Category Archives: Current Events

Christian leaders react to Chuck Colson’s death

April 22, 2012 – 11:20 am

I got to hear Chuck Colson speak in person in 1976 at the church I grew up in (Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis). Our pastor Adrian Rogers was personal friends with Colson.

Colson – a guardian of the faith

Charlie Butts – OneNewsNow – 4/21/2012 4:15:00 PM

Chuck Colson, known worldwide for founding Prison Fellowship and several other ministry outreaches, has gone home to be with the Lord.

On March 31, the 80-year-old Colson had surgery for a pool of blood on the surface of his brain. In the days following surgery, he seemed to improve slightly each day but took a turn for the worse late Tuesday (April 17). Family members were called to his bedside. He passed away Saturday afternoon shortly after 3:00 p.m. (Eastern) at a northern Virginia hospital.

In a statement from Jim Liske, CEO of Prison Fellowship, says while he, the family, and numerous others grieve the loss, “we rejoice that Chuck is with Jesus, we rejoice as we reflect on his life and legacy and that we could be a part of that, and we rejoice when we think of all the redeemed in heaven who will greet him and thank him for the role he played in their salvation.”

Jim Liske (CEO, Prison Fellowship)Liske tells OneNewsNow the world has lost one of the most eloquent and influential voices in evangelicalism today.

“Chuck was an individual who spoke with great authority about the grace of God,” Liske shares. “Chuck truly believed in this interchange and tension between truth and grace, and that you needed the most of both continually — because he had experienced incredible transformation in his [own] life.”

Colson was special counsel to President Richard M. Nixon from 1969 to 1973. After pleading guilty for his role in the Watergate scandal, he served seven months in prison — becoming a Christian while serving his sentence. Out of that experience, Colson founded Prison Fellowship and the Colson Center for Christian Worldview.

“Chuck modeled and believed to the core of his being in the transformational power of the gospel,” Liske adds. “And he believed that the local church was God’s ‘Plan A’ in developing a movement of local churches across the country to carry the mantel of the gospel.”

The afternoon before he became ill, Colson hosted 53 Christian leaders from around the country and challenged them to understand the transformational power of the gospel in individuals’ lives and the lives of organizations — and that they “would be the movement that Jesus so desired.” Liske says Colson was the “champion who held that flag very high.”

Dr. Paige Patterson (SWBTS)Dr. Paige Patterson, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas, describes Colson as “one of the really unique characters that ever crosses the stage of human history.”

“You couldn’t meet him and not know that you’re … meeting one of the most interesting characters around,” Paige tells OneNewsNow. “And of course, he was a classic case of a brilliant man who made serious mistakes. But out of that serious mistake he found the Lord and righted his ship in the middle of the ocean and sailed off to the most stellar victories that anybody could ever have.”

The seminary president believes Colson never forgot the prisoners he served time with.

“And of course so many prisoners who really had no future life have come to have a future as a result of the ministry of Chuck Colson,” notes Patterson, “and to say nothing of individuals outside of the prisons whose lives crossed his and whose lives were pretty well messed up but found a way. He was just a remarkable person in his faithfulness to Christ.”

Tim WildmonAmerican Family Association (AFA) president Tim Wildmon notes that in the decades following conversion to Christianity, Colson became one of the “generals” in the Christian Community.

“His writings, his organizational skills that he had in putting groups together, his apologetics, defending the faith capabilities,” Wildmon lists. “I mean, he had a lot going for him — and he means so much to the Christian community in America. He’s going to be very missed.”

Wildmon says he is heartened knowing that Colson is now in heaven. He adds that Colson’s Prison Fellowship ministry will continue to impact lives as his legacy to not only America, but other countries where it was set up. And Wildmon notes that Colson’s radio program Breakpoint will continue on American Family Radio, the radio network operated by AFA.

Tony PerkinsTony Perkins of the Family Research Council tells OneNewsNow that over the last decade at FRC, Colson became his friend and mentor.

“And just as I’ve seen him, he is kind of the statesman theologian of our time and as a Francis Schaeffer [type of person] helping us know how to take the Word of God and apply it to our lives,” he offers. “And there’s no question that he will be sorely missed.”

According to Perkins, Colson challenged Christian America to be salt and light to everyone, including the down and out — a challenge the FRC president says remains today.

“I think the challenge from Chuck Colson will be to continue to live out our faith in an authentic way where we are meeting the needs of those around us — physical, spiritual, emotional needs — but also holding up a standard of righteousness and truth,” he adds.

Colson is survived by his wife of more than 45 years, Patty, and three children. Funeral arrangements are pending. Cards may be sent to Prison Fellowship Ministries, 44180 Riverside Parkway, Lansdowne, VA 20176

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Other related posts that mention Chuck Colson:

Christian leaders react to Chuck Colson’s death

I got to hear Chuck Colson speak in person in 1976 at the church I grew up in (Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis). Our pastor Adrian Rogers was personal friends with Colson. Colson – a guardian of the faith Charlie Butts – OneNewsNow – 4/21/2012 4:15:00 PM Chuck Colson, known worldwide for founding Prison Fellowship […]

Remembering Francis Schaeffer at 100 (Part 3) “Schaeffer Sunday”

Truth With Tears – A Story of Dr. Schaeffer Shedding Tears At the Lausanne Congress, 1974 Uploaded by schaefferstudies on Dec 10, 2011 This video is a segment of an interview we did with Dr. David Calhoun of Covenant Theological Seminary where he described a touching moment with Dr. Schaeffer when he sheds tears at […]

Remembering Francis Schaeffer at 100 (Part 2) “Schaeffer Sunday”

This THE FRANCIS SCHAEFFER CENTENNIAL – SCHAEFFER’S CULTURAL APOLOGETIC PT 1 – DONALD WILLAIMS Uploaded by schaefferstudies on Feb 6, 2012 Dr. Williams gives an introduction to Schaeffer’s life and work at the Francis Schaeffer Centennial, an event honoring Francis Schaeffer’s 100th birthday. ________________ This year Francis Schaeffer would have turned 100 on Jan 30, […]

Remembering Francis Schaeffer at 100 (Part 1) “Schaeffer Sunday”

This year Francis Schaeffer would have turned 100 on Jan 30, 2012. I remember like yesterday when I first was introduced to his books. I was even more amazed when I first saw his films. I was so influenced by them that I bought every one of his 30 something books and his two film […]

“Schaeffer Sundays” can be seen on the www.thedailyhatch.org

What Ever Happened to the Human Race?      I learned so much from Francis Schaeffer and as a result I have posted a lot of posts with his film clips and articles. Below are a few. Related posts: Francis Schaeffer: We can’t possess ultimate answers apart from the reference point of the infinite personal […]

Remembering Francis Schaeffer at 100 (Part 13)

THE FRANCIS SCHAEFFER CENTENNIAL – INVOCATION – PASTOR TONY FELICH Uploaded by schaefferstudies on Feb 3, 2012 Pastor Tony Felich of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Overland Park, KS gives the invocation to the mini conference event in honor of Francis Schaeffer’s 100th Birthday. __________________________ This year Francis Schaeffer would have turned 100 on Jan 30, […]

Remembering Francis Schaeffer at 100 (Part 12)

Dr. Francis Schaeffer – The Naturalistic, Materialistic, World View This year Francis Schaeffer would have turned 100 on Jan 30, 2012. I remember like yesterday when I first was introduced to his books. I was even more amazed when I first saw his films. I was so influenced by them that I bought every one […]

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The Gospel of Christ in the pages of the Bible _______________________  This year Francis Schaeffer would have turned 100 on Jan 30, 2012. I remember like yesterday when I first was introduced to his books. I was even more amazed when I first saw his films. I was so influenced by them that I bought […]

Remembering Francis Schaeffer at 100 (Part 10)

Truth With Tears – A Story of Dr. Schaeffer Shedding Tears At the Lausanne Congress, 1974 Uploaded by schaefferstudies on Dec 10, 2011 This video is a segment of an interview we did with Dr. David Calhoun of Covenant Theological Seminary where he described a touching moment with Dr. Schaeffer when he sheds tears at […]

Remembering Francis Schaeffer at 100 (Part 9)

THE FRANCIS SCHAEFFER CENTENNIAL – SCHAEFFER’S CULTURAL APOLOGETIC PT 1 – DONALD WILLAIMS This year Francis Schaeffer would have turned 100 on Jan 30, 2012. I remember like yesterday when I first was introduced to his books. I was even more amazed when I first saw his films. I was so influenced by them that […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Also posted in Adrian Rogers, Prolife | Comments (0)

Remembering Francis Schaeffer at 100 (Part 3) “Schaeffer Sunday”

April 22, 2012 – 10:39 am

schaeffer

Truth With Tears – A Story of Dr. Schaeffer Shedding Tears At the Lausanne Congress, 1974

Uploaded by on Dec 10, 2011

This video is a segment of an interview we did with Dr. David Calhoun of Covenant Theological Seminary where he described a touching moment with Dr. Schaeffer when he sheds tears at the Lausanne Congress, 1974. The significance of this event is that it depicts both the character of Dr. Schaeffer over schisms in the church but also the deep hurt that he felt over divisions in the church during the early splits with in the church over modernism (Religious Liberalism). The results of these deep feelings would eventually produce a crisis in Schaeffer, and out of that crisis came the work True Spirituality, which is at the foundation of all of Schaeffer’s works. He further elaborated on this topic in a more succinct way in his work The Mark Of A Christian.

