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Levon Helm

Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm (May 26, 1940 – April 19, 2012) was an American musician who achieved fame as the drummer and one of the three lead vocalists for The Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. Helm was known for his deeply soulful, country-accented voice, multi-instrumental ability, and creative drumming style, highlighted on many of the Band's recordings, such as "The Weight", "Up on Cripple Creek", and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down".

Helm also had a successful career as a film actor, appearing as Loretta Lynn's father in Coal Miner's Daughter (1980), as Chuck Yeager's friend and colleague Captain Jack Ridley in The Right Stuff (1983), as a Tennessee firearms expert in Shooter (2007), and as General John Bell Hood in In the Electric Mist (2009).

In 1998, Helm was diagnosed with throat cancer which caused him to lose his singing voice. After treatment, his cancer eventually went into remission, and he gradually regained the use of his voice. 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 No. 91 in its list of 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. In 2010, Electric Dirt, his 2009 follow-up to Dirt Farmer, won the first Grammy Award for Best Americana Album, a category inaugurated in 2010. In 2011, his live album Ramble at the Ryman won the Grammy in the same category. In 2016, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him No. 22 in its list of 100 Greatest Drummers of All Time.

Early years
Born Mark Lavon Helm in Elaine, Arkansas, Helm grew up in Turkey Scratch, a hamlet of Marvell, Arkansas. His parents, Nell and Diamond Helm, were cotton farmers who shared a strong affinity for music. They encouraged their children to play and sing at a young age. He saw Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys at the age of six and decided to become a musician. Helm began playing the guitar at the age of eight and also played drums.

Arkansas in the 1940s and '50s stood at the confluence of a variety of musical styles, including traditional Delta blues, electric blues, country (including old-time music) and the incipient genre of rhythm and blues. Helm was influenced by each of these styles, which he heard on the Grand Ole Opry on radio station WSM and R&B on radio station WLAC in Nashville. He also saw the last vestiges of minstrelsy and other traveling variety shows, such as F. S. Wolcott's Original Rabbit's Foot Minstrels, which featured top Black artists of the era.

A key early influence on Helm was Sonny Boy Williamson II, who played electric 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 early rock and roll and rockabilly artists, including Elvis Presley, Conway Twitty, Bo Diddley and fellow Arkansan Ronnie Hawkins. At age 17, Helm began playing in clubs and bars around Helena.

The Hawks
While he was still in high school, Helm was invited to join Ronnie Hawkins' band, the Hawks, a popular bar and club act in the South and Canada where rockabilly acts were very successful. Helm's mother insisted that he graduate from high school before touring with Hawkins, but he was able to play with the Hawks locally on weekends. After his graduation in 1958, Helm joined the Hawks as a full-time member and they moved to Toronto where they signed with Roulette Records in 1959 and released several singles, including a few hits.

Helm reported in his autobiography that fellow Hawks band members had difficulty pronouncing "Lavon" correctly and started calling him "Levon" because it was easier to pronounce.

In 1961, Helm with bassist Rick Danko backed jazz guitarist Lenny Breau on several tracks recorded at Hallmark Studios in Toronto. These tracks are included on the 2003 release The Hallmark Sessions.

By the early 1960s, Helm and Hawkins had recruited an all-Canadian lineup of musicians: guitarist Robbie Robertson, bassist Rick Danko, pianist Richard Manuel, and organist Garth Hudson, all of whom were multi-instrumentalists. In 1963, the band parted ways with Hawkins and started touring as Levon and the Hawks and later as the Canadian Squires, before 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.

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 left the group in the autumn of 1965 for what turned out to be a two-year layoff, being replaced by a range of touring drummers (most notably Mickey Jones) and Manuel, who began to double on the instrument. He spent time with his family in Arkansas, and undertook sojourns in Los Angeles, where he experimented with LSD and performed with Bobby Keys, and Memphis and New Orleans, where he worked on a nearby oil platform). In the autumn of 1967, after what would later be called "the Summer of Love", he returned to the group.

After the Hawks toured Europe with Dylan, they followed him back to the U.S., remaining under salary, and settled near Dylan's home in Woodstock, New York. The Hawks recorded a large number of demos and practice tapes in nearby West Saugerties, New York, playing almost daily with Dylan, who had completely withdrawn from public life following a motorcycle accident in July 1966. 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 also began writing their own songs, with Danko and Manuel also sharing writing credits with Dylan on a few songs.

The Band
Helm returned to the group, then referred to simply as "the band,” as it was known around Woodstock. While contemplating a recording contract, Helm had dubbed the band "The Crackers.” However, when Robertson and their new manager Albert Grossman worked out the contracts, the group's name was given 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. Thus the Band was able to play on Dylan's Planet Waves album and to release The Last Waltz, both on other labels. The Band also recorded their own album Music from Big Pink (1968), which catapulted them into stardom. Helm was the Band's only American member.

On Music from Big Pink, Manuel was the most prominent vocalist and Helm sang backup and harmony, with the exception of "The Weight". However, as Manuel's health deteriorated and Robbie Robertson's songwriting increasingly looked to the South for influence and direction, subsequent albums relied more and more on Helm's vocals, alone or in harmony with Danko. Helm was primarily a drummer and vocalist and increasingly sang lead, although, like all his bandmates, he was also a multi-instrumentalist. On occasion Manuel switched to drums while Helm played mandolin, guitar, or bass guitar (while Danko played fiddle) on some songs. Helm played the 12-string guitar backdrop to "Daniel and the Sacred Harp". Helm remained with the Band until their farewell performance on Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, which was the subject of the documentary film The Last Waltz, directed by Martin Scorsese. Helm repudiated his involvement with The Last Waltz shortly after the completion of its final scenes. In his autobiography Helm criticized the film and Robertson who produced it.

Solo, acting and the reformed Band
With the breakup of the Band in its original form, Helm began working on a solo-ensemble album, Levon Helm & the RCO All-Stars, with Paul Butterfield, Fred Carter, Jr., Emmeretta Marks, Howard Johnson, Steve Cropper, Donald "Duck" Dunn, Booker T. Jones, and others. Levon Helm and the RCO All-Stars recorded Live at The Palladium NYC, New Year's Eve 1977. The CD album released in March 2006 features over one hour of blues-rock music performed by an ensemble featuring Levon Helm (drums/vocals), Dr. John (keys/vocals), Paul Butterfield (harmonica/vocals), Fred Carter (guitar/vocals), Donald "Duck" Dunn (bass), Cropper (guitar), Lou Marini (saxophones), Howard Johnson (tuba/baritone sax), Tom "Bones" Malone (trombone), and Alan Rubin (trumpet).

This was followed in 1978 by the solo album Levon Helm. More solo albums were released in 1980 and 1982: American Son and (once again) Levon Helm, both produced by Fred Carter, Jr. He 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, Charlie Daniels, Albert Lee, and others.

In addition to his work as musician, Helm also acted in several dramatic films. He was cast as Loretta Lynn's father in the 1980 film Coal Miner's Daughter, followed three years later by a role as U.S. Air Force test pilot and engineer Capt. Jack Ridley, in The Right Stuff. Helm was also the latter film's narrator. 1987's under-appreciated End of the Line featured Levon as a small-town railroad employee alongside Wilford Brimley and Kevin Bacon. He played a Kentucky backwoods preacher in Fire Down Below. He played an eccentric old man in the 2005 film The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada and appeared as Gen. John Bell Hood in the 2009 film In the Electric Mist. He also had a brief cameo as a weapons expert in the film Shooter with Mark Wahlberg.

In 1983, the Band reunited without Robbie Robertson, at first playing with an expanded lineup that included the entire Cate Brothers Band, but in 1985 paring down and adding Jim Weider on guitar. In 1986, while on tour Manuel committed suicide. Helm, Danko, and Hudson continued in the Band, adding pianist Richard Bell and drummer/vocalist Randy Ciarlante and 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 as part of his All-Starr Band. Other musicians in the band included singer and guitarist Joe Walsh, singer and pianist Dr. John, singer and guitarist Nils Lofgren, singer Billy Preston, saxophonist Clarence Clemons, and drummer Jim Keltner. Garth Hudson was a guest on accordion on some dates. Helm played drums and harmonica and sang "The Weight" and "Up on Cripple Creek" each night.

