A friend sent me a Facebook message about the passing of Levon Helm, that he decided not to post on my wall for fear of it being misinterpreted.
This takes absolutely nothing away from the greatness of Levon Helm, who deserves all the tributes he's getting, but I don't remember Richard Manuel or Rick Danko getting nearly this level of attention when they died.
My friend is right, of course. Manuel, who died in 1986, and Danko, who passed away in 1999, didn't receive tributes commensurate with their talent and influence, and no one would be quicker to acknowledge this than Levon.
Most rock and roll bands consist of a leader, maybe two, and a bunch of supporting role players. Not The Band. Helm was one of three lead vocalists, along with Danko and Manuel, and they would not only trade parts over the course of a record, but often in the middle of a song. In the studio, Helm would often slip in on mandolin while Manuel took over drumming duties, and Danko often played guitar as well as bass.
(As for the surviving members of The Band, Robbie Robertson was the group's primary lyricist and guitar player, while the classically trained Garth Hudson was a multi-instrumentalist specializing in keyboards, accordion, as well as the occasional tasty sax part. Producer John Simon also made significant musical contributions and was considered the sixth member of The Band.)
To right this cosmic wrong just a bit, here's a clip which featured Danko and Manuel (hidden a bit playing the second drum set), along with Helm on mandolin and Garth Hudson on accordion, closing a 1983 concert with the rousing and appropriate "Blaze of Glory."
RIP, Richard, Rick, and Levon.
Correction: An earlier version of the story suggested that Richard Manuel was playing piano, when he is, in fact, the second drummer on this song.