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This year Francis Schaeffer would have turned 100 on Jan 30, 2012. I remember like yesterday when I first was introduced to his books. I was even more amazed when I first saw his films. I was so influenced by them that I bought every one of his 30 something books and his two film series. Here is a tribute that I got off the internet from Chuck Colson’s website www.breakpoint.org :

Everyday Art
By Chuck Colson|Published Date: January 30, 2012

office_space_1

Living the Full Image of God

Francis Schaeffer emphasize the beauty of God – a message Tom Pratt, former PF president, understood very well, as Chuck recalls in the BreakPoint archive remembering Francis Schaeffer.

When you walk into the office of Tom Pratt, the president of Prison Fellowship, immediately you sense that this is no ordinary office. There’s no imposing, executive-style desk. Instead the room is centered on a round table, small enough for easy conversation. On one side is a reading stand with a high perch; on the other, a reclining chaise.

If you ask Tom about the unusual design, you discover that everything is carefully thought out. The round table sends a message that there is no hierarchy in the world of ideas. The perch and the chaise give opportunities for altering one’s physical position, which refreshes the mind and stimulates creativity.

It’s rare to find an executive who has such a sensitive eye for artistic design. And office decor really is a form of art. Art is any expression of form and beauty that elevates and inspires.

Some people say they’re not interested in art. What they mean is they don’t like to visit art museums and gaze at paintings. But the same people may sew their own clothes, cook gourmet meals, or renovate their homes.

Our lives are permeated with art.

When you think back through history, most cultures never had museums. For the ancient Hebrews or the South American Indians, art was embedded in the staples of ordinary life-in the pottery they made, the blankets they wove, the beads they strung.

This is really a more Biblical view of art, says Gene Veith in State of the Arts. A sense of beauty ought to be expressed in everything we do.

After all, the first artist was God Himself. It was God who created the silvery beauty of the moon, the delicate netting of a grasshopper wing, the golden brown of a friend’s eyes.

When God made the world, He cared enough to make it beautiful. And if God cared, so should we. We are made in His image, and a sense of beauty is part of our nature.

It’s also part of the message we preach-whether we mean to or not. In Pollution and the Death of Man, Francis Schaeffer says he was once invited to lecture at a Christian school. The building was ugly and stark, staked out on bare ground. In sharp contrast a nearby bohemian community was surrounded by a rich profusion of trees and vines. What message were these Christians conveying about the God they worshipped?

There are times, Schaeffer concludes, when planting a tree can be a form of evangelism.

You see, our lives are meant to be a visible representation of the invisible God. If our schools or offices are dull and ugly-if they are filled with impersonal, mass-produced products-what an impoverished image of God we project.

When Christians hear words like duty, we think of going to church, reading the Bible, giving money to Christian ministries. But a biblical concept of duty is much broader: We are called to do nothing less than live out the full image of God-so that the world might come to know the God who made the roses and the sunsets.

A God of beauty.Next steps

What opportunities do you have today to bring the God of beauty into your everyday experience? See if you can strike up a conversation with someone today about beauty – What is it? Why do we have this idea of beauty? How can we contribute to the beauty of the world? Look for an opportunity to inject Psalm 27:4 into the conversation: the God of beauty!

Francis Schaeffer was one of the great defenders of the faith of the previous generation. You can order this Trilogy of his most seminal works and discover the power of a reasonable faith all over again. You might also benefit from reading the article, “Truth with Love: The Apologetics of Francis Schaeffer,” by Bing Davis.

 

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Andy Rooney was an atheist

How Now Shall We LiveClick here to purchase Chuck Colson and Nancy Pearcey’s How Now Shall We Live?, dedicated to Francis Schaeffer.


Click here for a list of Francis Schaeffer’s greatest works, from the Colson Center store!
By Everette Hatcher III | Also posted in Francis Schaeffer | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Soccer Saturday: Messi and Ronaldo in Clasico battle

April 21, 2012 – 11:11 am

Soccer fans love days like today.

Messi and Ronaldo in Clasico battle

Jon Carter

April 21, 2012

 
Lionel Messi is the world’s best player © PA Photos

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Spain’s – perhaps even the world’s – biggest domestic club game gets underway on Saturday as Barcelona host Real Madrid in a Clasico that will go a long way to deciding who will walk away with the league title this season.

With Barcelona sitting four points behind their great rivals in second place, a win would close the gap to one and really crank up the pressure on Jose Mourinho’s men. Neither have had to worry about qualification for the Champions League for a long time as Barca are 29 points ahead of third-placed Valencia and, having both played in midweek, are also in with a chance of winning Europe’s top club competition as well. Despite Real losing 2-1 to Bayern and Barcelona 1-0 at Chelsea, though, the focus for the weekend is firmly back on the league.

Such is the success of both clubs that there were five Clasico games last season – Champions League, league and Copa del Rey – and there would be eight if they both make the Champions League final this year. Barcelona have held the edge, winning 3-1 at the Bernabeu in the league, knocking Real out of the Copa del Rey (4-3 on aggregate) and picking up the Spanish Super Cup (5-4 on aggregate). A grand total of 12-8 to Barcelona across the five games to date.

The Catalans’ league form has been phenomenal coming into the important part of the season: 11 wins on the trot. Over Real’s last 11 games, they have won eight and drawn three, reducing their lead at the top to only four points. Mourinho’s last league defeat was against Barca on December 10.

The usual suspects of Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Carles Puyol, Iker Casillas, Xabi Alonso and Sergio Ramos will be in the spotlight again as their club rivalry threatens to upset the balance of the Spain squad as Euro 2012 approaches. All eyes will be on how these players react to each other – along with the centre-stage battle of Lionel Messi v Cristiano Ronaldo. If recent history is to be believed, the latest – and most important – Clasico will be a spiky affair, hopefully tinged with a few moments of magic.

 

Cristiano Ronaldo wants Messi’s crown © Getty Images

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Barcelona player to watch: Sergio Busquets. Although not the first name that comes to mind when you think about the free-flowing tiki-taka of Barcelona, Busquets is one of the first names on Pep Guardiola’s teamsheet. Providing the shield for the defence, his capturing of possession and short passing provides the platform for Barca’s attacking players, while his versatility allows him to switch to centre-back if Guardiola changes his formation to 3-4-3. Like some others, El Clasico seems to bring out the worst in Busquets as he surrounds officials and frequently tries to buy free-kicks.

Real Madrid player to watch: Pepe. One of the world’s most expensive defenders, few can argue with the former FC Porto hardman’s importance to Real. His aerial ability, coolness on the ball and tough tackling have ensured that his side have conceded just 29 goals from their 33 games, although he has an obvious weak spot when it comes to Barcelona. Being sent off in the Champions League clash last season and stamping on Messi’s hand this January has not helped his cause and his playacting has put him in the spotlight for the wrong reasons.

Key Battle: Lionel Messi v Cristiano Ronaldo. Who else could it be but the two best players in the world? Their stats this season are just incredible: Messi’s 63 goals against Ronaldo’s 57, with the pair tied on a record 41 in La Liga. Voters for the World Player of the Year award are forced to split them, but the pair are so far ahead of everyone else in the game that it is almost laughable and, while they may not admit it openly, there is a heated personal rivalry bubbling under the surface. Messi and Ronaldo are both the focal point of their sides and it is hard to imagine an Clasico without them. There are few better sights in the game than when they get going with the ball at their feet.

Trivia: A yellow card for Cristiano Ronaldo would see him pick up a one-game suspension that would rule him out of a potentially big game against Sevilla.

Stats: If they score, Real Madrid will break their own record of 107 La Liga goals in one season – formerly held by John Toshack’s side in 1990. Barca have won 11 games in a row and could equal their own La Liga record of 16 from 2011 if they are victorious in all of their remaining league games.

Odds: Barcelona (8/13), Real Madrid (4/1) and the draw (3/1) are on offer with bet365 while Madrid leading at half-time, Barca full-time win is 18/1.