In the televised 1989 Juno Awards celebration, the Band was inducted into the Juno Awards' Hall of Fame. Helm was not present at the ceremony, but a taped segment of him offering his thanks was broadcast after the acceptance speeches by Rick Danko and Robbie Robertson. Richard Manuel's children accepted the award on behalf of their father. To conclude the televised special, Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, and Robbie Robertson performed "The Weight" with Blue Rodeo.

Helm performed with Danko and Hudson as the Band in 1990 at Roger Waters's 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.

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 various musical guests, allowed him to raise money for his medical bills and to resume performing after a bout with cancer that nearly ended his career.

In the late 1990s, Helm was diagnosed with throat cancer after suffering hoarseness. Advised to undergo a laryngectomy, he instead underwent an arduous regimen of radiation treatments at Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. The tumor was then successfully removed, but 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 eventually his singing voice grew stronger. On January 10, 2004, he sang again at his Ramble sessions. In 2007, during production of Dirt Farmer, Helm estimated that his singing voice was 80 percent recovered.

The Levon Helm Band featured his daughter Amy Helm, 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 on the Band's Rock of Ages and The Last Waltz), Clark Gayton, Jay Collins (Helm's now former son-in-law), Byron Isaacs, and blues harmonica player Little Sammy Davis. Helm hosted Midnight Rambles that were open to the public at his home in Woodstock.

The Midnight Ramble was an outgrowth of an idea Helm explained to Martin Scorsese in The Last Waltz. Earlier in the 20th century, Helm recounted, traveling medicine shows and music shows such as F. S. Wolcott's Original 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 performed at the Rambles include Helm's former bandmate Garth Hudson, Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris, Dr. John, Mavis Staples, Chris Robinson, Allen Toussaint, Donald Fagen and Jon Herington of Steely Dan, Jimmy Vivino (of the house band on Late Night with Conan O'Brien), the Max Weinberg 7, My Morning Jacket, Billy Bob Thornton, Alexis P. Suter, 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, Arlen Roth, Elvis Perkins in Dearland, Phil Lesh, Grahame Lesh, Brian Lesh, Hot Tuna (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, the Youngers, and Grace Potter and the Nocturnals.

During this period, Helm switched to the matched grip and adopted a less busy, greatly simplified drumming style, as opposed to the traditional grip he used during his years with the Band. Helm was busy touring every year during the 2000s, generally traveling by tour bus to venues in eastern Canada and the eastern United States. After 2007, he performed in large venues such the Beacon Theatre in New York. Dr. John and Warren Haynes (the Allman Brothers Band, Gov't Mule) and Garth Hudson played at the concerts along with several other guests. At a show in Vancouver 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 on the Midnight Ramble was in development.

In 2012, Levon Helm and his "midnight rambles" were featured on the PBS Arts site, "Sound Tracks: Music Without Borders," including a poignant last interview with PBS's Marco Werman.

Dirt Farmer and comeback
The autumn of 2007 saw the release of Dirt Farmer, Helm's first studio solo album since 1982. Dedicated to his 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. Also in 2007, Helm recorded "Toolin' Around Woodstock", an album with Arlen Roth on which Levon played drums and sang Sweet Little 16 and "Crying Time." This album also featured Levon's daughter Amy, and Roth's daughter Lexie, along with Sonny Landreth and Bill Kirchen. Helm declined to attend the Grammy Awards ceremony, instead holding a "Midnight Gramble" and celebrating the birth of his grandson, Lavon (Lee) Henry Collins.

In 2008, Helm performed at Warren Haynes's Mountain Jam Music Festival in Hunter, New York, playing alongside Haynes on the last day of the three-day festival. Helm 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.

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

Helm released the album Electric Dirt on his own label on June 30, 2009. Like Dirt Farmer, an aim of Electric Dirt was to capture of feel of Helm's Midnight Rambles. The album won a best album Grammy for the newly created Americana category in 2010. Helm performed on the CBS television program Late Show with David Letterman on July 9, 2009. He also toured that same year in a supporting role with the band Black Crowes.

A documentary on Helm's day-to-day life, entitled Ain't in It for My Health: A Film About Levon Helm was released in March 2010. Directed by Jacob Hatley, it made its debut at the South by Southwest film festival in Austin, Texas, and went on to be screened at the Los Angeles Film Festival in June 2010. The film had a limited release in select theaters in the United States in the spring of 2013 and was released on DVD and Blu-ray later that year.

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

Some of his last sessions recorded in 2011 with Mavis Staples would be released in 2022 as Carry Me Home.

Illness and death
In April 2012, during the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies in Cleveland, Robbie Robertson sent "love and prayers" to Helm, fueling speculation about Helm's health. Helm had previously cancelled a number of performances, citing health issues or a slipped disk in his back; his final performances took place in Tarrytown, New York at Tarrytown Music Hall on March 24, and a final Midnight Ramble (with Los Lobos as the opening act) in Woodstock on March 31.

On April 17, 2012, Helm's wife Sandy and daughter Amy revealed that he had end-stage throat 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"

On April 18, Robertson revealed on his Facebook page that he had a long visit with Helm at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center the previous Sunday. On the same day, Garth Hudson posted on his personal website that he was "too sad for words". He then left a link for a video of himself and the Alexis P. Suter Band performing Bob Dylan's song "Knocking on Heaven's Door". Helm died on April 19 from complications of throat cancer at age 71.

Fans were invited to a public wake at Helm's Barn studio complex on April 26. Approximately 2,000 fans came to pay their respects to the rock icon. The following day, after a private funeral service and a procession through the streets of Woodstock, Helm was interred in the Woodstock Cemetery, within sight of the grave of his longtime bandmate and friend Rick Danko. Former President Bill Clinton issued a statement following Helm's passing.

Legacy
George Harrison said that while writing his 1970 song "All Things Must Pass", he imagined Levon Helm singing it.

Elton John's lyricist, Bernie Taupin named the song "Levon" after Helm, although the song is not actually about him. Both John and Taupin cited that they were inspired by Helm; Taupin saying in various interviews that they would "go down to their favourite record stores to buy The Band's records" along with Elton. In 1994, Helm was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Band.

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. Tracy K. Smith's 2011 poem "Alternate Take", included in her Pulitzer Prize–winning collection Life on Mars, is dedicated to Helm. On the day of Helm's death, April 19, 2012, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, in a concert at the First Bank Center in Broomfield, Colorado, paid tribute to Levon by performing their song "The Best of Everything" and dedicating it to him.

At a concert on May 2, 2012, at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performed "The Weight" as a tribute to Helm. Springsteen called Helm "one of the greatest, greatest voices in country, rockabilly and rock 'n' roll ... staggering ... while playing the drums. Both his voice and his drumming were so incredibly personal. He had a feel on the drums that comes out of certain place in the past and you can't replicate it." Springsteen also said it was one of the songs that he had played with drummer Max Weinberg in Weinberg's audition with the band.

On June 2, 2012, at Mountain Jam, Gov't Mule along with the Levon Helm Band (with Lukas Nelson coming on stage for the closing song) played a tribute set, including "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," "Up on Cripple Creek,""It Makes No Difference," and closing with "The Weight".

A tribute concert called Love for Levon took place at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on October 3, 2012. The concert featured many special guests who had collaborated with and were inspired by Helm and the Band, including Roger Waters,   Garth Hudson, Joe Walsh, Gregg Allman, Bruce Hornsby, Jorma Kaukonen, John Mayer, Mavis Staples, My Morning Jacket, Marc Cohn, John Hiatt, Allen Toussaint, Jakob Dylan, Mike Gordon, and others. Proceeds from the concert were to "help support the lasting legacy of Levon Helm by helping his estate keep ownership of his home, barn and studio, and to continue the Midnight Ramble Sessions".

