “The Shape I’m In”, “Smoke Signal”, “Take Me to the River”, "Temptation, Lust and Laziness", “Tennessee Jed”, “The Weight” various live performances, “Whispering Pines”
G♯4: “Chest Fever”, “China Girl”, “Driving At Night”, "High Heel Sneakers", “I Shall Be Released”, “Jawbone”, “Life Is a Carnival”, “Mystery Train”, “Rag Mama Rag”, “Shoot Out In Chinatown”, “That’s My Home”, “When I Go Away”, "Where Do We Go From Here?", "You Got Me"
G4: “Ain’t No Way to Forget You”, “A Train Robbery”, "Dance Me Down Easy", “Daniel and the Sacred Harp”, “Didn’t It Rain”, “Feelin’ Good”, “Going Back to Memphis”, “Golden Bird”, “Heaven’s Pearls”, “The High Price of Love”, “I’m Ready”, "It Makes No Difference", “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free”, “Just Another Whistle Stop” Wembley 1974, “Kentucky Downpour”, “Milk Cow Blues”, “Move Along Train”, “Move to Japan”, “Ophelia”, “Shakin”, “Strawberry Wine”, “Take Me to the River”, “Tennessee Jed”, “Uh Uh Uh”, “Violet Eyes”, “Washer Woman”, “We Can Talk”, “When I Paint My Masterpiece”, “When You Believe”, “Yazoo Street Scandal”, “You Can’t Lose What You Ain’t Never Had”
F♯4: “Ain’t Got No Home”, “Ain’t That a Lot of Love”, “All La Glory”, “Anna Lee”, “Audience for My Pain”, “The Blind Child”, “Blue House of Broken Hearts”, “Blues So Bad”, “Calvary”, “False Hearted Lover Blues”, “Forbidden Fruit”, “Going Back to Memphis”, “Growing Trade”, “Havana Moon”, “Holy Cow”, “I’ve Got a Bet With Myself”, "Jemima Surrender”, “Kentucky Downpour”, “Key to the Highway”, “Kingfish”, “Little Birds”, “Lucrecia”, “The Rumor”, “Sing Sing Sing”, “Stand Up”, “Up On Cripple Creek”, “We Can Talk”, “The Weight”, “White Dove”
F4: “Ain’t No Way to Forget You”, “A Mood I Was In”, “A Train Robbery”, “Back to Memphis”, “China Girl”, “Daniel and the Sacred Harp”, “Didn’t It Rain”, “Feelin’ Good”, "High Heel Sneakers", “I’m Ready”, "It Makes No Difference", “Let’s Do It in Slow Motion”, “Look Out Cleveland”, “Milk Cow Blues”, “Money”, “Move Along Train”, “Play Something Sweet”, "Poor Old Dirt Farmer", “The Promised Land”, “Rag Mama Rag”, "The River Hymn", “Same Thing”, “Single Girl, Married Girl”, “Stuff You Gotta Watch”, “Sweet Peach Georgia Wine”, “That’s My Home”, “Washer Woman”, “Watermelon Time in Georgia”, “What Am I Living For”, “When I Go Away”, “When I Paint My Masterpiece”, “Wide River to Cross”, “You Can’t Win ‘Em All”, “Young Blood”, “You See Me”
E4: “Atlantic City”, “Blind Willie McTell”, “Blue Moon of Kentucky”, “The Caves of Jericho”, “Chest Fever”, “Don’t Start Me Talkin”, “Don’t Wait”, “Driving At Night”, “Even a Fool Would Let Go”, “Get Out Your Big Roll Daddy”, “The Girl I Left Behind”, “Give a Little Bit”, “Got Me a Woman”, “Growing Trade”, “Havana Moon”, “Hurricane”, “I Came Here to Party”, “I’ve Got a Bet With Myself”, “I Wish You Were Here Tonight”, “Last Train to Memphis”, “Long Black Veil”, "The Mountain", “Mystery Train”, “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”, “Once Upon a Time”, “Remedy”, “Ring Your Bell”, “Shine the Light”, “Summertime Blues”, “Sweet Johanna”, "The Tie That Binds", “This Wheel’s On Fire”, “Time To Kill”, “To Kingdom Come”, “Twilight” early alternate version, “Violet Eyes”, "The Weight", "Whispering Pines", “Willie and the Hand Jive”, “The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show”, “Yazoo Street Scandal”
Significant Low Notes:
E3: “Ain’t That a Lot of Love”, “America’s Farm”, “Atlantic City”, “Audience for My Pain”, “The Blind Child”, "Blind Willie McTell”, “Calvary”, “Don’t Start Me Talkin”, “Don’t Wait”, “Driving At Night”, “Forbidden Fruit”, “The Girl I Left Behind”, “Give a Little Bit”, “Going Back to Memphis”, “Growing Trade”, “Hurricane”, “I’ve Got a Bet With Myself”, “Jemima Surrender”, “Key to the Highway”, “Life Is a Carnival”, “Livin’ in a Dream”, “Move to Japan”, “Mystery Train”, “Shine the Light”, “Strawberry Wine”, “Rain Down Tears”, “Twilight” early alternate version, “The Weight”, “White Dove”, “Willie and the Hand Jive”, “Yazoo Street Scandal”
E♭3: “A Mood I Was In”, “Blue House of Broken Hearts”, “China Girl”, “Forever Young”, “Let’s Do It in Slow Motion”, “Nashville Wimmin”, “The Promised Land”, “Rag Mama Rag”, “That’s My Home”, “Washer Woman”, “What Am I Living For”, “Young Blood”
D3: “Acadian Driftwood”, “Ain’t Got No Home”, “All La Glory”, “Blues So Bad”, “The Caves of Jericho”, “Christmas Must Be Tonight”, “Dance Me Down Easy”, “Daniel and the Sacred Harp”, “Didn’t It Rain”, “I Came Here to Party”, “I’ve Got a Bet With Myself”, “I Wish You Were Here Tonight”, “Little Birds”, “Lucrecia”, “Milk Cow Blues”, “Money”, “Rockin’ Chair”, “The Rumor”, “Same Thing”, “Sing Sing Sing”, "Smoke Signal”, “Standing on a Mountaintop”, “Summertime Blues”, “Sweet Johanna”, “Sweet Peach Georgia Wine”, “Take Me to the River”, “Up On Cripple Creek”, “Watermelon Time in Georgia”, “When I Paint My Masterpiece”, “The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show”, “Young Blood”
C♯3: “Ain’t That a Lot of Love”, “Audience for My Pain”, “Blue House of Broken Hearts”, “Driving At Night”, “Don’t Start Me Talkin”, “Even a Fool Would Let Go”, “Let’s Do It in Slow Motion”, “Shoot Out In Chinatown”