Prediction: Barcelona have had the better of the game in recent years and home advantage could count even in light of the extra day Madrid have to recover from the Champions League. Both are hurting after their European defeats and will want to prove they are top of the tree.

By Everette Hatcher III | Comments (0)

Steve Barnes’ article on Petrino

April 20, 2012 – 12:51 pm

Bobby Petrino and Jessica Dorrell

Bobby Petrino and Jessica Dorrell

Here is a fine article by Steve Barnes on the Petrino mess:

Steve Barnes: University, ASP respond admirably to Petrino mess

8:48 PM, Apr. 19, 2012

Although finding a new head coach, especially during spring training, is an ordeal sufficient for any university, and while the search leaves players and coaching staff in semi-limbo, the process gives sportswriters additional grist, for which they are always thankful. Sports radio chatterers have more reason to call in. But, the worst of the Bobby Petrino mess is behind us, presumably.

The second of the two parties at the center of the controversy departed this week, she being Jessica Dorrell, the young woman with whom Petrino had his “inappropriate relationship,” his apparently hand-picked “student-athlete development coordinator,” whose salary was $56,000. The suspense had become bearable: No one could envision circumstances in which she could continue at the university, and the only question was how and how soon she would depart. The answers to both came Tuesday.

The university confirmed it is paying Dorrell $14,000 from private funds to go away and to promise to never come back, to not write a book or pose for Playboy and, perhaps most important to resolving the matter for the UA, to not sue anybody for anything. Not the university, its trustees, its chancellor, Athletic Director Jeff Long — or Petrino. The separation agreement also stipulates that, from the university’s standpoint, Dorrell shall be forever after said to have resigned “in good standing.” Well, OK.

That leaves a couple pairs of cleats still dangling:

• There is the question of the UA’s liability to legal action by one or more of the 158 applicants who weren’t hired for Dorrell’s position, none of whom is known to have had quite the advantage in the selection process as she did. It is a process Long has acknowledged was not followed to university standards in Dorrell’s case.

• Also pending is an inquiry by the Arkansas State Police and the UA of any gifts given Capt. Lance King, commander of the ASP district that includes Fayetteville, and who served as Petrino’s bodyguard on game days and during road trips. Petrino summoned King after the motorcycle accident that eventually disclosed the coach’s relationship with Dorrell, his passenger. King, in no evident violation of any statute or regulation, transported Petrino to a hospital, Dorrell having made other arrangements. Changes could be coming in the ASP’s Razorback security duties.

Some further thoughts:

It is possible to overly praise Long for firing Petrino. The near-universal acclaim he won for doing the right thing overlooks that it was the only thing. The UA athletic director is an executive, a manager, the senior-most in an enterprise that employs nearly 200 coaches and support personnel, plays hundreds of student-athletes and spends $63 million annually. It’s bigger than most small businesses in Arkansas.

There was no hope, none, of keeping a lid on the problem, even had that been the instinct — and there is no evidence, none, that such was Long’s. No, facts (and rumors, some worse than the facts) were seeping through steadily widening cracks within hours of Petrino’s accident. Long had no choice but to begin his inquiry, and the body of fact he accumulated left him no other option if he wished to remain credible. If it’s difficult to separate the prudent from the necessary, carrying out the essential can be painful, and no one can doubt that Long’s dismissal of Petrino was personally as well as professionally wrenching.

Speaking of credibility: An earlier State Police, a State Police of a couple generations ago, might have been more … accommodating after a Petrino-type incident involving athletic bigshots. There is reason to believe there was, early on in the tumult, the suggestion, from someone close to Petrino (not King), that the ASP might handle the situation a bit … differently; if not necessarily with discretion (and what would that have meant?) then with a bit of, oh, tact in its official reports. Whatever such hints, and despite what must have been steady pressure from some Hog fans, the State Police evidently held firm, did its job. Unnoticed in accounts, official or journalistic, of the ASP’s interview with Petrino was that it dispatched not one but two officers, one of them a supervisor — an uncommon procedure. A demonstration of resolve? Maybe. But, the ASP’s credibility, which was on the line as surely as the university’s, has been bolstered.

Finally: Razorback fans and Razorbucks patrons can sometimes seem to believe the university’s primary mission is to entertain them a dozen Saturdays a year, its ultimate objective being a 13th Saturday. When Penn State fired Joe Paterno, students went on a rampage. An on-campus pro-Petrino rally at the UA attracted a reported 200 students from an enrollment of 23,000. The biggest financial boosters kept their cool, or their concern, close to their vests. Maturity and restraint prevailed in Arkansas, admirably.

Steve Barnes is a veteran Arkansas journalist and moderator of AETN’s “Arkansas This Week.”

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What impact will breaking trust with Bobby Petrino’s family have? April 6, 2012 – 4:24 am

Two choices now for Bobby Petrino: Follow the path of purity or impurity

If Bobby thinks he is bruised now, then he needs to read about the guy in Proverbs 7:10-27 and what happened to him. I really am hoping that Bobby Petrino can put his marriage back together. He has a clear choice between two paths. In the sermon at Fellowship Bible Church at July 24, 2011, […]

Jessica Dorrell was taking a long ride with Bobby Petrino April 5, 2012 – 4:52 pm

Bobby Petrino hurt in wreck (picture included) April 2, 2012 – 9:31 am

By Everette Hatcher III | Comments (1)

Levon Helm inspired the title of Elton John’s song “Levon”

April 20, 2012 – 8:07 am


Levon Helm performing in 2004 on the Village Green in Woodstock, New York.

Uploaded by on Oct 10, 2010

Elton John Levon Live 1971

_______________

I learned two days ago that Levon Helm was on death’s doorstep from the Arkansas Times Blog and he passed away yesterday. Music Mix reports:

Elton John on Levon Helm: ‘A part of my life that was magical’

elton-john

Elton John was among the many musicians influenced by Levon Helm and The Band. That impact is memorialized in the song “Levon,” which John and writing partner Bernie Taupin named after the rock legend. Thursday, John spoke with EW and shared some of his favorite memories about Helm:

“When I heard The Band’s Music from Big Pink, their music changed my life. And Levon was a big part of that band. Nigel Olson, my drummer, will tell you that every drummer that heard him was influenced by him. He was the greatest drummer and a wonderful singer and just a part of my life that was magical. They once flew down to see me in Philadelphia and I couldn’t believe it. They were one of the greatest bands of all time. They really changed the face of music when their records came out. I had no idea he was sick so I’m very dismayed and shocked that he died so quickly. But now my son [Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John] has his name.”

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Levon Helm inspired the title of Elton John’s song “Levon”

Levon Helm performing in 2004 on the Village Green in Woodstock, New York. Uploaded by katelibby88 on Oct 10, 2010 Elton John Levon Live 1971 _______________ Music Mix reports: Elton John on Levon Helm: ‘A part of my life that was magical’ by Dave Karger Tags: Elton John, Levon Helm Comments 4 Add comment Elton […]

Levon Helm 2007 interview with CBS

Uploaded by CBSNewsOnline on Oct 16, 2007 Drummer and singer for The Band, Levon Helm, talks to Anthony Mason about losing his voice to cancer of the vocal chord, and how it returned years later. (CBSNews.com) __________________________ Levon Helm From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia   Jump to: navigation, search Levon Helm Levon Helm performing in […]

Meaning of the song “The Weight” by the Band

Uploaded by GreatOldiesDJ on Jun 7, 2010 From their movie “The Last Waltz” with The Staple Singers – I pulled into Nazareth, I 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 […]

Meaning of the song “Up on Cripple Creek”

Up on Cripple Creek From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia   Jump to: navigation, search “Up on Cripple Creek” Single by The Band from the album The Band B-side “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down“ Released November 29, 1969 Recorded 1969 Genre Roots rock, americana Length 4:34 Label Capitol Records Writer(s) Robbie Robertson Producer John Simon […]

Meaning of the song “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”

The Band – The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down Uploaded by bluearmyfr111 on Jan 19, 2010 From the 1978 film ‘The Last Waltz’ Virgil Caine is the name, and I served on the Danville train, Til Stoneman’s cavalry came and tore up the tracks again. In the winter of ’65, We were hungry, just […]

 

By Everette Hatcher III | Comments (0)

Bobby Petrino had the whole world at his feet

April 20, 2012 – 6:44 am

Bobby Petrino and Jessica Dorrell

Bobby Petrino and Jessica Dorrell

I read this blog this morning about Bobby Petrino and the verse “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36) really made me think a lot about our perspective on life.

