Birthday: May 26, 1940

Birthplace: Marvell, Arkansas, USA

Biography: In '59 Ronnie got "The Hawks" signed to Roulette Records. They had two hits, "Forty Days" and "Mary Lou," sold 750,000 copies and appeared on Dick Clark's American Bandstand.

About 1965, Bob Dylan decided to change his sound. He was ready to "go electric" and wanted "The Hawks" to help him fire it up. The boys signed on to tour with Dylan but unfortunately Dylan's die-hard folk fans resisted. Night after night of constant booing left Levon without the pleasure of seeing his audience enjoy the... ... (read more...) mselves. Woodstock residents called them "the band," so they kept the moniker. The name "The Band" fit. The sound was no frills rock and roll but far from simplistic. They fused every musical influence they were exposed to over the years as individuals and as a unit. The result was brilliant. Their first album, Music from Big Pink, released in July of 1968, made them household names and as a result they were invited to appear on the Ed Sullivan Show in autumn of '69. Following "Big Pink's" success the next album, called simply The Band, is considered by some as their masterpiece. They made seven albums total including one live recording Rock of Ages, in 1972. Many of their hits such as "The Weight," "W.S. Walcott's Medicine Show," and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, were spawned from stories of Levon's beloved south.

The Band held a farewell concert at Winterland in San Francisco on Thanksgiving 1976.