Album: Levon Helm, Ramble at the Ryman (Vanguard)

Reviewed by Nick Coleman

Sunday 29 May 2011

Recorded live in hometown Woodstock, Helm and his excellent band apply themselves to a dozen tunes from recent solo outings, the Band's back catalogue and the top end of the R&B canon.

Guests include Sheryl Crow and John Hiatt. The vibe is convivial. And though the great man can't put his cancer-strangled voice to every number, he can still swing the nuts off a Slingerland kit in between chesting a nifty mandolin. Other stars? Guitarist Larry Campbell and the horns. Good times.

Suggested Topics
Arts & Entertainment
Justin Bieber shocked fans by announcing his plans to retire

Has Christmas come early? Justin Bieber announces 'retirement'

arts + ents
Voices

Get your hands on an original Chapman Brothers artwork

elephant appealThe first 23 lots in our charity auction have now gone. But there are 22 more still up for grabs
News

DNA from 50,000 year old toe shows Neanderthals were highly inbred

science
Sport

Fights to bites: The top 10 sporting villains of 2013

sportForget the year’s heroes, here are the sporting baddies including Suarez the muncher, Warner the puncher and a dose of drug cheats
VIDEO
Arts & Entertainment
A born natural: Miranda Hart as Chummy Noakes in 'Call the Midwife'

A special delivery: Behind the scenes on the set of 'Call the Midwife'

tv
Arts & Entertainment
Charlotte Gainsbourg is the lead character in Lars Von Trier's Nymphomaniac

Nymphomaniac – it arouses the intellect too

filmReview: Von Trier's film is incredibly graphic in parts, but it is still a serious art house drama
Life & Style
Introducing my glamorous assistant: some modern magicians combine traditional skills with technology

The open-sorcerers

tech

The magicians using online collaboration to push boundaries
Life & Style
Winter gape: the window wonderland display this year has a magical effect on some of Selfridges' younger customers

Wish it could be Christmas every day?

lifeIt takes year-long dedication to get Selfridges ready for 25 December. And they're already working on plans for 2015...
Arts & Entertainment
Picasso's 'Man with Opera Hat' is being auctioned online for €100 in association with Sotheby's

Now that’s surreal

artPicasso masterpiece valued at €1m sold at charity auction for £84
Voices
Estimates of the number of forest elephants range from 24,000 to 209,000

Logging allows poachers to pick off the African forest elephant at will

elephant appeal
News
This picture tweeted by Oxfam's campaigns and policy director appears to show a Boris Bike turning up in Gambia

How did a Boris Bike end up in The Gambia?

news
News
The actress almost hit the headlines for the wrong reasons when she confused the problems during a recent interview

'It should be illegal to call someone fat on TV'

people

Jennifer Lawrence attacks mass media again over body image

Arts & Entertainment
N-Dubz star Fazer has been declared bankrupt, court records have confirmed.

Ouch! N Dubz star Fazer declared bankrupt

arts + ents
Arts & Entertainment
Tom Hiddleston (Coriolanus) in 'Coriolanus' at the Donmar

Coriolanus review: Tom Hiddleston has blazing stellar power

theatre
News
The brothers, known for their catchphrase “To me, to you”, will sit it on lunchtime news conferences at Northern Echo

To me to news: Chuckle Brothers to guest edit local paper

people
Arts & Ents blogs

‘True Talk’ by Logic – Why Hip Hop remains a powerful way to provide social commentary

Last Tango in Halifax – Series 2, Episode 5

The Children’s Book Blog Christmas Countdown: Constable & Toop by Gareth P. Jones

Independent
Travel Shop
Bruges by Eurostar
Three nights from £259pp Find out more
All-inclusive Malta
seven nights from £249pp Find out more
Pompeii, Capri and the Bay of Naples
seven nights from £719 Find out more
Elephant Appeal donate now >

independent images

SPONSORED FEATURES

Five things to do for a fiver in London this December

This Christmas, you can park in one of NCP’s ten most popular London car parks for just £5 for six hours of parking at selected times during weekdays and the weekend.