Bobby Petrino and the Lesson of Good Friday

Posted: April 6th, 2012 | Author: Gregg Stutts | Filed under: Difficulties, Relationships, Truth | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | No Comments »My two favorite college football teams have been rocked by scandals in the past seven months. First, it was Penn State. Jerry Sandusky, a former defensive coordinator, was accused of sexually assaulting young boys. University trustees felt head coach, Joe Paterno, didn’t do enough to stop Sandusky, so they fired him. Joe died of lung cancer a couple months later.

Then earlier this week, Arkansas head coach, Bobby Petrino, was involved in a motorcycle accident. He suffered four broken ribs, a cracked vertebrae and some cuts and bruises on his face. What wasn’t known until yesterday was that he’d also had a passenger with him, 25 year-old, Jessica Dorrell, a young woman he’d recently hired to work in the football program. Last night, Petrino admitted to an “inappropriate relationship” with her. Petrino is now on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of athletic director, Jeff Long’s, investigation.

I was saddened and disappointed by the Penn State situation and I feel the same way now. If there’s one lesson that comes from these two situations, it’s this: sin destroys.

Bobby Petrino, despite a 21-4 record over the past two seasons, could end up losing his job. He has brought shame and embarrassment on himself, his family and the University of Arkansas. And sadly, the woman with whom he had the “inappropriate relationship” was engaged to be married soon. The website that contained the details of her wedding has now been taken down.

Sin destroys. It destroys us and those around us. The consequences may not always be immediate or even noticeable, but that only means sin is doing it’s destructive work unnoticed, in secret. For now anyway.

Sin destroys. It’s a promise.

Before the nation of Israel crossed the Jordan River to occupy the land God had promised to them, Moses told them:

Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other. Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the LORD your God gives you for all time. (Deuteronomy 4:39-40)

God’s commands aren’t meant to rob of us of a good time, they’re meant to provide for us and protect us. They teach us how to live so that “it may go well” with us. The Author of life knows best how it should be lived. He knows that when we stray from Him and go our own way, the result is destruction. We see that destruction all around us, everyday.

There is good news though.

Today is Good Friday. It’s the day Jesus was betrayed and unjustly put to death. It’s the day my sin was put on the One who knew no sin. Jesus was put to death for the sin I committed. He took the punishment I had earned. He took my punishment and in exchange gave me His right standing before His Father.

I deserved death, but was given life.

I was an enemy of God, but through the death of Jesus, I became His child and His friend. I have peace with God through Christ.

What sin destroys, God redeems.

Yes, sin is destructive and carries with it consequences, but God is greater than the destructive force of sin. And He can even take the terrible consequences of our sin and use them for our ultimate good…if only we will turn from going our own way and begin to walk according to His ways.

Should Bobby Petrino still be allowed to coach the Arkansas Razorbacks? Well, he doesn’t really deserve to, does he? How can he, with any credibility, tell his players to be men of character after he betrayed the trust of his wife, his supervisor and the people of Arkansas?

But you and I are also guilty of betrayal, aren’t we? We betrayed Jesus. And instead of the punishment we deserve, by grace we’ve received forgiveness.

I don’t know what should happen with Coach Petrino. I just know I’m not able to throw the first stone. I’m a man in need of grace myself.

My hope is that Coach Petrino would come to know the forgiveness of Christ, because I care far more about his soul and his marriage than about how many games he wins.

“What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36)

Related posts:

Bobby Petrino had the whole world at his feet April 20, 2012 – 6:44 am

 
 

Bobby Petrino’s phone records come out April 12, 2012 – 6:50 am

Jessica Dorrell and Bobby Petrino on ESPN together in 2011 April 12, 2012 – 6:38 am

 

How about a coach swap? :Charlie Strong to Arkansas and Bobby Petrino to Louisville April 11, 2012 – 7:37 am

 

Bobby Petrino statement April 11, 2012 – 6:51 am

 

Bobby Petrino fired, but now seeking forgiveness April 11, 2012 – 6:20 am

 

Video and transcript of Jeff Long’s press conference announcing firing of Bobby Petrino April 11, 2012 – 5:53 am

 

Bobby Petrino’s arrogance led to his downfall April 10, 2012 – 3:46 pm

 

 

Petrino 911 Call – Jessica Dorrell And Bobby Petrino Refuse Help April 9, 2012 – 7:03 am

 

Earlier concerns about Petrino’s character are coming back up again April 9, 2012 – 6:24 am

 

Bobby Petrino has achieved the American Dream, but still is looking for something more April 8, 2012 – 1:46 pm

Rex Nelson speculates that Petrino may be fired because “…trust has been so broken…” April 8, 2012 – 12:06 pm

Lying about Jessica Dorrell may get Bobby Petrino in a lot of trouble April 7, 2012 – 1:38 pm

Can Bobby Petrino, Tom Brady and Coldplay all find the satisfaction they are seeking? April 6, 2012 – 2:15 pm 

Bobby Petrino to survive this wreck? April 6, 2012 – 11:08 am

Pictures of Bobby Petrino April 6, 2012 – 9:11 am

Who is Jessica Dorrell? (with pictures) April 6, 2012 – 9:06 am

Major coverage of Bobby Petrino mistake April 6, 2012 – 6:51 am

What will be Jeff Long’s decision on Bobby Petrino? April 6, 2012 – 5:36 am

Bobby Petrino admits to an affair April 6, 2012 – 4:41 am

What impact will breaking trust with Bobby Petrino’s family have? April 6, 2012 – 4:24 am

Two choices now for Bobby Petrino: Follow the path of purity or impurity

If Bobby thinks he is bruised now, then he needs to read about the guy in Proverbs 7:10-27 and what happened to him. I really am hoping that Bobby Petrino can put his marriage back together. He has a clear choice between two paths. In the sermon at Fellowship Bible Church at July 24, 2011, […]

Jessica Dorrell was taking a long ride with Bobby Petrino April 5, 2012 – 4:52 pm

Bobby Petrino hurt in wreck (picture included) April 2, 2012 – 9:31 am

Adrian Rogers’ sermon on Clinton in 98 applies to Newt in 2012

It pays to remember history. Today I am going to go through some of it and give an outline and quotes from the great Southern Baptist leader Adrian Rogers (1931-2005). Max Brantley of the Arkansas Times started this morning off with some comedy: From pro golfer John Daly’s Twitter account following last night’s Republican debate, […]

Dr. Adrian Rogers – Steadfast Loyalty To Your Wife

Uploaded by on Jan 18, 2009

A Powerful comparison to Christ loving the church and the husband never walking out on the wife.

 

By Everette Hatcher III | Comments (0)

Levon Helm 2007 interview with CBS

April 20, 2012 – 6:41 am

Uploaded by on Oct 16, 2007

Drummer and singer for The Band, Levon Helm, talks to Anthony Mason about losing his voice to cancer of the vocal chord, and how it returned years later. (CBSNews.com)

__________________________

Levon Helm

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

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Levon Helm

Levon Helm performing in 2004 on the Village Green in Woodstock, New York.
Background information
Birth name Mark Lavon Helm
Born May 26, 1940(1940-05-26)
Elaine, Arkansas, United States
Died April 19, 2012(2012-04-19) (aged 71)
New York City, New York, United States
Genres Rock and roll, rhythm and blues, rock, blues, country, folk
Occupations Musician, songwriter, actor, producer
Instruments Vocals, drums, percussions, mandolin, guitar, bass, harmonica, banjo
Years active 1957–2012
Labels Capitol, Mobile Fidelity, MCA, Breeze Hill, Levon
Associated acts The Band, Ronnie Hawkins & The Hawks, Bob Dylan, Levon Helm’s Ramble on the Road, Levon Helm and The RCO All-Stars, Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band
Website levonhelm.com

Mark Lavon “Levon” Helm (May 26, 1940 – April 19, 2012)[1] was an American rock multi-instrumentalist and actor who achieved fame as the drummer and frequent lead and backing vocalist for The Band.

Helm was known for his deeply soulful, country-accented voice, and creative drumming style highlighted on many of the Band’s recordings, such as “The Weight“, “Up on Cripple Creek“, “Ophelia” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down“. His 2007 comeback album Dirt Farmer earned the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album in February 2008, and in November of that year, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him #91 in the list of The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.[2] In 2010, Electric Dirt, his 2009 follow-up to Dirt Farmer, won the first ever Grammy Award for Best Americana Album, an inaugural category in 2010.[3] In 2011, his live album Ramble at the Ryman was nominated for the Grammy in the same category and won.[4]

On April 17, 2012, his wife and daughter announced on Helm’s website that he was “in the final stages of his battle with cancer” and thanked fans while requesting prayers.[5] Helm died on April 19, 2012, at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.[6][7]

Contents

 [hide] 

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early years

Helm was born in Marvell, Arkansas, and grew up in Turkey Scratch, a hamlet west of Helena, Arkansas, the son of Nell and Diamond Helm, who were cotton farmers and also great lovers of music who encouraged their children to play and sing. Young Lavon (as he was christened) began playing the guitar at the age of eight and also played drums during his formative years. He saw “Bill Monroe & his Blue Grass Boys” at the age of six and decided then to become a musician.

