Levon Helm died last week, and this week I heard him sing “When I Paint My Masterpiece” on the radio. So he can’t be dead.
That same night I heard the Dead’s version of that song played randomly out of a selection of 7,000 songs on my iPod. So Levon Helm is talking to me through tiny speakers and therefore cannot be dead.
I’m going to see H.H. the Dalai Lama speak tomorrow, and if there is a Q&A, I will ask about Levon’s current state. In the meantime, I need your help (and not about confronting the demise of musical superheroes).
I would like to create a poster that illustrates the on-stage connection between every artist who played The Last Waltz and every artist they then played with in their lives, even during R&R hall of fame jam sessions. So Bob would connect to members of the Dead and members of The Traveling Wilburys, and Neil would connect to C, S and N. Those are some obvious ones – but we’ve also got Neil Diamond’s, Dr. John’s and Muddy Waters’ musical companions to track down. The final product won’t include song covers, just people who shared the same stage, playing the same song.
The idea for this harebrained scheme is partially inspired by a poster in a co-worker’s office of The Grand Taxonomy of Rap Names (below):
It all comes together in a wonderful way, and I think the names of people who gathered to play The Last Waltz would lead to some interesting intersections. Please add any musical lineages you can think of in the comments, and I’ll get cracking in Adobe Illustrator to make it look like a poster you would want to play loud.
The True Gen 