JULY-AUG 2012 - Natchel' Blues Network

BLUES HEAVEN - Levon HelmLevon Helm, singer and drummer for The Band, died on April 19th in New York of throat cancer. He was 71.In the late ‘90s, Helm – whose singing anchored Band classics like “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” “Up on Cripple Creek,” “Rag MamaRag,” and “The Weight” – was diagnosed with throat cancer and underwent 28 radiation treatments, eventually recovering his voice. In recentweeks, however, Helm had canceled a number of showsBorn May 26, 1940 in Arkansas, Helm was literally a witness to the birth of rock & roll; as a teenager, he saw Elvis Presley, Little Richard, JohnnyCash and Jerry Lee Lewis in concert and was inspired to play drums after seeing Lewis’ drummer, Jimmy Van Eaton. (Helm went on to playmandolin and other stringed instruments as well). In 1960, Helm joined the backup band of rockabilly wildman Ronnie Hawkins – a groupthat would eventually include Robbie Robertson, Richard Manuel, Rick Danko and Garth Hudson, all futuremembers of The Band.The musicians broke from Hawkins to form their own group – their names included the Crackers and Levon& the Hawks – but it was their association with Bob Dylan that cemented their reputation. After Dylan saw thegroup in a club, he invited Helm and guitarist Robertson to join his electric band. “Bob Dylan was unknown tous,” Helm wrote in his 1993 memoir This Wheel’s on Fire. “I knew he was a folksinger and songwriter whosehero was Woody Guthrie. And that’s it.” Robertson and Helm were in Dylan’s electric band for his controversial,frequently booed show at New York’s Forest Hills Tennis Stadium. Afterward, various members of The Bandplayed on Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde and toured with him in 1966. They also recorded the landmark BasementTapes.In 1976, at Robertson’s urging, the Band broke up after its farewell concert, known as “The Last Waltz.” TheBand was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.BLUES HEAVEN - Michael “Iron Man” BurksMichael “Iron Man” Burks, July 30th, 1957 - May 6, 2012Guitarist, vocalist, songwriter Michael “Iron Man” Burks died in Atlanta on May 6, 2012. He was 54 years old. He was returning from a tour of Europe and collapsed atHartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. He was rushed to South Fulton Medical Center where he could not be revived. The preliminary diagnosis for cause ofdeath was a heart attack.Michael “Iron Man” Burks earned his moniker by his hours-long, intensely physical performances, fearsome guitar attack, and tough, smoky vocals. He also earned it by thethousands of miles he personally logged behind the wheel of his touring van. Burks was a true modern blues hero whose music was driven by an intense, blue-collar workethic that had won him well-deserved national and international recognition. His instantly identifiable guitar sound and his live charisma earned him four Blues Music Awardnominations. He won the 2004 Living Blues magazine Critics’ Award for Best Guitarist. Burks received a nomination for the 2012 Blues Music Award for Best Guitarist.Born in Milwaukee in 1957, Burks grew up immersed in the blues, and learned to play guitar at an early age. His family moved to Camden, Arkansas in the early 1970s.There, Burks and his siblings helped their father build the Bradley Ferry Country Club -- a 300-seat juke joint. By this time Michael was fronting his own band as wellas backing several of the blues and R&B greats that passed through town. Burks left music to raise a family and returned toperforming blues in the 1990s.After self-releasing his first CD in 1997, Burks signed with Chicago’s Alligator Records in 2001 and released three criticallyacclaimed albums. GuitarOne named his debut album, Make It Rain, one of the Top 200 greatest guitar recordings of all time. Hehas toured the world, headlining blues festivals, concert halls and clubs. His status as an Arkansas musical hero was confirmed byhis receipt of the prestigious Sonny Payne Award for Blues Excellence in 2006, presented by the Delta Cultural Center, and by hismultiple headlining appearances at The Arkansas Blues & Heritage Festival. Burks had just finished recording his fourth AlligatorCD, which is due for release at the end of July 2012.“Burks has learned to burn his own signature onto almost everything he touches. The aching passion of Burks’ voice and theprobing intensity of his guitar lines come together in a searing evocation of desire and desperation. Burks has the ability and theimagination to fuse the best of the old and the new.”--Living Blues6 www.NatchelBlues.org • JULY/AUGUST 2012