Arkansas in the 1940s and 50s was at the confluence of a variety of musical styles—blues, country and R&B—that later became known as rock and roll. Helm was influenced by all these styles listening to the Grand Ole Opry show on radio station WSM and R&B on radio station WLAC out of Nashville, Tennessee. He also saw traveling shows such as F.S. Walcott’s Rabbit’s Foot Minstrels that featured top African-American artists of the time.

Another early influence on Helm was the work of harmonica, guitarist and singer Sonny Boy Williamson II, who played blues and early rhythm and blues on the King Biscuit Time radio show on KFFA in Helena and performed regularly in Marvell with blues guitarist Robert Lockwood, Jr. In his 1993 autobiography, This Wheel’s on Fire – Levon Helm and the Story of The Band, Helm describes watching Williamson’s drummer, James “Peck” Curtis, intently during a live performance in the early 1950s and later imitating this R&B drumming style. Helm established his first band, The Jungle Bush Beaters, while in high school.

Helm also witnessed some of the earliest performances by Southern country music, blues and rockabilly artists such as Elvis Presley, Conway Twitty, Bo Diddley and a fellow Arkansan, Ronnie Hawkins. At age 17, Helm began playing in clubs and bars around Helena.

[edit] The Hawks

After graduating from high school, Helm was invited to join Ronnie Hawkins’ band, “The Hawks”, who were a popular bar and club act across the South and also in Canada, where rockabilly acts were very popular. Soon after Helm joined “The Hawks”, they moved to Toronto, Canada, where, in 1959, they signed with Roulette Records and released several singles, including a few hits.

Helm reports in his biography, This Wheel’s on Fire, that fellow “Hawks” band members had difficulty pronouncing “Lavon” correctly, and started calling him “Levon” (/ˈliːvɒn/ LEE-von) because it was easier.

In the early 1960s Helm and Hawkins recruited an all-Canadian lineup of musicians: guitarist Robbie Robertson, bassist Rick Danko, pianist Richard Manuel and organist Garth Hudson– although all the musicians were multi-instrumentalists. In 1963, the band parted ways with Hawkins and started touring under the name “Levon and The Hawks,” and later as “The Canadian Squires” before finally changing back to “The Hawks.” They recorded two singles, but remained mostly a popular touring bar band in Texas, Arkansas, Canada, and on the East Coast of the United States, where they found regular summer club gigs on the New Jersey shore.

Helm with The Band, at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium 1976 Photo: David Gans

By the mid 1960s, songwriter and musician Bob Dylan was interested in performing electric rock music and asked “The Hawks” to be his backing band. Disheartened by fans’ negative response to Dylan’s new sound, Helm returned to Arkansas for what turned out to be a two-year layoff, being replaced by drummer Mickey Jones. During this period, Helm ended up working on off-shore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico until he was asked to rejoin the band.

After the “Hawks” toured Europe with Dylan, they followed him to live around Woodstock, New York, and remained under salary to him. The “Hawks” recorded a large volume of demo and practice tapes in Woodstock, playing almost daily with Dylan, who had completely withdrawn from public life the previous year. These recordings were widely bootlegged and were partially released officially in 1975 as The Basement Tapes. The songs and themes developed during this period played a crucial role in the group’s future direction and style. The “Hawks” members also began writing their own songs. Rick Danko and Richard Manuel also shared writing credits with Dylan on a few songs. In 1967, Danko called Helm and invited him to return to the band in Woodstock.

[edit] The Band

See also: The Band

Helm returned to the group, which by then was often referred to simply as “the band.” While contemplating a recording contract, Helm had dubbed the band as “The Crackers.” However, when Robertson and their new manager Albert Grossman worked out the contracts, the group’s name was cited as “The Band.” Under these contracts, “The Band” was contracted to Grossman, who in turn contracted their services to Capitol Records. This arrangement allowed “The Band” to release recordings on other labels if the work was done in support of Dylan. This allowed The Band to play on Dylan’s Planet Waves album and on The Last Waltz, both non-Capitol releases. “The Band” also recorded their own album Music from Big Pink, which catapulted them into stardom.

Helm, center, performing with The Band. Hamburg, 1971.

On Big Pink, Manuel was the most prominent vocalist and Helm sang mainly backup, with the exception of “The Weight.” However, as Manuel’s health deteriorated and Robbie Robertson‘s songwriting increasingly looked south for influence and direction, subsequent albums relied more and more on Helm’s vocals, alone or in harmony with Danko. Helm played drums for perhaps 85% of The Band’s songs,[citation needed] including most of those for which he sang lead. On the others, Manuel switched to drums while Helm played mandolin or, on rare occasion, guitar or bass guitar. The entire group was multi-instrumental and certain songs featured Manuel on drums, Helm on mandolin (as on “Evangeline”), rhythm guitar (the 12-string guitar backdrop to “Daniel and the Sacred Harp” is by Helm), or bass (while Danko played fiddle).[8]

Helm remained with “The Band” until their 1976 farewell performance, The Last Waltz, which was recorded in a documentary film by director Martin Scorsese. Many music enthusiasts know Helm through his appearance in the concert film, a performance remarkable for the fact that Helm’s vocal tracks appear substantially as he sang them during a grueling concert. However, Helm repudiated his involvement with The Last Waltz shortly after the final scenes were shot and. In his autobiography, Helm offers scathing criticisms of the film and of Robertson, who produced it.[9]

[edit] Solo artist and the reformed Band

Helm playing mandolin in 1971

With the breakup of “The Band” in its original form, Helm began working on a solo album Levon Helm and the RCO All Stars, followed by Levon Helm. Helm recorded solo albums in 1980 and 1982 entitled American Son and (once again) Levon Helm. Helm also participated in musician Paul Kennerley‘s 1980 country music concept album, The Legend of Jesse James, singing the role of Jesse James alongside Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris and Albert Lee.

In 1983, “The Band” reunited without Robbie Robertson, with Jim Weider on guitar. In 1986, while on tour, Manuel committed suicide. Helm, Danko and Hudson continued in “The Band”, releasing the album Jericho in 1993 and High on the Hog in 1996. The final album from The Band was the 30th anniversary album, Jubilation, released in 1998.

In 1989, Helm and Danko toured with drummer Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band. Other musicians in the band included singer/guitarist Joe Walsh, singer/pianist Dr. John, guitarist Nils Lofgren, singer Billy Preston, saxophonist Clarence Clemons and drummer Jim Keltner. Garth Hudson was a guest on accordion on certain dates. Levon played drums and harmonica, and sang “The Weight” and “Up On Cripple Creek” each night.

Helm performed with Danko and Hudson as “The Band” in 1990 at Roger Waters‘ epic The Wall – Live in Berlin Concert in Germany to an estimated 300,000 to half a million people.

In 1993, Helm published an autobiography entitled This Wheel’s on Fire – Levon Helm and the Story of The Band.

[edit] The Midnight Ramble

Helm’s performance career in the 2000s revolved mainly around the Midnight Ramble at his home and studio, “the Barn,” in Woodstock, New York. These concerts, featuring Helm and a variety of musical guests, allowed Helm to raise money for his medical bills and to resume performing after a nearly career-ending bout with cancer.

In the late 1990s, Helm was diagnosed with throat cancer suffering hoarseness. Advised to undergo a laryngectomy, Helm instead underwent an arduous regimen of radiation treatments at Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. Although the tumor was then successfully removed, Helm’s vocal cords were damaged, and his clear, powerful tenor voice was replaced by a quiet rasp. Initially Helm only played drums and relied on guest vocalists at the Rambles, but Helm’s singing voice grew stronger. On January 10, 2004, he sang again of his Ramble Sessions. In 2007, during production of Dirt Farmer, Helm estimated that his singing voice was 80% recovered.

The “Levon Helm Band” featured his daughter guitarist Amy Helm, along with Larry Campbell, Teresa Williams, Jim Weider (the Band’s last guitarist), Jimmy Vivino, Mike Merritt, Brian Mitchell, Erik Lawrence, Steven Bernstein, Howard Johnson (tuba player in the horn section who played on “The Band”‘s “Rock of Ages” and “The Last Waltz” live albums), Byron Isaacs, and blues harmonica player Little Sammy Davis. Helm hosted Midnight Rambles at his home in Woodstock that were open to the public.