At the 2013 Grammy Awards, the Zac Brown Band, Mumford & Sons, Elton John, Mavis Staples, T-Bone Burnett, and Alabama Shakes singer Brittany Howard performed "The Weight" as a tribute to Levon and other recently deceased musicians. They also dedicated the song to the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. In May 2013, the New York State Legislature approved a resolution to name State Route 375—the road which connects State Route 28 with the town of Woodstock—"Levon Helm Memorial Boulevard". Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the bill on June 20, 2013. In July 2017, U.S. 49 from Marvell, Arkansas, to Helena–West Helena was named The Levon Helm Memorial Highway by Act 810 of the Arkansas State Legislature. The Levon Helm Legacy Project is raising money to commission a bronze bust of Helm and to restore his boyhood home. The house, originally located in Turkey Scratch, Arkansas, was moved in 2015 to Marvell, where Helm attended school.

Personal life
Helm met singer-songwriter Libby Titus in April 1969, while the Band was recording its second album. They began a lengthy relationship which produced singer-songwriter daughter Amy Helm (born December 3, 1970). Amy formed the band Ollabelle and performed with her father's band at the Midnight Rambles and other concerts.

Helm met Sandra Dodd in 1975 in California, while he was still involved with Titus. Helm and Dodd were married on September 7, 1981. They had no children together.

Discography
Studio albums Soundtrack
 * Levon Helm & the RCO All-Stars (1977)
 * Levon Helm (1978)
 * American Son (1980)
 * Levon Helm (1982)
 * Souvenir, Vol. 1 with the Crowmatix (1998)
 * Dirt Farmer (2007)
 * Electric Dirt (2009)

 * Staying Together ("Lean on Me", "Hotel Buick", and "Big Love in a Small Town") (1989)

Other appearances

 * "Blue Moon of Kentucky" – for Coal Miner's Daughter (1980)
 * "Soulful Wind" – for Labour of Love: The Music of Nick Lowe (2001)
 * "You Better Move On" – for The Imus Ranch Record (2008)
 * "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry" – for The Imus Ranch Record II (2010)
 * "You'll Never Again Be Mine" – for The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams (2011)

Live albums

 * The Midnight Ramble Sessions, Volume One (2006)
 * The Midnight Ramble Sessions, Volume Two (2006)
 * Levon Helm & the RCO All Stars: Live at the Palladium NYC, New Years Eve 1977 (2006)
 * FestivalLink.Net presents: Levon Helm Band MerleFest Ramble (MerleFest, NC 4/26/08)
 * Ramble at the Ryman (2011)
 * The Midnight Ramble Sessions, Volume Three (2014)
 * Carry Me Home with Mavis Staples (2022)

Live appearances

 * Musical guest performing "Sweet Peach Georgia Wine" and "Summertime Blues" with the Cate Brothers Band, and interacting with Eugene Levy, on Episode #79 ("One on the Town"), Second City Television Network ("SCTV") May 15, 1981
 * "Going Back to Memphis" with James Cotten – for The Mississippi River of Song: A Musical Journey Down the Mississippi (1998)

Session work
With John P. Hammond
 * So Many Roads (1965)

With Muddy Waters
 * The Muddy Waters Woodstock Album (Chess, 1975)

With Eric Clapton With Paul Burlison
 * No Reason to Cry (RSO, 1976)

 * Train Kept a-Rollin' (1997)

With Jorma Kaukonen Other
 * River of Time (2009)
 * The Legend of Jesse James (1980)

title: Levon Helm


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Ronnie Hawkins

Ronald Cornett Hawkins (January 10, 1935 – May 29, 2022) was an American rock and roll singer, long based in Canada, whose career spanned more than half a century. His career began in Arkansas, United States, where he was born and raised. He found success in Ontario, Canada, and lived there for most of his life. Hawkins was an institution of the Ontario music scene for over 40 years. He was highly influential in the establishment and evolution of rock music in Canada.

Also known as "Rompin' Ronnie", "Mr. Dynamo" or "The Hawk", he was one of the key players in the 1960s rock scene in Toronto. He performed all across North America and recorded more than 25 albums. His hit songs include covers of Chuck Berry's "Thirty Days" (retitled "Forty Days") and Young Jessie's "Mary Lou", a song about a gold digger. Other well-known recordings are a cover of Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love?" (without the question mark), "Hey! Bo Diddley", and "Susie Q", which was written by his cousin, rockabilly artist Dale Hawkins.

Hawkins was a talent scout and mentor of the musicians he recruited for his band, The Hawks. Roy Buchanan was an early Hawks guitarist on the song "Who Do You Love". The most successful of his students were those who left to form The Band. Robbie Lane and the Disciples made their name opening for Ronnie Hawkins and The Hawks at the Yonge Street bars in Toronto, and eventually became his backing band. Others he had recruited later formed Janis Joplin's Full Tilt Boogie Band, Crowbar, Bearfoot, and Skylark. Hawkins was still playing 150 engagements a year in his 60s.

Early life
Hawkins was born on January 10, 1935, in Huntsville, Arkansas, the son of Flora ( Cornett), a schoolteacher, and Jasper Hawkins, a barber. In 1945, the family, which included Hawkins's older sister Winifred, moved to Fayetteville, where Hawkins was educated in the city's public schools, graduating from Fayetteville High School in 1952. Musicianship ran in Hawkins's family; Hawkins's father, uncles, and cousins had toured the honky-tonk circuit in Arkansas and Oklahoma in the 1930s and 1940s. His uncle Delmar "Skipper" Hawkins, a road musician, had moved to California about 1940 and joined cowboy singing star Roy Rogers's band, the Sons of the Pioneers. Hawkins' cousin, Dale Hawkins, the earliest white performer to sing at the Apollo Theater in Harlem and the Regal Theater in Chicago, recorded the rhythm and blues song "Suzie Q" in 1957. Beginning at age eleven, Ronnie Hawkins sang at local fairs and before he was a teenager shared a stage with Hank Williams. He recalled that Williams was too drunk to perform, and his band, the Drifting Cowboys, invited members of the audience to get on the stage and sing. Hawkins accepted the invitation and sang some Burl Ives songs he knew.

As a teenager, Hawkins ran bootleg liquor from Missouri to the dry counties of Oklahoma in his modified Ford Model A, sometimes making three hundred dollars a day. He claimed in later years that he continued the activity until he was nineteen or twenty, and that it was how he made the money to buy into nightclubs. He had already formed his first band, the Hawks, when he graduated from high school in 1952, following which he studied physical education at the University of Arkansas, where in 1956 he dropped out just a few credits short of graduation.

Hawkins then enlisted in the United States Army, but he was required to serve only six months, having already completed ROTC training. Soon after his arrival at Fort Sill in Oklahoma for Army Basic Combat Training, he was having a drink at the Amvets club when an African American quartet began to play their music. Hearing the first notes so stirred him that he jumped onto the stage and started singing. "It sounded like something between the blues and rockabilly ... me being a hayseed and those guys playing a lot funkier." The experience caused Hawkins to realize what kind of music he really wanted to play, and he joined the four black musicians, who renamed themselves the Blackhawks.

The group had been performing a sort of jazz/blues something like Cab Calloway's music of the 1940s, and Hawkins sought to introduce contemporary influences to their repertoire. With another new member, blues saxophonist A.C. Reed, they created some of the South's most dynamic music sounds. "[I]nstead of doing a kind of rockabilly that was closer to country music, I was doing rockabilly that was closer to soul music, which was exactly what I liked." The band encountered prejudice, as many white people in the American South of the 1950s could not accept an integrated band and considered rock 'n' roll and rhythm and blues the devil's music.

