*

Mike Hendricks

Mike at Night

Mike Hendricks recently retires as social science, criminal justice instructor at McCook Community College.

Two giants of rock 'n' roll leave us behind

Friday, April 20, 2012

I met Levon Helm when I was attending the University of Arkansas and the band he was in, Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks, were touring the southern states. It was a strange collection of folks to say the least, four Canadians and two good ole' boys from Arkansas. Ronnie, the lead singer, was from one corner of the state and Levon was from the other. They didn't get to stick around long enough for me to get to know any of them but they played the best music I had ever heard up 'til then and they haven't been beaten yet. The band eventually returned to Canada, where they played for a while longer before they split up. Ronnie was a party guy and a ladies man and the rest of the band was more into writing and performing cutting edge music so Ronnie stayed in Canada and the rest of the guys went to upstate New York. They were Bob Dylan's band for a few months before they struck out on their own, calling themselves simply "The Band." They went on to become one of the best bands ever and were immortalized in Martin Scorsese's documentary film of them called "The Last Waltz."

To Read More
Subscribe Sign In
Continue reading with a subscription
Subscription options