Helm performing in Central Park, New York, 2007

The Midnight Ramble was an outgrowth of an idea Helm explained to Martin Scorsese in The Last Waltz. Earlier in the 20th century, Helm explained, traveling medicine shows and music shows such as F.S. Walcott Rabbit’s Foot Minstrels, featuring African-American blues singers and dancers, would put on titillating performances in rural areas. This was also turned into a song by the Band, “The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show,” with the name altered so the lyric was easier to sing.

“After the finale, they’d have the midnight ramble,” Helm told Scorsese. With young children off the premises, the show resumed: “The songs would get a little bit juicier. The jokes would get a little funnier and the prettiest dancer would really get down and shake it a few times. A lot of the rock and roll duck walks and moves came from that.”

Artists who have performed at the Rambles include Helm’s former bandmate Garth Hudson, as well as Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris, Dr. John, Chris Robinson, Allen Toussaint, Donald Fagen of Steely Dan and Jimmy Vivino of “Late Night with Conan O’Brien‘s” The Max Weinberg 7. Other performers have included Sean Costello, The Muddy Waters Tribute Band, Pinetop Perkins, Hubert Sumlin, Carolyn Wonderland, Kris Kristofferson, Gillian Welch, David Rawlings, Justin Townes Earle, Bow Thayer, Luther “Guitar Junior” Johnson, Rickie Lee Jones, Kate Taylor, Ollabelle, The Holmes Brothers, Catherine Russell, Norah Jones, Elvis Perkins in Dearland, Phil Lesh (along with his sons Grahame and Brian), Hot Tuna (although Jorma Kaukonen introduced the group as “The Secret Squirrels”), Michael Angelo D’Arrigo with various members of the Sistine Chapel, Johnny Johnson, Ithalia, David Bromberg, and Grace Potter and the Nocturnals[10].

As for his drumming, in recent years Helm switched to the matched grip and adopted a less busy, greatly simplified style, as opposed to his years with “The Band” when he played with the traditional grip.[11]

Helm was busy touring every year during 2000s, generally traveling by tour bus to venues in Eastern Canada and the Eastern United States. Since 2007, Helm had performed in large venues such the Beacon Theater in New York. Dr. John and Warren Haynes (The Allman Brothers Band, Gov’t Mule) and Garth Hudson played at the concerts as well along with several other guests. At a show in Vancouver, Canada, Elvis Costello joined to sing “Tears of Rage.” The “Alexis P. Suter Band” was a frequent opening act. Helm was a favorite of radio personality Don Imus and was frequently featured on Imus in the Morning. In the Summer of 2009, it was reported that a reality television series centering around the Midnight Ramble was in development.

[edit] Dirt Farmer and after

The Levon Helm Band performing at Austin City Limits Music Festival 2009

Levon Helm at Life is Good Festival in 2011

The Fall of 2007 saw the release of Dirt Farmer, Helm’s first studio solo album since 1982. Dedicated to Helm’s parents and co-produced by his daughter Amy, the album combines traditional tunes Levon recalled from his youth with newer songs (by Steve Earle, Paul Kennerley and others) which flow from similar historical streams. The album was released to almost immediate critical acclaim, and earned him a Grammy Award in the Traditional Folk Album category for 2007.

Helm declined to attend the Grammy Awards ceremony, instead holding a “Midnight Gramble” and celebrating the birth of his grandson, named Lavon (Lee) Henry Collins.[12][13][14]

In 2008, Helm performed at Warren Haynes‘ Mountain Jam Music Festival in Hunter, New York. Helm played alongside Warren Haynes on the last day of the three-day festival. Levon also joined guitarist Bob Weir and his band RatDog on stage as they closed out the festival. Helm performed to great acclaim at the 2008 Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee.[15][16]

Helm drummed on a couple of tracks for Jorma Kaukonen‘s February, 2009 album River of Time, recorded at the Levon Helm studio.

Helm released the album Electric Dirt on his own label on June 30, 2009.[17] The album won a best album Grammy for the newly created Americana category in 2010. Helm performed on the CBS Television program David Letterman Show on July 9, 2009. He also toured that same year in a supporting role with the band Black Crowes.

In March, 2010, a documentary on Helm’s day-to-day life titled Ain’t in It for My Health: A Film About Levon Helm was released. Directed by Jacob Hatley, it made its debut at the South by Southwest film festival in Austin, Texas, and went on to screen at the Los Angeles Film Festival in June 2009.[18]

On May 11, 2011, Helm released Ramble at the Ryman, a live album recorded during his September 17, 2008 performance at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. The album features Helm’s band playing six songs by “The Band” and other cover material, including some songs from previous Helm solo releases.[19] The album won the Grammy Award for Best Americana Album.[20]

[edit] Death

In 2012, during the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies in New York City, Robbie Robertson sent “love and prayers” to Helm, fueling speculation on Helm’s health. Helm had previously cancelled several performances due to an alleged slipped disk in his back.[21]

On April 17, 2012, Helm’s wife Sandy and daughter Amy revealed that Helm had end-stage cancer. They posted the following message on Helm’s website:

“Dear Friends,
Levon is in the final stages of his battle with cancer. Please send your prayers and love to him as he makes his way through this part of his journey.
Thank you fans and music lovers who have made his life so filled with joy and celebration… he has loved nothing more than to play, to fill the room up with music, lay down the back beat, and make the people dance! He did it every time he took the stage…
We appreciate all the love and support and concern.
From his daughter Amy, and wife Sandy”[22]

Helm died on April 19, 2012, at 1:30 pm at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.[23][24] A few days before his death, Robertson had a long visit with him at the hospital.[25]

[edit] Acting career

In addition to his work as musician, Helm also acted in several dramatic films after the breakup of The Band. His first acting role was the 1980 film Coal Miner’s Daughter in which he portrayed Loretta Lynn‘s father.

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Discography

[edit] With The Band

[edit] Solo and other works

[edit] Tributes

The subject of Elton John‘s song “Levon” was reportedly named after Helm.[27]

Marc Cohn wrote the song “Listening to Levon” in 2007. “The Man Behind the Drums,” written by Robert Earl Keen and Bill Whitbeck, appeared on Keen’s 2009 album The Rose Hotel

By Everette Hatcher III | Comments (0)

Meaning of the song “The Weight” by the Band

April 20, 2012 – 6:41 am

Uploaded by on Jun 7, 2010

From their movie “The Last Waltz” with The Staple Singers –

I pulled into Nazareth, I 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, and “No!”, was all he said.

(Chorus:)
Take a load off Fannie, take a load for free;
Take a load off Fannie, And (and) (and) you can put the load right on me.

I picked up my bag, I went lookin’ for a place to hide;
When I saw Carmen and the Devil walkin’ side by side.
I said, “Hey, Carmen, come on, let’s go downtown.”
She said, “I gotta go, but m’friend can stick around.”

(Chorus)

Go down, Miss Moses, there’s nothin’ you can say
It’s just ol’ Luke, and Luke’s waitin’ on the Judgement Day.
“Well, Luke, my friend, what about young Anna Lee?”
He said, “Do me a favor, son, woncha stay an’ keep Anna Lee company?”

(Chorus)

Crazy Chester followed me, and he caught me in the fog.
He said, “I will fix your rags, if you’ll take Jack, my dog.”
I said, “Wait a minute, Chester, you know I’m a peaceful man.”
He said, “That’s okay, boy, won’t you feed him when you can.”

(Chorus)

Catch a Cannonball, now, t’take me down the line
My bag is sinkin’ low and I do believe it’s time.
To get back to Miss Annie, you know she’s the only one.
Who sent me here with her regards for everyone.