The Blackhawks disbanded when his enlistment ended. Hawkins went back to Fayetteville, and two days later he got a call from Sun Records, who wanted him to front the house session band. By the time he got to Memphis, though, the group had already broken up. Nevertheless, he took advantage of the opportunity to cut two demos, Lloyd Price's "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" and Hank Williams's "A Mansion on the Hill", but the recordings attracted no attention. The demo session guitarist, Jimmy Ray "Luke" Paulman, suggested that Hawkins join him at his home in Helena, Arkansas, in the heart of the Mississippi Delta region, a hotbed of blues, rhythm and blues, and country music, an offer which he eagerly accepted.

Immediately upon arriving in Helena, Hawkins and Paulman found Paulman's brother George (standup bass) and their cousin Willard "Pop" Jones (piano) and formed a band they named The Hawks. Drummer Levon Helm, who had grown up in nearby Turkey Scratch, Arkansas, first played with the group at the Delta Supper Club in early 1957 when George Paulman invited him to sit in them for their closing set. Helm reminisced years later that Hawkins, accompanied by Luke Paulman, drove his Model A out to the Helm's cotton farm, arriving in a cloud of dust to talk to Helm's parents. Helm remembered him as "a big ol' boy in tight pants, sharp shoes and a pompadour hanging down his forehead." Helm listened to Hawkins negotiate an agreement with his parents, who insisted that he graduate from high school before he could join The Hawks and go to Canada. Helm practiced diligently on a makeshift drum kit to improve his skills, and when he graduated in May, he was good enough to play drums in the band.

Hawkins's live act included back flips and a "camel walk" that preceded Michael Jackson's similar moonwalk by three decades. His stage persona gained him the monikers "Rompin' Ronnie" and "Mr. Dynamo". Hawkins also owned and operated the Rockwood Club in Fayetteville, where some of rock and roll's earliest pioneers came to play, including Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison and Conway Twitty.

With Helm's graduation from high school, he joined the Hawks and they went to Canada, where the group met success. On April 13, 1959, they auditioned for Morris Levy, owner of Roulette Records in New York. Only four hours later, they entered the studio and recorded their first record tracks. Their first single, "Forty Days", was a barely disguised knockoff of Chuck Berry's "Thirty Days" with the song "Mary Lou" by Young Jessie on the B-side; it reached number 26 on the US pop charts, becoming Hawkins's biggest hit.

After spending nearly three months in Canada, the band returned to the South, with their base in Hawkins' home town of Fayetteville. The band's gigs in the southern states were mostly one-nighters or short run performances in Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. Helm loved to drive, and would drive the band two or three hundred miles to the next show in Hawkins' old Chevy, which Hawkins eventually replaced with a Cadillac towing a trailer containing their equipment.

Career
Hawkins and the group had begun touring Canada in 1958 as the Ron Hawkins Quartet on the recommendation of Conway Twitty, who told him Canadian audiences wanted to hear rockabilly. Their bassist George Paulman was abusing liquor and pills, so Hawkins left him behind, and they played without a bass on their first tour of Ontario. Their first gig was at the Golden Rail Tavern in Hamilton, Ontario, where, according to booking agent Harold Kudlets, all the bartenders quit when they heard the band's sound and saw Hawkins's stunts on stage. In 1959 he performed a number of live shows in the country and signed a five-year contract with Roulette Records. Working out of Toronto, Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks cut the LP Ronnie Hawkins in 1959, and with Fred Carter, Jr. taking Jimmy Ray "Luke" Paulman's place on lead guitar, they cut another LP, Mr. Dynamo, the next year, both of them recorded on the Roulette label.

He subsequently moved to Canada (becoming a permanent resident in 1964). When he first came to Ontario he played gigs at places like the Grange Tavern in Hamilton, where Conway Twitty got his start, and made it his home base. In Toronto, where the Hawks dominated the local scene, Hawkins opened his own night club, the Hawk's Nest, on the second floor of Le Coq d'Or Tavern on Yonge street, playing there for months at a time. After the move to Canada, the Hawks, with the exception of drummer Levon Helm, dropped out of Hawkins's band. Their vacancies were filled by Southwest Ontarians Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel and Garth Hudson.

David Clayton-Thomas, a Canadian and future lead vocalist of the American group Blood, Sweat & Tears, said he heard the Hawks when he got out of prison in 1962: "We young musicians would sit there by the bar at Le Coq d'Or and just hang on every note." This version of the Hawks, wearing mohair suits and razor-cut hair, were the top group among those who played Le Coq d'Or, a rowdy establishment at the center of the action on the Yonge Street strip in Toronto. They were able to stay out of most of the bar fights that broke out there almost every night.

Robbie Robertson wrote in his 2016 memoir Testimony about how he and his band the Suedes had opened for the Hawks at the Dixie Arena in the west end of Toronto when he was fifteen. He described Hawkins spinning, flipping, and camel walking when Jimmy Ray "Luke" Paulman launched into a solo on his lead guitar, then tumbling and landing at Paulman's feet. He said of the show, "It was the most violent, dynamic, primitive rock 'n' roll I had ever witnesssed, and it was addictive." It was also the first time he saw Levon Helm, whom he described as a "young beam of light on drums" at the center of it all.

The Hawks were playing at Le Coq d'Or for a couple more weeks, and Robertson hung around them as much as possible, hoping he could absorb some of their southern "mojo". One afternoon he overheard Hawkins say he needed some new songs since they were going into the studio to record the next month. Hoping to ingratiate himself, Robertson stayed up all night and wrote two songs, "Someone Like You and "Hey Boba Lu", and played them for Hawkins the next day. The showman was impressed and recorded both of them for his new album, Mr Dynamo.

A year later, in 1960, Robertson pawned his prized 1957 Fender Stratocaster to buy a bus ticket south from Toronto to Fayetteville, Arkansas, to audition for a job with Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks, "the most wicked rock 'n' roll band around". Levon Helm met the guitarist at the Greyhound bus station and initiated him into the ways of the Deep South. This was Robertson's first time in the South, and he was hoping to take the place of Fred Carter, Jr., who had played with Hawkins's cousin, Dale Hawkins, and Roy Orbison. The band went to Levon Helm's home town of Helena in the Mississippi Delta, where Robertson spent some time at the Helms' family farm.

Then he and Helm returned to the Rainbow Inn, a local motel in which Hawkins had ensconced the band, and practiced songs from the Hawks' repertoire. The motel was owned by a local ferry operator, Charlie Halbert, who had helped many musicians just starting out in the business, including Conway Twitty and Elvis Presley. When Hawkins offered him the job, Robertson asked how much he would be paid, and Hawkins responded, "Well, son, you won't make much money, but you'll get more pussy than Frank Sinatra." Hawkins, with Helm in tow, then went to England to promote his new record, where they met Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent, who were on tour there. Meanwhile, still at the Rainbow Inn, Robertson tried to learn as much of the band's repertoire as he could, in an environment that he recalled as "rockabilly boot camp".

Before leaving on the trip to England, Hawkins took Robertson to the Delta Supper Club, a notorious hangout in West Helena, where an irate patron had chainsawed the bar down the middle. While waiting for Hawkins's and Helm's return, Robertson practiced, listening to stacks of records he had bought in Memphis with his first week's paycheck. His haul of music included records by Ray Charles, bluesmen Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, B. B. King, Junior Parker, and T-Bone Walker, rockabilly singer and guitarist Warren Smith, and gospel singer Mahalia Jackson. When Hawkins and his new Hawks lineup recorded the album Mojo Man in New York City in 1961, Robertson's lead guitar work showed the influence of other Chicago bluesmen such as Buddy Guy and Otis Rush as well.

Along with Helm, all the Hawks left Hawkins in 1964 to form a group which came to be named the Band. Robertson describes an event that led to the parting in chapter nine of Testimony. The decision came after Hawkins tried to prevent Rick Danko's girlfriend from coming to the shows. Hawkins wanted the group to mingle with the crowd, and Danko wanted to sit with her instead. Other issues included diverging musical interests, and pay. Hawkins was often absent from shows, leaving the Hawks to play without him. Levon felt they should be paid more when Hawkins didn't show up. There was a confrontation and things came to a head. They went to work for Bob Dylan in 1965, touring with him for a year, and were his backup band on The Basement Tapes. Hawkins continued to perform and record, and did a few tours in Europe.

