4 Times Levon Helm Put His Definitive Stamp on Songs Not Originally Written for Him

He boasted one of the most distinctive voices in all of music. That Arkansas twang that Levon Helm brought to every vocal performance could convey a ridiculously wide range of emotions, meaning that there was no song he couldn’t ably cover.

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The following four tracks weren’t written for Helm in any way. But once he sang them, you certainly would have believed that the writer tailor-made the lyrics for him.

“When I Paint My Masterpiece”

Bob Dylan wrote and originally recorded this winning tale of a homesick traveler for inclusion on a greatest hits package. But his longtime connection with The Band meant that those guys heard it early in the game. They released it on their 1971 album Cahoots before Dylan’s version arrived. The arrangement is typically clever, with Helm playing mandolin while Garth Hudson delivers all kinds of swooning countermelodies on accordion. But Helm’s vocal is what sets the song apart. His ornery reading of the lines when the narrator is stranded in Italy is just right. And nobody was ever better suited to sing the line “Oh, to be back in the land of Coca-Cola” than Levon.

“Atlantic City”

When The Band got back together to start recording again after the departure of Robbie Robertson, they knew they’d have to be open to recording more covers. After all, Robertson had done the bulk of the songwriting on their classic albums. “Atlantic City” might have seemed like an odd choice for the group. But Bruce Springsteen’s chilling tale of poverty and desperation in the gambling mecca and Helm’s drawl turned out to be the perfect combination. It helped that the arrangement, with its tinkling mandolin and accordion, was very The Band-friendly. Helm cinched the deal with the touching urgency of his performance.

“The Mountain”

Helm finally found his groove as a solo artist near the end of his life. Working with Larry Campbell, his daughter Amy, and many other outstanding Americana-based musicians, he sank his teeth into a wide variety of roots music. And if ever there were a song that you’d swear was intended for his pipes, “The Mountain”, originally written by Steve Earle, would have to be it. The song taps into the difficult life of a coal miner, which connects it to one of Helm’s most famous acting roles in Coal Miner’s Daughter. His ability to portray wounded pride, so memorably displayed on The Band’s “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”, comes to the fore here.

“Tennessee Jed”

From Electric Dirt, his final studio album, “Tennessee Jed” finds Levon Helm tackling a beloved Grateful Dead chestnut. Robert Hunter wrote the lyrics, as he so often did for the Dead, while Jerry Garcia handled the music. The Dead’s version, obviously, focused on musical improvisations. But with Helm at the helm, the emphasis on the lyrics is stronger because Levon insists upon it. He brings so much personality to this tale that it’s hard to feel too bad for the narrator’s onslaught of troubles. Helm’s genial nature makes it all seem like something that can be overcome with a little effort. Again, it calls back to a Band classic, “The Weight”, which told a similar story and also featured Helm’s wonderful lead vocal.

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