(Chorus)

___________

The Weight

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“The Weight”
Single by The Band
from the album Music from Big Pink
B-side “I Shall Be Released“
Released June 24, 1968
Format 45′
Recorded January 1968
A&R Recorders (studio A),
New York City
Genre Folk rock, roots rock
Length 4:34
Label Capitol
Writer(s) Robbie Robertson
Producer John Simon
Music sample
Play sound
 
“The Weight”
Single by Diana Ross & the Supremes and The Temptations
from the album Together
B-side “For Better or Worse”
Released August 21, 1969
Format Vinyl record (7″, 45 RPM)
Recorded Hitsville U.S.A. (Studios A & B); 1969
Genre Funk, pop, soul
Length 3:00
Label Motown
M 1153
Writer(s) Robbie Robertson
Producer Frank Wilson
Diana Ross & the Supremes singles chronology
“No Matter What Sign You Are”
(1969)		 “The Weight”
(1969)		 “I Second That Emotion”
(1969)
Together track listing
 
[show]10 tracks
Side one
  1. “Stubborn Kind of Fellow“
  2. “I’ll Be Doggone“
  3. “The Weight“
  4. “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing“
  5. “Uptight (Everything’s Alright)“
Side two
  1. “Sing a Simple Song“
  2. “My Guy, My Girl” (medley of both songs)
  3. “For Better or Worse”
  4. “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You“
  5. “Why (Must We Fall in Love)“
The Temptations singles chronology
“I Can’t Get Next to You”
(1969)		 “The Weight”
(1969)		 “Psychedelic Shack”
(1969)
Music sample
Play sound
Alternative cover
 

“The Weight” is a song written by Robbie Robertson. It was released by The Band as Capitol Records single 2269 in 1968, and appeared one week later on the group’s debut album Music from Big Pink. The song is listed as #41 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time published in 2004,[1] and Pitchfork Media named it the thirteenth best song of the Sixties.[2] The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame named it one of the 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.[3]

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[edit] Composition

“The Weight” takes the folk music motif of a traveler, who in the first line arrives in Nazareth in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. (The band Nazareth took its name from this line.) Once there, he encounters various residents of the town, the song being a story of these encounters. Nazareth is the hometown of the guitar manufacturer C. F. Martin & Company.[4]

The residents include a man who cannot direct the traveler to any lodging, Carmen and the Devil walking side by side, “Crazy Chester”, and Luke “waiting on Judgment Day” while leaving his young bride behind and alone.

Musically, the song shows the blending of folk parlour song (harmonies) in the chorus, where the voices come in: “and, (and, and), you put the load right on me (you put the load right on me)”.

In his autobiography This Wheel’s on Fire, Levon Helm explains that the people mentioned in the song were based on real people The Band knew. The “Miss Anna Lee” mentioned in the lyric is Helm’s longtime friend Anna Lee Amsden.[5][6]

On August 17, 1969, The Band played “The Weight” as the 10th song in their set at Woodstock.

[edit] Robertson on “The Weight”

According to songwriter Robertson, “The Weight” was inspired by the films of Luis Buñuel, about which Robertson once said:

(Buñuel) did so many films on the impossibility of sainthood. People trying to be good in Viridiana and Nazarin, people trying to do their thing. In ‘The Weight’ it’s the same thing. People like Buñuel would make films that had these religious connotations to them but it wasn’t necessarily a religious meaning. In Buñuel there were these people trying to be good and it’s impossible to be good. In “The Weight” it was this very simple thing. Someone says, “Listen, would you do me this favour? When you get there will you say ‘hello’ to somebody or will you give somebody this or will you pick up one of these for me? Oh? You’re going to Nazareth, that’s where the Martin guitar factory is. Do me a favour when you’re there.” This is what it’s all about. So the guy goes and one thing leads to another and it’s like “Holy shit, what’s this turned into? I’ve only come here to say ‘hello’ for somebody and I’ve got myself in this incredible predicament.” It was very Buñuelish to me at the time.[7]

[edit] Reception

“The Weight” is one of the group’s best known songs and among the most popular songs of the late 1960s counterculture. However, the song was not a significant mainstream hit for The Band in the U.S., peaking at only #63, though it fared better on some radio stations (e.g., #3 on KHJ[8]). The Band’s record fared much better in Canada and the UK – in those countries, the single was a top 40 hit, peaking at #35 in Canada and #21 in the UK in 1968. Three cover versions of “The Weight” charted higher on the US pop charts in 1968/69 than The Band’s original recording:

None of these cover versions charted in the UK, where The Band’s version remains the only version to chart. The label credit on The Band’s version mentions the names of the band’s five members but not The Band per se. The lyrics on The Band’s and DeShannon’s versions never mention the title.

[edit] Other cover versions

“The Weight” has become a modern standard, and hence has been covered in concert by many other acts, most prominently Little Feat, Stoney LaRue, Aaron Pritchett, The Staple Singers, Waylon Jennings, Joe Cocker, Travis, Grateful Dead, The New Riders of the Purple Sage, O.A.R., Edwin McCain, The Black Crowes, Spooky Tooth, Hanson, Old Crow Medicine Show, Shannon Curfman, Panic! at the Disco, Aretha Franklin, Joan Osborne, John Denver, Cassandra Wilson, Miranda Lambert, Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield, Deana Carter, New Madrid, and Dionne Warwick. Ratdog and Bob Weir are also known to cover this song from time to time. Additional notable versions are by Lee Ann Womack, the band Smith, Weezer, The Allman Brothers Band, The Marshall Tucker Band, Jimmy Barnes with The Badloves, Free Wild and Aaron Pritchett.[9] At the end of the documentary It Might Get Loud Jack White, Jimmy Page and The Edge play The Weight acoustically while The Edge and White swap vocals.

On record, folk singer Michelle Shocked covers the song as part of her 2007 gospel album ToHeavenURide. Charly Garcia covered the song in Spanish under the title “El Peso,” and Czech singer Marie Rottrová covered the song with the band Flamingo in 1970. Jeff Healey covered it on his album Mess of Blues in 2008.

[edit] Film and commercial play

“The Weight” has been featured in a number of films and television shows – films featuring the song include Easy Rider; Hope Floats; Igby Goes Down (a cover version by Travis); The Big Chill; Girl, Interrupted; Patch Adams; 1408; and Starsky & Hutch (as a parody of the scene in Easy Rider). Television shows which have featured “The Weight” include Californication, My Name Is Earl, Sports Night, Cold Case, Chuck, and Saturday Night Live. The song has also been used in commercials for Diet Coke and Cingular/AT&T Wireless. “The Weight” was also covered by Sherie Rene Scott in the Broadway musical Everyday Rapture.

Due to contractual problems, The Band’s version was used in the movie, but not the soundtrack for Easy Rider – included instead on the film’s soundtrack was a cover (very closely resembling The Band’s original) by Smith. In The Band’s concert film, The Last Waltz, The Band perform the song with the The Staple Singers. The song is also featured in two other of The Band’s concert videos: The Band Is Back (1984) and The Band Live At The New Orleans Jazz Festival (1998). “The Weight” was one of three songs The Band’s 1990s lineup performed for Let It Rock!, a birthday concert/tribute for Ronnie Hawkins. “The Weight” is one of three songs performed by The Band featured in the 2003 documentary film, Festival Express.

An acoustic rendition of the song appears in the 2009 documentary It Might Get Loud, performed by guitarists Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White.

[edit] Personnel

By Everette Hatcher III | Comments (1)

Meaning of the song “Up on Cripple Creek”

April 20, 2012 – 6:39 am

https://youtu.be/EisXJSsULGM

Up on Cripple Creek

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“Up on Cripple Creek”
Single by The Band
from the album The Band
B-side “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down“
Released November 29, 1969
Recorded 1969
Genre Roots rock, americana
Length 4:34
Label Capitol Records
Writer(s) Robbie Robertson
Producer John Simon

“Up on Cripple Creek” is the fifth song on The Band‘s eponymous second album, The Band. It was released as a (edited) single on Capitol 2635 in November 1969 and reached #25 on the Billboard Hot 100.[1] “Up on Cripple Creek” was written by Band guitarist and principal songwriter Robbie Robertson, with drummer Levon Helm singing lead vocal.

A live performance of “Up on Cripple Creek” appears in The Band’s live concert film The Last Waltz, as well as on the accompanying soundtrack album. In addition, a live version of the song appears on Before the Flood; a live album of The Band’s various concerts and shows with Bob Dylan while touring together in 1974.

“Up on Cripple Creek” is notable as it is one of the first accounts of a Hohner Clavinet being played with a wah-wah pedal. The riff can be heard after the chorus of the song. The Clavinet, especially in tandem with a wah pedal was a sound that became famous in the early to mid ’70s especially in funk music, and continues to be popular to this day.

Contents

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[edit] Lyrics

Drawing upon three of The Band’s favorite themes — The American South, American folk music, and alcoholism — the song tells the story of a miner who goes to Lake Charles, Louisiana to stay with a local girl who he knows will put him up for free while he blows his money on drinks. Although he admits to having some feelings for his “little Bessie”, he uses her hospitality to drink himself to oblivion. At the end of the song, he pushes off once more for greener pastures, although with the stated intention of coming back to his Bessie.