In December 1969, Hawkins hosted John Lennon and Yoko Ono for a stay at his home in Mississauga, Ontario, during the couple's campaign to promote world peace. Lennon signed his erotic "Bag One" lithographs during his stay there. Lennon also did a radio promo for a Hawkins single, a version of The Clovers song "Down in the Alley". Hawkins later rode with them on a train to Ottawa to see then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau. Lennon also enlisted Hawkins as a peace ambassador, and Hawkins traveled to the border of China and Hong Kong with journalist Ritchie Yorke bearing an anti-war message.

In 1970 Hawkins recorded at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, laying down tracks for an ultimately unproduced album entitled Ronnie Hawkins. Among the studio musicians was Duane Allman, whose backing led two tracks from the session to be included on the Duane Allman Anthology - Volume II released in 1974: Carl Perkins' rockabilly hit Matchbox, and the Don Gibson country & western tune Don't Tell Me Your Troubles, featuring Allman on dobro. Four more tracks from that album were included on Skydog, a 2016 Duane Allman retrospective: "One More Night," "Will the Circle Be Unbroken," "Down in the Alley," and "Who Do You Love." "Matchbox" was also included on Skydog.

In the early 1970s, Hawkins noticed guitarist Pat Travers performing in Ontario nightclubs and was so impressed by the young musician that he invited him to play in his band. Travers joined the group, but balked when Hawkins told him he wanted him to play "old '50s and '60s rockabilly tunes". Years later, Travers told an interviewer, "... he wanted me to play them exactly the same, same sound, same picking, same everything. For a 19-, 20-year-old kid, that wasn't exactly what I wanted to do. But he said, 'You can do this, son, and you'll be better than a hundred guitar players, because this is where it all comes from. You need to know this stuff. It's like fundamental.' And he was right". Travers later had a successful recording career and became an influential guitarist in the 1970s hard rock genre.

In 1975, Bob Dylan cast Hawkins to play the role of "Bob Dylan" in the movie, Renaldo and Clara. The following year, he was a featured performer at the Band's Thanksgiving Day farewell concert at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, which was documented in the 1978 film The Last Waltz. Robbie Robertson said of it in 2020, "If there was anything wrong that night, it was that the cocaine wasn't very good." Hawkins sampled some of the powder and told the other performers that there was so much flour and sugar in it that they would be "sneezing biscuits" for three months afterward. Hawkin's 1984 LP, Making It Again, garnered him a Juno Award as Canada's best Country Male Vocalist. In addition to his career as a musician, he become an accomplished actor, hosting his own television show Honky Tonk in the early 1980s and appearing in such films as Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate alongside his friend Kris Kristofferson, and in the action/adventure film Snake Eater. His version of the song "Mary Lou" was used in the 1989 slasher film, Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II.

He was profiled in the 1982 television documentary film The Hawk, directed by Martin Kahan. On January 10, 1995, Hawkins celebrated his 60th birthday by sponsoring a concert at Massey Hall in Toronto, which was documented on the album Let It Rock. The concert featured performances by Hawkins, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Band, and Larry Gowan. Canadian musician Jeff Healey sat in on guitar as well. Hawkins's band, the Hawks, or permutations of it, backed the performers. All of the musicians performing that night were collectively dubbed "the Rock 'n' Roll Orchestra".

Later life
In 2002, Hawkins was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer which went into remission, which he attributed in the film documentary to a miracle by the 'Big Rocker' and Adam 'Dreamhealer' McLeod, a 16 year old healer from Vancouver, B.C. His remarkable remission was featured in the 2012 film Ronnie Hawkins: Still Alive and Kicking. In 2017, he moved from Stoney Lake Manor in Douro-Dummer, where he had resided since 1970, to Peterborough, Ontario.

Hawkins died in the early morning of May 29, 2022, at the age of 87 from unspecified causes. The cancer reportedly had never returned.

He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Wanda, their two sons, Ronnie Hawkins Jr. and singer-songwriter Robin Hawkins, who had served as his guitarist since the 1980s and wrote his hit 'Can't Stop Rockin', and daughter Leah Hawkins, a singer-songwriter who had been his backup singer, and his grandchildren, Robin's four children, Tara, Troy, Jacob and Zack.

Awards
In 2002, October 4 was declared "Ronnie Hawkins Day" by the city of Toronto as he was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame, in recognition of his lifetime contribution to music and his generous support of the Schizophrenia Society of Ontario and other charitable organizations. He was inducted into the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame at the Canadian Music Industry Awards on March 4, 2004. His pioneering contribution to the genre was also recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.

In 2005, Hawkins was awarded an honorary degree from Laurentian University.

On May 2, 2013, Hawkins was named an Honorary Officer of the Order of Canada. His investiture was held on May 7, 2014. The citation reads:"For his contributions to the development of the music industry in Canada, as a rock and roll musician, and for his support of charitable causes. For more than 50 years, musician Ronnie Hawkins has demonstrated a strong devotion to Canada's music industry. Often referred to as the 'father of Canadian rock n' roll', he was a key player in the 1960s rock scene, with his band The Hawks serving as a launching pad for a host of Canadian musicians. In addition to producing scores of singles and albums, he has performed in support of many charitable causes, notably the Peterborough Flood Relief and the Schizophrenia Society of Ontario."

Other awards include a Juno Award for Making it Again in 1984, the Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award from the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, presented at the Juno Awards of 1996 and a Special Achievement Award from the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers (SOCAN) in 2007.

General and cited references

 * Attribution
 * Adapted from the article Ronnie Hawkins, from Wikinfo, licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Ronnie Hawkins


text:
Sir Barton

Sir Barton (April 26, 1916 – October 30, 1937) was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who is the first winner of the American Triple Crown.

Background
Sir Barton was a chestnut colt bred in 1916, in Kentucky, by John E. Madden at Hamburg Place Farm near Lexington. An Englishman, Vivian A. Gooch, who judged the 1918 National Horse, was co-listed as breeder with Madden, but Gooch had actually served as the agent who purchased Sir Martin, Sir Barton's half-brother, from Madden for Louis Winans. As a favor to Gooch, Madden listed his friend as co-breeder and then Madden purchased Gooch's gifted share of Sir Barton when Madden decided to keep the colt and race him under his own colors.

Sir Barton was sired by the British stallion Star Shoot out of the mare Lady Sterling, by Hanover. Sir Barton's paternal grandsire was the 1893 English Triple Crown winner Isinglass. His half-brother was 1908 juvenile champion Sir Martin.

Sir Barton was known for being a "grouchy" horse, and it was said that the only human he didn't hate was his groom, Toots Thompson.

Early career
Trained by African American former jockey Billy Walker, Sir Barton raced as part of John E. Madden's stable in the first four starts of his two-year-old season, but none of those starts demonstrated the same speed and talent the colt would show in his workouts. In late August 1918, Madden sold the horse for a reported $10,000 to Canadian businessman and volunteer naval commander J. K. L. Ross. After some early success, Ross was growing his stable as part of his effort to commit more fully to racing. He owned farms in Vercheres, Quebec, where he established a breeding operation for his Canadian horses; and, in 1919, purchased Bolingbrook near Laurel, Maryland, for training and breeding his American stock.

Ross placed Sir Barton in the hands of trainer H. Guy Bedwell. The colt made two more starts that year, finishing second in his last start, the 1918 Belmont Futurity. He contracted blood poisoning after a stablemate kicked him, opening a significant cut on his left hind leg. Bedwell personally nursed him through the illness, which sidelined Sir Barton for the rest of the year.