Prizes & offers Business videos

Enter the latest Independent competitions

Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page.

NCP Parking Business videos

Business videos from commercial thought leaders

Watch the best in the business world give their insights into the world of business.

NCP Parking Prizes & offers

ES Rentals

    Independent Dating
    and  

    By clicking 'Search' you
    are agreeing to our
    Terms of Use.

    The death of Dr Abbas Khan asks more questions about the Syrian regime than it answers

    Patrick Cockburn

    The death of Dr Abbas Khan asks more questions about the Syrian regime than it answers
    A new nation with old hatreds: More than 500 people feared dead after 'failed coup' in South Sudan

    A new nation with old hatreds

    More than 500 people feared dead after 'failed coup' in South Sudan
    The children who join the Cubs... and learn to kill people: Al-Qa’ida-led factions in Syria are training boys as young as 10 to become rebel fighters

    The children who join the Cubs... and learn to kill people

    Al-Qa’ida-led factions in Syria are training boys as young as 10 to become rebel fighters
    Why we must save the banana

    Why we must save the banana

    The healthy snack is under threat, with insect plagues reducing global supplies. Rosie Millard wonders where we’d be without the lovable fruit and its comic potential
    Wish it could be Christmas every day?

    Wish it could be Christmas every day?

    It takes year-long dedication to get Selfridges ready for 25 December. And they're already working on 2015...
    Call the Midwife - a special delivery

    A special delivery: Behind the scenes on the set of 'Call the Midwife'

    Ahead of its Christmas Day special, Gerard Gilbert meets the scene-stealing Miranda Hart
    It's a kind of hi-tech magic

    The open-sorcerers

    Traditionally, magicians have kept their secrets to themselves. But a growing number of illusionists believe the future lies in a hi-tech approach
    Chess on the radio: play it by ear

    Play it by ear: Chess on the radio

    It's an interesting move but not unprecedented. Jon Speelman celebrates the revival of the fine tradition of broadcasting chess games on the radio
    2013: From fights to bites - the top 10 sporting villains of the year including Lance Armstrong, Luis Suarez and David Cameron

    From fights to bites: The top 10 sporting villains of the year

    Forget the year’s heroes, here are the sporting baddies including Suarez the muncher, Warner the puncher, a dose of drug cheats and a foul-mouthed Ince
    Steve Bunce: Mike Tyson was 'in a bad place' on his 2005 UK tour – a first-night riot, no boxing questions and all he wanted to talk about was pigeons

    Steve Bunce on Boxing

    Mike Tyson was 'in a bad place' on his 2005 UK tour – a first-night riot, no boxing questions and all he wanted to talk about was pigeons
    ‘It is worth it and it is right’: A year of living dangerously for the prosecutor taking on the Mafia

    A year of living dangerously for the prosecutor taking on the Mafia

    Nino di Matteo’s life has been threatened by a jailed former boss of bosses over his investigation into links between the mob and the Italian state
    'Tightrope walker' and 'trapeze artist': François Hollande is a wimp at home and a warrior in Africa

    François Hollande: A wimp at home and a warrior in Africa

    The French President has been criticised for his interventions in Mali and CAR but insists it is not old-fashioned paternalism but a mission to save lives
    Film review: Bondage, surreal interracial sex and numerous sexual encounters, but Lars Von Trier’s Nymphomaniac is more Carl Dreyer than Russ Meyer

    Film review: Von Trier’s cerebral study of sex packed with ideas

    Bondage, surreal interracial sex and numerous sexual encounters, but Lars Von Trier’s Nymphomaniac is more Carl Dreyer than Russ Meyer
    The Wolf of Wall Street: Scorsese's lurid account of white-collar excess is a rake’s progress on steroids

    Film review: The Wolf of Wall Street

    Martin Scorsese's lurid account of white-collar excess is a rake’s progress on steroids
    FAT’s all folks: Architecture’s biggest jokers sign off in style

    FAT’s all folks: Architecture’s biggest jokers sign off in style

    The London-based design collective which has stuck two fingers up at the modernists will call it quits at Venice