C3: “A Mood I Was In", "Blue Moon of Kentucky", “Get Out Your Big Roll Daddy”, “God Bless ‘Em All”, “King Harvest (Has Surely Come)”, “Nashville Wimmin”, “The River Hymn”, "The Tie That Binds", "Washer Woman"
B2: “Ain’t Got No Home”, “Don’t Start Me Talkin”, “Even a Fool Would Let Go”, “The Got Song”, “The Rumor”, “Shoot Out In Chinatown”
B♭2: “Forever Young”, “The Promised Land”, “Rag Mama Rag”, “When I Paint My Masterpiece”
A2: “Ain’t Got No Home”, “All La Glory”, “The Got Song”, “King Harvest (Has Surely Come)”, "The Tie That Binds"
G2: “King Harvest (Has Surely Come)”, “Long Black Veil”
{Summary}
Levon Helm was the primary drummer and occasional guitarist/mandolinist from roots rock group, The Band. He had the narrowest vocal range out of the singing members, yet his voice was arguably the most iconic. Instantly recognizable as a down-home southern boy, he contributed greatly to the Americana aesthetic of their music and was responsible for lead vocals on the group’s biggest hits: “The Weight”, “Up On Cripple Creek” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.”
He seems to have been a lighter baritone who never figured out how to substantially project below neutral. On the other hand his belts were powerful and delivered with a reckless abandon befitting his energy as the drummer. Although the group loved to switch up who placed where in the harmonies, Levon typically found his home at the bottom since he lacked a reliable head voice (he really did not use the register much with the notable exception of the yelps and yodels in “Cripple Creek.”) However, when singing upper harmonies he was able to cut through with a resounding holler.
His technique involved a lot of throat resonance to the occasional fault, but this was a valuable factor in making his voice sound heavier than it naturally was and giving great character to his performances - which could be both aggressively raucous or heartbreakingly poignant.
Levon Helm was the primary drummer and occasional guitarist/mandolinist from roots rock group, The Band. He had the narrowest vocal range out of the singing members, yet his voice was arguably the most iconic. Instantly recognizable as a down-home southern boy, he contributed greatly to the Americana aesthetic of their music and was responsible for lead vocals on the group’s biggest hits: “The Weight”, “Up On Cripple Creek” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.”
He seems to have been a lighter baritone who never figured out how to substantially project below neutral. On the other hand his belts were powerful and delivered with a reckless abandon befitting his energy as the drummer. Although the group loved to switch up who placed where in the harmonies, Levon typically found his home at the bottom since he lacked a reliable head voice (he really did not use the register much with the notable exception of the yelps and yodels in “Cripple Creek.”) However, when singing upper harmonies he was able to cut through with a resounding holler.
His technique involved a lot of throat resonance to the occasional fault, but this was a valuable factor in making his voice sound heavier than it naturally was and giving great character to his performances - which could be both aggressively raucous or heartbreakingly poignant.
{Questionable Notes}
Full range: G2 - G5 (3 octaves)
G5: “Sweet Peach Georgia Wine”[1]
F♯5: "America's Farm"[1]
C5: “Smoke Signal”[5: voice crack]
G4: “Ain’t Got No Home”[1]
D3: “Mystery Train”[1], “Strawberry Wine”[1]
C3: “Daniel and the Sacred Harp”[1]
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................
[1] marks yelps and short trills in high range or anacrusis and short dips in low range.
[2] marks notes of questionable identity that cannot be confirmed to be the singer in question.
[3] marks non-melodic notes that don't have a significant enough pitch to warrant inclusion.
[4] marks notes that possess uncertain pitch or have been pitch-shifted.
[5] marks notes that do not fit the previous criteria but are not of a substantial enough quality to warrant counting towards the singer's range.
........................................................................................................................................................Full range: G2 - G5 (3 octaves)
G5: “Sweet Peach Georgia Wine”[1]
F♯5: "America's Farm"[1]
C5: “Smoke Signal”[5: voice crack]
G4: “Ain’t Got No Home”[1]
D3: “Mystery Train”[1], “Strawberry Wine”[1]
C3: “Daniel and the Sacred Harp”[1]
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................
[1] marks yelps and short trills in high range or anacrusis and short dips in low range.
[2] marks notes of questionable identity that cannot be confirmed to be the singer in question.
[3] marks non-melodic notes that don't have a significant enough pitch to warrant inclusion.
[4] marks notes that possess uncertain pitch or have been pitch-shifted.
[5] marks notes that do not fit the previous criteria but are not of a substantial enough quality to warrant counting towards the singer's range.
*Blue marks falsetto notes.
*Underlines mark notes that are potentially obscured in the song's mix/harmonies.
*Italics mark non-melodic notes.
*Bold marks notable examples of the singer's vocal capabilities.