1919: Triple Crown sweep
At three, Sir Barton won his season debut as a maiden in the Kentucky Derby on May 10, 1919, ridden by jockey Johnny Loftus. Legend holds that he was supposed to be the rabbit (pacemaker) for his highly regarded stablemate, the gelding Billy Kelly, but that assumption is only partially true; in reality Sir Barton was regarded at having a better chance of winning the Kentucky Derby than Billy Kelly, owing to both his weight allowance as a maiden as well as the fitness he had demonstrated in the preparations for the Derby. Sir Barton led the field of 12 horses from start to finish, winning the race by five lengths. The next day, Sir Barton was shipped to Baltimore to run in the Preakness Stakes, held only three days later on May 14. In the Preakness, he again led all the way, winning wire-to-wire and beating Eternal by four lengths. He then won the Withers Stakes in New York on May 24 and shortly thereafter completed the first Triple Crown in U.S. history by winning the Belmont Stakes on June 11, setting an American record for the mile and three-eighths race, the distance for the Belmont at the time. Sir Barton's four wins were accomplished in a space of just 32 days. He has been retroactively honored as the 1919 Horse of the Year.

1919: Later three-year-old season
After his win in the Belmont, Sir Barton's next start was the Dwyer Stakes, where he faced Purchase, another highly rated three-year-old trained and owned by Sam Hildreth. On a muddy track, Purchase caught Sir Barton in the final furlong and Sir Barton finished second. After the Dwyer, Sir Barton got a bruised hoof and only returned in mid-September. He did stellar performances in races such as the Maryland Handicap while also turning in a couple of puzzling losses, including the Autumn Handicap. He finished the year with $88,250, finishing just ahead of Man o' War in money won that year.

1920: Four-year-old season
As a four-year-old, Sir Barton won five of his 12 races. On April 24, Sir Barton won the six-furlong Climax Handicap at Havre de Grace Racetrack, defeating stablemate Milkmaid and five other runners. In the Saratoga Handicap, he beat Exterminator. While carrying 133 pounds, Sir Barton set a world record for $1 3/16$ miles on dirt in winning the August 28 Merchants and Citizens Handicap. His match race on October 12 that year against Man o' War at Kenilworth Park in Windsor, Ontario, Canada is most remembered. Sir Barton, who suffered from hoof problems throughout his career, was unsuited for Kenilworth's hard surface, and was beaten by seven lengths.

Retirement and stud career
In early 1921, controversy over H. G. Bedwell's support of disgraced jockey Cal Shilling forced Ross to fire Bedwell and to hire Henry McDaniel, a future US Racing Hall of Fame inductee known for training Exterminator as a three-year-old. McDaniel attempted to prepare Sir Barton to race as a five-year-old, but worried that continued training would cause the Triple Crown winner to break down. Ross retired Sir Barton to stud that year and in August 1921 sold the champion to Montfort and B.B. Jones, who brought the chestnut son of Star Shoot to their Audley Farm in Berryville, Virginia, where he remained until 1932. In December 2008, a statue of Sir Barton was unveiled in front of Audley Farm's stallion barn. The statue, by American sculptor Jan Woods, was a gift from Erich von Baumbach Jr., whose family has had an association with the farm for thirty years.

Despite a lackluster stud career, Sir Barton sired the 1928 Kentucky Oaks winner and 1928 Champion Three Year Old Filly, Easter Stockings. He also sired Fort Thomas Handicap winner Nellie Custis. After Montfort Jones' death in 1927, B. B. Jones slowly exited the Thoroughbred racing industry; in 1932, Sir Barton became part of the U.S. Army Remount Service, first at Front Royal, Virginia, and then, later that year, in Fort Robinson, Nebraska. Thoroughbred breeder and rancher J. R. Hylton received Sir Barton from the Remount Service and brought him to his ranch outside of Douglas, Wyoming.

Sir Barton died of colic on October 30, 1937, and was buried on Hylton's ranch in the foothills of the Laramie Mountains. In 1968 his remains were moved to Washington Park in Douglas, Wyoming, where a memorial was erected to honor America's first Triple Crown winner. Gordon Turner raised money for and orchestrated the move.

Honors and awards
Sir Barton was officially recognized as the first Triple Crown winner in 1950 when the title was formally proclaimed by the Thoroughbred Racing Associations and retroactively awarded to horses who had completed the feat in prior years.

Sir Barton and Star Shoot both have streets named in their honor in Lexington, Kentucky, in the Hamburg Pavilion shopping center area. Sir Barton Way runs from Winchester Road to Man O' War Boulevard; Star Shoot Parkway runs from the shopping center across Sir Barton Way to Liberty Road.

Sir Barton was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1957. In the Blood-Horse magazine ranking of the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century, he is no. 49.

In 2019, the 100th anniversary of Sir Barton's Triple Crown win, the book Sir Barton and the Making of the Triple Crown was published by the University Press of Kentucky. The book covers Sir Barton's life and career in detail.

In 2020, as part of a fundraiser for emergency relief efforts due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a "virtual Kentucky Derby" was held wherein the field included the 13 Triple Crown winners. Sir Barton finished last.

Breeding

 * Sir Barton was inbred 3 × 4 to Sterling, meaning that this stallion appears in both the third and fourth generations of his pedigree.

title: Sir Barton


text:
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Cantus 3 arbitration
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For the Arbitration Committee. --Tony Sidaway 13:22, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

Blocked for one month for using verified sock to evade arbitration-imposed ban
A recent checkuser has confirmed that you used the IPs and  to evade a block and to edit an article from which you are banned under remedy 2 of Requests for arbitration/Cantus 3. Under enforcement clause 1.1 of that arbitration ruling, I have blocked you for one month. --Tony Sidaway 16:19, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

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Given your supremely troll-like move-with-null-edit to get your way, I have extended your block for a month under the Arbitration ruling. Well done.

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Please visit the Talk: Armenia and Talk: Armenians pages http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Armenia&action=edit&section=3 http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Armenians&action=edit&section=36 please voice your view on the current discussion, there is a small minority that promoting and point of view that Armenia is geographically in Europe and Armenians are a European people. It is best to serve the factual truth and your support is desperately needed.

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Image copyright problem with File:ChileanFlagWaving.jpg
Thanks for uploading File:ChileanFlagWaving.jpg. The image has been identified as not specifying the copyright status of the image, which is required by Wikipedia's policy on images. If you don't indicate the copyright status of the image on the image's description page, using an appropriate copyright tag, it may be deleted some time in the next seven days. If you have uploaded other images, please verify that you have provided copyright information for them as well.

For more information on using images, see the following pages:
 * Image use policy
 * Image copyright tags

This is an automated notice by OrphanBot. For assistance on the image use policy, see Media copyright questions. 05:56, 25 March 2009 (UTC)

File:ChileCongress.jpg listed for deletion
An image or media file that you uploaded or altered, File:ChileCongress.jpg, has been listed at Files for deletion. Please see the discussion to see why this is (you may have to search for the title of the image to find its entry), if you are interested in it not being deleted. Calliopejen1 (talk) 12:16, 9 July 2009 (UTC)

File:Zurab Zhvania head.jpg missing description details
Dear uploader: The media file you uploaded as File:Zurab Zhvania head.jpg is missing a description and/or other details on its image description page. If possible, please add this information. This will help other editors to make better use of the image, and it will be more informative for readers.

If the information is not provided, the image may eventually be proposed for deletion, a situation which is not desirable, and which can easily be avoided.

If you have any questions please see Help:Image page. Thank you. Sfan00 IMG (talk) 23:54, 4 August 2009 (UTC)

File source problem with File:Zurab Zhvania head.jpg
Thanks for uploading File:Zurab Zhvania head.jpg. I noticed that the file's description page currently doesn't specify who created the content, so the copyright status is unclear. If you did not create this file yourself, you will need to specify the owner of the copyright. If you obtained it from a website, then a link to the website from which it was taken, together with a restatement of that website's terms of use of its content, is usually sufficient information. However, if the copyright holder is different from the website's publisher, their copyright should also be acknowledged.

