Larry Campbell

Campbell eventually found kindred spirits in musicians such as Happy and Artie Traum, John Sebastian and Eric Anderson, all of whom congregated in Woodstock along with the Band. He also played regular gigs at New York City’s Lone Star Café. He backed Doug Sahm, the Texas singer and songwriter who had himself once emulated the Beatles, back in the days of the Sir Douglas Quintet and hits such as “She’s About a Mover” and “Mendocino.”

“He was a total character,” Campbell says of Sahm, who died in 1999. “Anybody from Texas who talks that fast, you gotta know you can’t trust him. But he had the kind of personality that meant you’d just forgive him anything, and you just loved him.”

Although Campbell is perhaps best known as a member of Bob Dylan’s band from 1997 until 2004, the guitarist is slightly circumspect about his tenure with the great songwriter. “I was with him for eight years, and I’m still trying to digest that experience,” he says. “It was something I had hoped would be what Levon’s thing has turned out to be.” 

Campbell’s work on Helm’s Dirt Farmer is first-rate. Still, it’s Knight’s Let Us Get Together that might illustrate Campbell’s musicianship in its most pure form. Now in her 80s, the Florida-born gospel singer had never listened to Gary Davis’ music. She sings great songs on the order of “Death Don’t Have No Mercy” and “You Got to Move” in her precise and commanding voice, with Campbell’s Piedmont-style guitar backing her all the way.
“Once Marie started singing, it was, ‘OK, all bets are off,’” Campbell recalls. “I first heard about Marie many years ago from the recordings she did with [gospel singer and guitarist] Sister Rosetta Tharpe. I figured that the only thing we’re gettin’ from Gary Davis is his great material. You know, a lot of times, the best thing you can do is just get out of your own way, and let it happen.” 

The Levon Helm Band
Tuesday, April 8
Tennessee Theatre (604 S. Gay St.) / 8 p.m. / $46.50