HELM, Levon; Stephen Davis.

This Wheel's on Fire: Levon Helm and the Story of the Band.

First Edition of Levon Helm's This Wheel's on Fire; inscribed by him to Alan Pariser

New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc, 1993.

$1,500.00

In Stock Item Number: RRB-148945

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First edition of this memoir and cultural history by the legendary Levon Helm. Octavo, original publisher's half-cloth, illustrated with black and white photographs. Association copy, inscribed by Levon Helm on the front free endpaper, "A.P. What a ball. We know how. Always a pleasure buddy. Come see me Levon Helm." The recipient, Alan Pariser, was Helm's friend and the organizer of the Monterey Pop Festival. He went on to manage Delaney & Bonnie and Dave Mason, which led to collaborations with many of the era’s biggest rock stars including George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Ringo Starr. Fine in a very good dust jacket.

Levon Helm (1940–2012) was an American drummer, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist best known as a founding member of The Band, whose fusion of rock, folk, blues, and country helped define the roots-rock idiom of the late twentieth century. Distinguished by his earthy, soulful voice and his mastery of Southern musical traditions, Helm brought a distinctive regional authenticity to The Band’s sound, most memorably in songs such as The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down. This Wheel’s on Fire: Levon Helm and the Story of the Band (1993) offers Helm's first-hand account of the rise, triumphs, and tensions of The Band. Co-written with Stephen Davis, the book provides an insider perspective on the group’s evolution from backing Ronnie Hawkins and Bob Dylan to achieving independent success with their seminal albums Music from Big Pink (1968) and The Band (1969). Helm’s narrative, marked by candor and at times bitterness, especially toward Robbie Robertson, situates the group within the shifting landscape of 1960s and 1970s rock while foregrounding themes of collaboration, authorship, and artistic integrity.