Levon Helm-"Electric Dirt" (2009)

Levon Helm needs no introduction, drummer of the legendary The Band in the sixties and seventies, he was one of the great percussionists of American roots music.
"Electric Dirt" was his ninth album, in a solo career that had begun in 1977 shortly after the dissolution of The Band, in this new release Helm manages to surpass the success of his predecessor the fantastic "Dirt Farmer" with which he had achieved like this "Electric Dirt" the Grammy award for the best album of American music.
However, here, who was then seventy years old, broadens the musical horizon to go a little further, introducing more electrical elements to continue with his gospel, blues and New Orleans jazz influences, all seasoned with his folk style and country.
With his already deteriorated voice (at that time he suffered from throat cancer) Helm is reeling from theme to theme with great sincerity and in an authentic way with versions of songs by The Band, Randy Newman, Staples Singers or Muddy Waters in addition to his own compositions.