Take a Load Off

I pulled into Nazareth, was feelin' about half past dead;
I just need some place where I can lay my head.
"Hey, mister, can you tell me where a man might find a bed?"
He just grinned and shook my hand, “no” was all he said.

The Weight – The Band

 

            I haven’t really watched the concert film, “The Last Waltz,” aside from the occasional stop for a minute or two while channel surfing.  I’ve heard most parts over the years, such as The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, Up on Cripple Creek, and The Weight.

            I heard the Talking Heads concert film, “Stop Making Sense” on a cassette years before I saw it.  In my very humble opinion, with admittedly a very small sampling, I think those are the two best concert films to have been made. Or maybe I’ve determined that the best way to watch a concert film is to not watch it.

            But between the two I’m going to stick with The Last Waltz because last Thursday Levon Helm; drummer, singer, and songwriter for The Band, passed away at the age of 71.  The Band music has always sounded a little worn around the edges to me.  Not polished with hours of studio remixing or adding Walls of Sound, but comfortable from the get go, and as American as a rusting Route 66 sign.  Although the only American in the band was Helm.

            Some songs make me stop and up the volume no matter when or where I hear them; Neil Young’s Helpless – which is featured on The Last Waltz – Pure Prairie League’s Amie, the Allman Brother’s Melissa, and The Weight from The Band.

            Years ago, when American Idol was mowing them down, there were a handful of copycat shows that came out.  On one a teenage boy sat down at a piano and simply played and sang The Weight.  When the song was over the audience jumped to their feet and the other contestants followed with a standing ovation of their own.  The British judge –why is there always a British judge? - thought it was excellent, the record exec judge said the kid was “on his way” and the female flavor-of-the-month-pop-singer judge asked, “Did you write that?”

            But writing is what that song was.  Look at the economy of words from the passage quoted above, "Hey, mister, can you tell me where a man might find a bed?
He just grinned and shook my hand, ‘no’ was all he said.”  Many writers might have said something about meeting a man, or even describing that man before the “Hey mister” quote.  Elmore Leonard, whose 10 rules for writing include “Avoid detailed descriptions of characters,” would have been proud.

            Levon Helm didn’t write The Weight, but he sang it, along with most of The Band’s other songs, while playing the drums.  Today’s pop divas cheerfully admit lip-syncing their hits because they can’t be expected to do all that dancing and still sing.  Have you ever seen a fat drummer?  So thanks Levon, and take a load off.