LEVON HELM -- DIRT FARMER

LEVON HELM -- DIRT FARMER (VANGUARD) Robbie Robertson tried to self-eulogy a still-vital Band out of existence at the 1976 Last Waltz concert. The result was that the group, once it tried to carry on without him, was never taken seriously as a vital musical act again -- despite the fact it still had three of the best vocalists Rock had ever seen in Rick Danko, Richard Manuel and drummer Levon Helm. (Robertson´s own solo albums, after a promising start, have suffered from his big ideas and poor voice.) Death has since taken the first two, and Helm´s voice was stilled by throat cancer for many years. But now, after radiation treatments and recovery, he´s recorded Dirt Farmer, his first solo album in 25 years, with production support from his daughter Amy and Dylan sideman Larry Campbell. The twangy, bittersweet voice, obviously, isn´t as full-throated as it once was, but it has a surprising amount of power, energy and coloration. And it´s immediately recognizable as Helm. The album is acoustic and redolent of the yearning, melancholy-tinged Folk/mountain music he heard growing up in Arkansas. Mandolins, dobros, violins, pump organ, accordion, piano and harmony vocals (including Amy´s) predominate as he covers traditional material like ¨Poor Old Dirt Farmer,¨ ¨The Blind Child¨ and ¨Little Birds¨ and newer songs in the same spirit as Laurelyn Dossett´s ¨Anna Lee,¨ Buddy and Julie Miller´s ¨Wide River to Cross¨ and Steve Earle´s ¨The Mountain.¨ It´s like discovering Gillian Welch´s long-lost father -- appropriate for those who view The Band as the fathers of Americana. Helm is keeping the faith. (Steven Rosen) Grade: A-