[edit] Chart performance

Chart (1969-70) Peak
position
Canadian RPM Singles Chart 10
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 25

[edit] Personnel

By Everette Hatcher III | Comments (3)

Meaning of the song “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”

April 20, 2012 – 6:33 am

The Band – The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

Uploaded by on Jan 19, 2010

From the 1978 film ‘The Last Waltz’

Virgil Caine is the name, and I served on the Danville train,
Til Stoneman’s cavalry came and tore up the tracks again.
In the winter of ’65, We were hungry, just barely alive.
By May tenth, Richmond had fell, it’s a time I remember, oh so well,

The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, when all the bells were ringing,
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and all the people were singin’. They went,
Na, Na, Na, Na, Na, Na, Na, Na,
Na, Na, Na, Na, Na, Na,
Na, Na, Na,

Back with my wife in Tennessee, When one day she called to me,
Said “Virgil, quick, come and see, there goes the Robert E. Lee!”
Now I don’t mind choppin’ wood, and I don’t care if the money’s no good.
Ya take what ya need and ya leave the rest,
But they should never have taken the very best.

The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, when all the bells were ringing,
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and all the people were singin’. They went,
Na, Na, Na, Na, Na, Na, Na, Na,
Na, Na, Na, Na, Na, Na,
Na, Na, Na,

Like my father before me, I will work the land,
And like my brother above me, who took a rebel stand.
He was just eighteen, proud and brave, But a Yankee laid him in his grave,
And I swear by the mud below my feet,
You can’t raise a Caine back up when he’s in defeat.

The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, when all the bells were ringing,
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and all the people were singin’. They went,
Na, Na, Na, Na, Na, Na, Na, Na,
Na, Na, Na, Na, Na, Na,
Na, Na, Na,

_______________

The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

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“The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”
Single by The Band
from the album The Band
A-side “Up on Cripple Creek“
Released September 22, 1969
Recorded 1969
Genre Roots rock, Southern rock, Americana
Length 3:33
Label Capitol
Writer(s) Robbie Robertson
Producer John Simon

The Band also released a live album named for and featuring the song.

“The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” is a song written by Canadian musician Robbie Robertson, first recorded by The Band in 1969 and released on their self-titled second album. Joan Baez‘ cover of the song was a top-five chart hit in late 1971.

Contents

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[edit] Meaning of song

Confederate use of rail during the Siege of Petersburg.

The lyrics tell of the last days of the American Civil War and the suffering of the South.[1] Dixie is a nickname for the Southern Confederate states. Confederate soldier Virgil Caine “served on the Danville train” (the Richmond and Danville Railroad, a main supply line into the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia from Danville, Virginia, and by connection, the rest of the South). Union cavalry regularly tore up Confederate rail lines to prevent the movement of men and material to the front where Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia was besieged at Siege of Petersburg. As part of the offensive campaign, Union Army General George Stoneman‘s forces “tore up the track again”.

The song’s lyric refers to conditions in the Southern states in the winter of early 1865 (“We were hungry / Just barely alive”); the Confederacy is starving and on the verge of defeat. Reference is made to the date May 10, 1865, by which time the Confederate capital of Richmond had long since fallen (in April); May 10 marked the capture of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and the definitive end of the Confederacy.

There is some poetic license in the song’s dates and events, for instance the reference to Virgil Caine being home with his wife in Tennessee and seeing Robert E. Lee (Later performances, including the Joan Baez recording and some live versions by The Band themselves, added “the” before “Robert E. Lee”, making it seem to relate to the post-war Mississippi riverboat paddlewheeler the Robert E. Lee (steamboat), and not the person, passing by).[2] Virgil also relates and mourns the loss of his brother: “He was just eighteen, proud and brave / But a Yankee laid him in his grave”.

Robertson claimed that he had the music to the song in his head but had no idea what it was to be about: “At some point [the concept] blurted out to me. Then I went and I did some research and I wrote the lyrics to the song.” Robertson continued:

When I first went down South, I remember that a quite common expression would be, “Well don’t worry, the South’s gonna rise again.” At one point when I heard it I thought it was kind of a funny statement and then I heard it another time and I was really touched by it. I thought, “God, because I keep hearing this, there’s pain here, there is a sadness here.” In Americana land, it’s a kind of a beautiful sadness.[3]

[edit] Context within the album and The Band’s history

According to Rob Bowman’s liner notes to the 2000 reissue of The Band’s second album, The Band, it has been viewed as a concept album, with the songs focusing on peoples, places and traditions associated with an older version of Americana. Though never a major hit, “Dixie” was the centerpiece of the record, and, along with “The Weight” from Music From Big Pink, remains one of the songs most identified with the group.

The Band frequently performed the song in concert, and it can be found on the group’s live albums Rock of Ages (1972) and Before the Flood (1974). It was also a highlight of their “farewell” concert on Thanksgiving Day 1976, and is featured in the documentary film about the concert, The Last Waltz, as well as the soundtrack album from the film.

It was #245 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.[4]

Pitchfork Media named it the forty-second best song of the Sixties.[5] The song is included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s “500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll” and Time Magazine’s All-Time 100.[6][7]

The last time the song was performed by Levon Helm, The Band’s lead singer, was in The Last Waltz (1976). Helm, a native of Arkansas, has stated that he assisted in the research for the lyrics.[4] In his 1993 book This Wheel’s on Fire, Helm writes “Robbie and I worked on ‘The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down’ up in Woodstock. I remember taking him to the library so he could research the history and geography of the era and make General Robert E. Lee come out with all due respect.”

Helm refused to play the song after 1976 even though he held concerts, which he called “Midnight Rambles”, several times a month at his private residence in Woodstock, New York.

[edit] Reception

Ralph J. Gleason (in the review in Rolling Stone (US edition only) of October 1969) explains why this song has such an impact on listeners:

Nothing I have read … has brought home the overwhelming human sense of history that this song does. The only thing I can relate it to at all is The Red Badge of Courage. It’s a remarkable song, the rhythmic structure, the voice of Levon and the bass line with the drum accents and then the heavy close harmony of Levon, Richard and Rick in the theme, make it seem impossible that this isn’t some traditional material handed down from father to son straight from that winter of 1865 to today. It has that ring of truth and the whole aura of authenticity.

[edit] Covers of the song

The most successful English-language cover of the song was a version by Joan Baez released in 1971, which peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US in October that year and spent five weeks atop the easy listening chart.[8] Baez’s version made some changes to the song lyric; The second line “Till Stoneman’s cavalry came”. Baez sings “Till so much cavalry came”. She also changed “May the tenth” to “I took the train”. In addition, the line “like my father before me, I will work the land” was changed to “like my father before me, I’m a working man”, changing the narrator from a farmer to a laborer. In the last verse she changed “the mud below my feet” to “the blood below my feet”. Baez later told Rolling Stone‘s Kurt Loder that she initially learned the song by listening to the recording on the Band’s album, and had never seen the printed lyrics at the time she recorded it, and thus sang the lyrics as she’d (mis)heard them. In more recent years in her concerts, Baez has performed the song as originally written by Robertson.[9] The song became the highest charting U.S. single of Baez’ career, and has remained a staple of her concert set list, from that point forward.

Johnny Cash covered the song on his 1975 album John R. Cash. Old-time musician Jimmy Arnold recorded the song on his album “Southern Soul,” which was composed of songs associated with the Southern side of the Civil War. Don Rich and the Buckaroos covered the track. Steve Young recorded the song on his 1975 album Honky Tonk Man. The song also appears on the album Whose Garden Was This by John Denver, released in 1970. It was also included in his 2001 release, John Denver The Greatest Collection. The Allman Brothers Band covered the song for the 2007 album Endless Highway: The Music of The Band. The Jerry Garcia Band also covered the song live for over 20 years and it is still held as a fan favorite today.

In 1972, a cover of the song called “Am Tag als Conny Kramer starb” (translation: “On the Day that Conny Kramer Died”) was a number-one hit in West Germany for singer Juliane Werding. For this version, the lyrics were not translated but rather changed completely to an anti-drug anthem about a young man dying because of his drug addiction – an extremely hot topic in that year, when heroin was making the first big inroads in Germany. In 1986, the German band Die Goldenen Zitronen made a parody version of this song with the title “Am Tag als Thomas Anders starb” (“On the Day that Thomas Anders Died”).

A fairly large-scale orchestrated version of the song appears on the little-known 1971 concept album California ’99 (ABC Records, ABC728) by composer/arranger/producer Jimmie Haskell, with lead vocal by Jimmy Witherspoon.

Irish folk musician Derek Warfield and his new band the Young Wolfe Tones, included a version of the song on their 2008 album “The Night Is Young”.

Charlie Daniels Band, Big Country, Dave Brockie, Richie Havens, Black Crowes and Zac Brown Band have included covers on live albums.

[edit] Use in Film

The Band’s version of “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” was used in the 1977 film “The Shadow of Chikara” (also titled “Curse Of Demon Mountain” and several other titles).[citation needed]

[edit] Personnel on The Band version

By Everette Hatcher III | Comments (6)