If you have uploaded other files, consider checking that you have specified their source and tagged them, too. You can find a list of files you have uploaded by following this link. Unsourced and untagged images may be deleted one week after they have been tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If the image is copyrighted under a non-free license (per Fair use) then the image will be deleted 48 hours after 04:24, 13 November 2009 (UTC). If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you. Skier Dude ( talk ) 04:24, 13 November 2009 (UTC)

Unreferenced BLPs
Hello Cantus! Thank you for your contributions. I am a bot alerting you that 5 of the articles that you created  are tagged as Unreferenced Biographies of Living Persons. The biographies of living persons policy requires that all personal or potentially controversial information be sourced. In addition, to ensure verifiability, all biographies should be based on reliable sources. If you were to bring these articles up to standards, it would greatly help us with the current Category:All_unreferenced_BLPs article backlog. Once the articles are adequately referenced, please remove the unreferencedBLP tag. Here is the list:

Thanks!--DASHBot (talk) 05:49, 17 January 2010 (UTC)
 * 1) Aucán Huilcamán -
 * 2) Horacio de la Peña -
 * 3) Gervasio Deferr -
 * 4) Marlene Ahrens -
 * 5) Javiera Parra -

Orphaned non-free image File:Chilean presidential candidates 2005.jpg
 Thanks for uploading File:Chilean presidential candidates 2005.jpg. The image description page currently specifies that the image is non-free and may only be used on Wikipedia under a claim of fair use. However, the image is currently orphaned, meaning that it is not used in any articles on Wikipedia. If the image was previously in an article, please go to the article and see why it was removed. You may add it back if you think that that will be useful. However, please note that images for which a replacement could be created are not acceptable for use on Wikipedia (see our policy for non-free media).

PLEASE NOTE:

 * I am a bot, and will therefore will not be able to answer your questions.

 * I will remove the request for deletion if the file is used once again.

 * If you recieved this notice after the image is deleted, and you want to restore the image, click here to file an un-delete request.

 * To opt out of these bot messages, add  to somewhere on your talk page.

Thank you. DASHBot (talk) 14:12, 13 March 2010 (UTC)

File permission problem with File:III South American Summit.jpg
Thanks for uploading File:III South American Summit.jpg. I noticed that while you provided a valid copyright licensing tag, there is no proof that the creator of the file agreed to license it under the given license.

If you created this media entirely yourself but have previously published it elsewhere (especially online), please either
 * make a note permitting reuse under the CC-BY-SA or another acceptable free license (see this list) at the site of the original publication; or
 * Send an email from an address associated with the original publication to , stating your ownership of the material and your intention to publish it under a free license. You can find a sample permission letter here. If you take this step, add OTRS pending to the file description page to prevent premature deletion.

If you did not create it entirely yourself, please ask the person who created the file to take one of the two steps listed above, or if the owner of the file has already given their permission to you via email, please forward that email to .

If you believe the media meets the criteria at Non-free content, use a tag such as or one of the other tags listed at File copyright tags, and add a rationale justifying the file's use on the article or articles where it is included. See File copyright tags for the full list of copyright tags that you can use.

If you have uploaded other files, consider checking that you have provided evidence that their copyright owners have agreed to license their works under the tags you supplied, too. You can find a list of files you have created in [ your upload log]. Files lacking evidence of permission may be deleted one week after they have been tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you. Kelly hi! 10:48, 1 January 2011 (UTC)

Nomination for deletion of Template:Ecozones
Template:Ecozones has been nominated for deletion. You are invited to comment on the discussion at the template's entry on the Templates for discussion page. —Justin (koavf)❤T☮C☺M☯ 09:28, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

Nomination for deletion of Template:Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
Template:Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has been nominated for deletion. You are invited to comment on the discussion at the template's entry on the Templates for discussion page. eh bien mon prince (talk) 06:09, 31 August 2013 (UTC)

Nomination for deletion of Template:Mercosur
Template:Mercosur has been nominated for deletion. You are invited to comment on the discussion at the template's entry on the Templates for discussion page. eh bien mon prince (talk) 06:09, 31 August 2013 (UTC)

An RfC that you may be interested in...
As one of the previous contributors to Infobox film or as one of the commenters on it's talk page, I would like to inform you that there has been a RfC started on the talk page as to implementation of previously deprecated parameters. Your comments and thoughts on the matter would be welcomed. Happy editing!
 * This message was sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) on behalf of {{U|Technical 13}} (t • e • c) 18:26, 8 March 2014 (UTC)

Category:Female heads of state
Category:Female heads of state, which you created, has been nominated for possible deletion, merging, or renaming. If you would like to participate in the discussion, you are invited to add your comments at the category's entry on the Categories for discussion page. Thank you. Obi-Wan Kenobi (talk) 13:45, 13 May 2014 (UTC)

File:IEMac.png listed for deletion
A file that you uploaded or altered, File:IEMac.png, has been listed at Files for deletion. Please see the to see why it has been listed (you may have to search for the title of the image to find its entry). Feel free to add your opinion on the matter below the nomination. Thank you. Codename Lisa (talk) 10:33, 13 July 2014 (UTC)

Speedy deletion nomination of Template:Latest stable software release/Maxthon

A tag has been placed on Template:Latest stable software release/Maxthon requesting that it be speedily deleted from Wikipedia. This has been done under section T3 of the criteria for speedy deletion because it is an unused duplicate of another template, or a hard-coded instance of another template. After seven days, if it is still unused and the speedy deletion tag has not been removed, the template will be deleted.

If the template is not actually the same as the other template noted, please feel free to remove the speedy deletion tag and please consider putting a note on the template's page explaining how this one is different so as to avoid any future mistakes.

If you think this page should not be deleted for this reason, you may contest the nomination by visiting the page's talk page, where you can explain why you believe the page should not be deleted. However, be aware that once a page is tagged for speedy deletion, it may be removed without delay. Please do not remove the speedy deletion tag from the page yourself, but do not hesitate to add information in line with Wikipedia's policies and guidelines. If the page is deleted, and you wish to retrieve the deleted material for future reference or improvement, then please contact the deleting administrator, or if you have already done so, you can place a request here. Dvorapa (talk) 12:05, 16 November 2014 (UTC)

File permission problem with File:NicolasMassu.jpg
Thanks for uploading File:NicolasMassu.jpg. I noticed that while you provided a valid copyright licensing tag, there is no proof that the creator of the file has agreed to release it under the given license.

If you are the copyright holder for this media entirely yourself but have previously published it elsewhere (especially online), please either
 * make a note permitting reuse under the CC-BY-SA or another acceptable free license (see this list) at the site of the original publication; or
 * Send an email from an address associated with the original publication to permissions-en@wikimedia.org, stating your ownership of the material and your intention to publish it under a free license. You can find a sample permission letter here. If you take this step, add OTRS pending to the file description page to prevent premature deletion.

If you did not create it entirely yourself, please ask the person who created the file to take one of the two steps listed above, or if the owner of the file has already given their permission to you via email, please forward that email to permissions-en@wikimedia.org.

If you believe the media meets the criteria at Non-free content, use a tag such as non-free fair use or one of the other tags listed at File copyright tags, and add a rationale justifying the file's use on the article or articles where it is included. See File copyright tags for the full list of copyright tags that you can use.

If you have uploaded other files, consider checking that you have provided evidence that their copyright owners have agreed to license their works under the tags you supplied, too. You can find a list of files you have created in [ your upload log]. Files lacking evidence of permission may be deleted one week after they have been tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. You may wish to read Wikipedia's image use policy. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you. Kelly hi! 17:36, 24 September 2015 (UTC)

Possibly unfree File:OAS Secretary General election 2005 ballot.jpg
A file that you uploaded or altered, File:OAS Secretary General election 2005 ballot.jpg, has been listed at Possibly unfree files because its copyright status is unclear or disputed. If the file's copyright status cannot be verified, it may be deleted. You may find more information on the file description page. You are welcome to add comments to its entry at if you object to the listing for any reason. Thank you. Kelly hi! 17:55, 24 September 2015 (UTC)

Speedy deletion nomination of File:OAS Secretary General election 2005.jpg

A tag has been placed on File:OAS Secretary General election 2005.jpg requesting that it be speedily deleted from Wikipedia. This has been done under section F3 of the criteria for speedy deletion, because it is an image licensed as "for non-commercial use only," "non-derivative use" or "used with permission," it has not been shown to comply with the limited standards for the use of non-free content. , and it was either uploaded on or after 2005-05-19, or is not used in any articles. If you agree with the deletion, there is no need to do anything. If, however, you believe that this image may be retained on Wikipedia under one of the permitted conditions then:
 * state clearly the source of the image. If it has been copied from elsewhere on the web you should provide links to: the image itself, the page which uses it and the page which contains the license conditions.
 * add the relevant copyright tag.

