Personnel: Levon Helm (vocals, harmonica, drums, background vocals); Fred Carter, Jr. (guitar, mandolin, background vocals); Jerry Shook (guitar, mandolin); Billy Sandford, Steve Gibson , Robbie Robertson, Steve Cropper (guitar); Paul Butterfield (harmonica, background vocals); Garth Hudson (accordion); Lou Marini (saxophone); Howard Johnson (baritone saxophone, tuba); Alan Rubin (trumpet); Tom "Bones" Malone (trombone); Hargus "Pig" Robbins (piano, electric piano); Mitch Humphries (piano, organ, background vocals); Beegie Adair (piano); Bobby Ogdin (electric piano, organ); Clifford Robertson (organ); Booker T. Jones (keyboards, percussion); Buster Phillips, Kenneth A. Buttrey, Jerry Carrigan (drums); Emmeretta Marks, John Flamingo, Todd Cerney, Buzz Cason (background vocals).

Liner Note Author: Terry Reilly.

Arrangers: Donald "Duck" Dunn; Fred Carter, Jr.; Levon Helm.

Released shortly after the unexpected comeback success of 2007's DIRT FARMER, LEVON HELM AND THE RCO ALL-STARS/AMERICAN SON is a two-albums-on-one-CD set that reissues Levon Helm's first two solo records. Released in 1977, LEVON HELM AND THE RCO ALL-STARS maintains the loose, rangy feel of the Band's THE LAST WALTZ sets, featuring a number of vintage old R&B and early rock-and-roll songs. AMERICAN SON (1980), Helm's best known solo record, is a country-tinged collection of soulful rockers recorded in Nashville as the drummer and actor was filming a major part in the film COAL MINER'S DAUGHTER.