American Son (album)
Encyclopedia
American Son is a Country Rock
Country rock
Country rock is sub-genre of popular music, formed from the fusion of rock with country. The term is generally used to refer to the wave of rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s, beginning with Bob Dylan and The Byrds; reaching its greatest...

 album by American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....

 Levon Helm
Levon Helm
Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm , is an American rock multi-instrumentalist and actor who achieved fame as the drummer and frequent lead and backing vocalist for The Band....

, who is most famous for his work as drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...

 for rock group The Band
The Band
The Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...

. It was released in October 1980 on MCA Records
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...

, and was Helm's third studio album. This album was generally considered Levon Helm's best solo work until the release of Dirt Farmer
Dirt Farmer
Dirt Farmer is an album by American musician Levon Helm, former drummer for The Band. The album was released on October 30, 2007 on Vanguard Records, and was Helm's first studio album since 1982. The album contains covers of songs by Steve Earle and J. B. Lenoir, and features his daughter Amy, as...

in 2007.

Background

Helm played the part of Loretta Lynn
Loretta Lynn
Loretta Lynn is an American country music singer-songwriter, author and philanthropist. Born in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky to a coal miner father, Lynn married at 13 years old, was a mother soon after, and moved to Washington with her husband, Oliver Lynn. Their marriage was sometimes tumultuous; he...

's father in 1980 film Coal Miner's Daughter
Coal Miner's Daughter
Coal Miner's Daughter is a 1980 American biographical film which tells the story of country music icon Loretta Lynn. It stars Sissy Spacek in her Academy Award for Best Actress winning role, Tommy Lee Jones, Beverly D'Angelo and Levon Helm, and was directed by Michael Apted.-Background:The film was...

, and was asked to record a version of Bill Monroe
Bill Monroe
William Smith Monroe was an American musician who created the style of music known as bluegrass, which takes its name from his band, the "Blue Grass Boys," named for Monroe's home state of Kentucky. Monroe's performing career spanned 60 years as a singer, instrumentalist, composer and bandleader...

's "Blue Moon of Kentucky
Blue Moon of Kentucky
"Blue Moon of Kentucky" is a waltz written in 1946 by bluegrass musician Bill Monroe and recorded by his band, The Blue Grass Boys. The song has since been recorded by many artists, including Elvis Presley....

" for the film's soundtrack. The session went well, and producer Fred Carter, Jr.
Fred Carter, Jr.
Fred Carter, Jr. was an American guitarist, singer, producer and composer.- Early career :Carter was raised in the delta country in Winnsboro, the seat of Franklin Parish in northeastern Louisiana. Carter grew up with the heavy musical influences of jazz, country & western, hymns, and blues...

 decided to cut more tracks. Using a band of veteran Nashville session players, Carter & Helm recorded 20 tracks over 2 weeks, half of which ended up on American Son.

Track listing

  1. "Watermelon Time in Georgia" (Harlan Howard
    Harlan Howard
    Harlan Perry Howard was a prolific American songwriter, principally in country music. In a career spanning six decades, Howard wrote a large number of popular and enduring songs, recorded by a variety of different artists...

    ) – 3:53
  2. "Dance Me Down Easy" (Larry Henley, Billy Burnette
    Billy Burnette
    William Beau "Billy" Burnette III is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter who was part of the band Fleetwood Mac from 1987 to 1995. Burnette also had a brief career in acting.-Family background:...

    ) – 2:51
  3. "Violet Eyes" (Tom Kimmel
    Tom Kimmel
    Tom Kimmel , is an American singer-songwriter and poet.Tom Kimmel grew up largely in small towns in south Alabama...

    ) – 3:10
  4. "Stay With Me" (Fred Carter) – 3:03
  5. "America's Farm" (Ronnie Rogers
    Ronnie Rogers
    Randall "Ronnie" Rogers is an American country music singer and songwriter. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Rogers charted eight singles on the Billboard country charts, including the top 40 hits "Gonna Take My Angel Out Tonight" and "My Love Belongs to You." He recorded for the Lifesong, Epic...

    ) – 3:09
  6. "Hurricane" (Keith Stegall
    Keith Stegall
    Robert Keith Stegall is an American country music recording artist and record producer. Active since 1980, Stegall has recorded two-major label studio albums: 1985's Keith Stegall and 1996's Passages...

    , Stewart Harris, Thom Schuyler) – 4:04
  7. "China Girl" (Joe New, Jeff Silbar) – 3:19
  8. "Nashville Wimmin" (Harland Howard) – 4:13
  9. "Blue House of Broken Hearts" (Bill Martin, Todd Cerney
    Todd Cerney
    Todd Cerney was an American songwriter and musician.He composed "Good Morning Beautiful", a 2002 five-week country number one hit for Steve Holy ; "The Blues Is My Business" , part of Etta James' 2003 Grammy Award winning album "Let's Roll"; and "I'll Still Be Loving You", a 1987...

    ) – 3:29
  10. "Sweet Peach Georgia Wine" (Ronnie Reynolds) – 3:51


Personnel

  • Levon Helm – drums, vocals, background vocals, harmonica
  • Jerry Shook - guitar, mandolin
  • Buddy Emmons
    Buddy Emmons
    Buddy Emmons , is an American guitarist.Emmons has been called "The World's Foremost Steel Guitarist" and his talent is greatly admired by fellow steel guitarists...

     - steel guitar
  • Kenneth Buttrey - drums
  • Jerry Carrigan
    Jerry Carrigan
    Jerry Carrigan is an American drummer and record producer born 13 September 1943 in Florence, Alabama. He first achieved widespread recognition by being part of the first wave of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and later as a session musician in Nashville, Tennessee for over 3 decades...

     - drums
  • Hargus "Pig" Robbins - piano, electric piano
  • Bobby Ogdin - organ, electric piano
  • Billy Sanford - guitar
  • Henry Strzelecki - bass, background vocals
  • Mitch Humphries - organ, background vocals
  • Steve Gibson - guitar, electric guitar
  • Steve Schaffer - bass
  • Clifford Robertson - organ
  • Beegie Adair - piano
  • Todd Cerney
    Todd Cerney
    Todd Cerney was an American songwriter and musician.He composed "Good Morning Beautiful", a 2002 five-week country number one hit for Steve Holy ; "The Blues Is My Business" , part of Etta James' 2003 Grammy Award winning album "Let's Roll"; and "I'll Still Be Loving You", a 1987...

     - background vocals
  • Buzz Cason - background vocals
  • Buster Phillips - drums

Technical personnel

  • Jim Foglesong - executive producer
  • Fred Carter, Jr.
    Fred Carter, Jr.
    Fred Carter, Jr. was an American guitarist, singer, producer and composer.- Early career :Carter was raised in the delta country in Winnsboro, the seat of Franklin Parish in northeastern Louisiana. Carter grew up with the heavy musical influences of jazz, country & western, hymns, and blues...

    – producer, arranger, guitar, background vocals
  • Joe Mills – engineer
  • Ernie Winfrey - engineer
  • Bobby Bradley - assistant engineer
  • George Osaki – art direction
  • Andy Engel – design
  • Joo Chung - cover illustration

Chart performance

Chart (1980) Peak
position
Canadian RPM Country Albums 24
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