If you think this page should not be deleted for this reason, you may contest the nomination by visiting the page and clicking the button labelled "Contest this speedy deletion". This will give you the opportunity to explain why you believe the page should not be deleted. However, be aware that once a page is tagged for speedy deletion, it may be removed without delay. Please do not remove the speedy deletion tag from the page yourself, but do not hesitate to add information in line with Wikipedia's policies and guidelines. If the page is deleted, and you wish to retrieve the deleted material for future reference or improvement, then please contact the deleting administrator, or if you have already done so, you can place a request here. Kelly hi! 17:56, 24 September 2015 (UTC)

File:BlankMap-RussiaRepublics.png listed for discussion
A file that you uploaded or altered, File:BlankMap-RussiaRepublics.png, has been listed at Files for discussion. Please see the to see why it has been listed (you may have to search for the title of the image to find its entry). Feel free to add your opinion on the matter below the nomination. Thank you. Sfan00 IMG (talk) 23:08, 16 November 2015 (UTC)

ArbCom elections are now open!
Hi, You appear to be eligible to vote in the current Arbitration Committee election. The Arbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the Wikipedia arbitration process. It has the authority to enact binding solutions for disputes between editors, primarily related to serious behavioural issues that the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the ability to impose site bans, topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The arbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail. If you wish to participate, you are welcome to review the candidates' statements and submit your choices on the voting page. For the Election committee, MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 22:12, 30 November 2015 (UTC)

Other countries affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake listed at Redirects for discussion
An editor has asked for a discussion to address the redirect Other countries affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. Since you had some involvement with the Other countries affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake redirect, you might want to participate in the redirect discussion if you have not already done so. Steel1943 (talk) 00:43, 9 December 2015 (UTC)

Countries less affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake listed at Redirects for discussion
An editor has asked for a discussion to address the redirect Countries less affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. Since you had some involvement with the Countries less affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake redirect, you might want to participate in the redirect discussion if you have not already done so. Steel1943 (talk) 00:44, 9 December 2015 (UTC)

File:SantiagoSatellite.jpg listed for discussion
A file that you uploaded or altered, File:SantiagoSatellite.jpg, has been listed at Files for discussion. Please see the to see why it has been listed (you may have to search for the title of the image to find its entry). Feel free to add your opinion on the matter below the nomination. Thank you. Jo-Jo Eumerus (talk, contributions) 15:21, 25 March 2016 (UTC)

Greatest earthquake listed at Redirects for discussion
An editor has asked for a discussion to address the redirect Greatest earthquake. Since you had some involvement with the Greatest earthquake redirect, you might want to participate in the redirect discussion if you have not already done so. Steel1943 (talk) 21:43, 2 June 2016 (UTC)

Nomination of Ellen Feiss for deletion
A discussion is taking place as to whether the article Ellen Feiss is suitable for inclusion in Wikipedia according to Wikipedia's policies and guidelines or whether it should be deleted.

The article will be discussed at Articles for deletion/Ellen Feiss until a consensus is reached, and anyone is welcome to contribute to the discussion. The nomination will explain the policies and guidelines which are of concern. The discussion focuses on high-quality evidence and our policies and guidelines.

Users may edit the article during the discussion, including to improve the article to address concerns raised in the discussion. However, do not remove the article-for-deletion notice from the top of the article. Kingsindian ♝ ♚ 01:10, 1 September 2016 (UTC)

Nomination of Iron Lady for deletion
A discussion is taking place as to whether the article Iron Lady is suitable for inclusion in Wikipedia according to Wikipedia's policies and guidelines or whether it should be deleted.

The article will be discussed at Articles for deletion/Iron Lady until a consensus is reached, and anyone is welcome to contribute to the discussion. The nomination will explain the policies and guidelines which are of concern. The discussion focuses on high-quality evidence and our policies and guidelines.

Users may edit the article during the discussion, including to improve the article to address concerns raised in the discussion. However, do not remove the article-for-deletion notice from the top of the article. --Neve–selbert 19:25, 13 September 2016 (UTC)

Nomination of Blow-Up (DJ duo) for deletion
A discussion is taking place as to whether the article Blow-Up (DJ duo) is suitable for inclusion in Wikipedia according to Wikipedia's policies and guidelines or whether it should be deleted.

The article will be discussed at Articles for deletion/Blow-Up (DJ duo) until a consensus is reached, and anyone is welcome to contribute to the discussion. The nomination will explain the policies and guidelines which are of concern. The discussion focuses on high-quality evidence and our policies and guidelines.

Users may edit the article during the discussion, including to improve the article to address concerns raised in the discussion. However, do not remove the article-for-deletion notice from the top of the article. - ReZawler (talk • contribs) 19:38, 5 November 2016 (UTC)

Lady Di listed at Redirects for discussion
An editor has asked for a discussion to address the redirect Lady Di. Since you had some involvement with the Lady Di redirect, you might want to participate in the redirect discussion if you have not already done so. --Nevé–selbert 15:30, 26 December 2016 (UTC)

Please claim your upload(s): File:Arabic numerals.png
Hi, This media was seemingly uploaded prior to current image polices,

However, due to changes in the copyright situation in some jurisdictions, there is a need to ensure media on English Wikipedia is correctly licensed and attributed. It would be appreciated if you were able to confirm that it was your own work, by marking it as own, Fully completeing the information block, and leaving an acknowledgement on the file description page to indicate that you've accepted the license shown (and updated the information accordingly. If you have other uploads, please consider "claiming" them in a similar manner, You can find a list of files you have created [ here].

If you don't want to keep your media on English Wikipedia, please nominate it for deletion under Criteria G7 of the Criteria for Speedy deletion ShakespeareFan00 (talk) 13:47, 13 September 2018 (UTC)

List of countries by population (2005) listed at Redirects for discussion
An editor has asked for a discussion to address the redirect List of countries by population (2005). Since you had some involvement with the List of countries by population (2005) redirect, you might want to participate in the redirect discussion if you have not already done so. Steel1943 (talk) 07:41, 3 January 2019 (UTC)

Nomination for merging of Template:Messagebox
Template:Messagebox has been nominated for merging with Template:Message box. You are invited to comment on the discussion at the template's entry on the Templates for discussion page. Thank you. JsfasdF252 (talk) 10:02, 7 November 2020 (UTC)

"British invasion" listed at Redirects for discussion
An editor has identified a potential problem with the redirect British invasion and has thus listed it for discussion. This discussion will occur at Redirects for discussion/Log/2022 February 9 until a consensus is reached, and anyone, including you, is welcome to contribute to the discussion. ‑‑Neveselbert (talk · contribs · email) 18:00, 9 February 2022 (UTC)

Proposed deletion of File:Arabic numerals.png

The file File:Arabic numerals.png has been proposed for deletion because of the following concern: "Orphaned image that can easily be replaced by a table (it is literally a screenshot of one, created to replace 'the table in the original article with the screenshot image'). See MOS:TEXTASIMAGES."

While all constructive contributions to Wikipedia are appreciated, pages may be deleted for any of several reasons.

You may prevent the proposed deletion by removing the notice, but please explain why in your edit summary or on the file's talk page.

Please consider addressing the issues raised. Removing will stop the proposed deletion process, but other deletion processes exist. In particular, the speedy deletion process can result in deletion without discussion, and files for discussion allows discussion to reach consensus for deletion. HouseBlastertalk 23:06, 7 July 2023 (UTC)

title: User talk:Cantus