Personnel includes: Levon Helm (vocals, drums); Dan Ferguson, Larry Byrom, Jimmy Johnson, Steve Cropper (guitars); Lou Marini (alto & tenor saxophone); Howard Johnson (baritone saxophone);, Barry Becket, Randy McCormick (keyboards); Scott Edwards, David Hood (bass), Willie Hall (drums, percussion); Roger Hawkins (drums); Ernie Cate, Earl Cate, Mary Berry (background vocals).

Engineers include: Bruce Robb, Seve Melon and Gregg Hamm.

Recorded at Cherokee Recording Studios, Hollywood and Muscle Shoals Sound Studios, Sheffield, Alabama.

Levon Helm's second solo album isn't a bad listen, it just seems, given its pedigree, that it should be a good deal better than it is. Produced by Donald "Duck" Dunn of the legendary Booker T. & the MG's, and featuring Steve Cropper and the Muscle Shoals session crew, this outing ought to cook with some serious funk and soul, and that it only occasionally does so is the big surprise. Helm's Arkansas drawl gives his singing an authentic sounding expressiveness, but somehow nothing here has the easy, natural sounding ring that was the trademark of his best work with the Band. Not that there aren't solid tracks here. Covers of Allen Toussaint's "Play Something Sweet," Tony Joe White's "I Came Here to Party," and the Cate Brothers tune, "Standing on a Mountain Top" (which boasts Earl and Ernie Cate on harmony vocals), all have wonderful horn charts and soulful approaches. But something intangible is missing, as if these tunes simply sound like they have soul without actually possessing it. True, Helm's version of Al Green's "Take Me to the River" brightens things up here, but the song is so good and durable that not even a Muppet could blow it as long as the arrangement is followed. It's interesting that Dunn himself doesn't play bass on this album. Maybe that's what's missing. Again, this isn't a bad album, just a surprisingly lifeless one, given the talent involved. ~ Steve Leggett

Levon Helm's third solo album has the same producer as his second, Donald "Duck" Dunn (of Booker T. & the MG's fame), features the same Muscle Shoals gang, and even boasts guitarist Steve Cropper (also of the MG's) back for another go-around. Increasing this d‚j… vu feeling, it is also entitled Levon Helm, the same modest title that was given to the 1978 album. Unfortunately, it also has the same problems. Given the participants here, this thing should absolutely drip with soul and sharp grooves, but instead it unfolds in a professional manner without ever really catching fire. Helm's Arkansas drawl still gives his vocals an affecting personality, the playing is solid, and the songs, which are mostly covers, ought to really cook, but somehow they just don't. There isn't anything patently wrong with the versions here of "Money" or "Willie and the Hand Jive," because both are proven vehicles, but Helm adds little definition to either, and while the Band grooved seemingly effortlessly in its own back porch style, the players here seem to struggle to even lift these old chestnuts off the ground. It is a mystery why this album, given the high level of talent participating here, seems so lifeless and by-the-numbers. You really want to like this thing, and it certainly isn't horrible, but after hearing it once, there is no strong urge to hear it again. ~ Steve Leggett

Dirty Linen (Apr/May 93, p.68) - "...The emphasis is pretty much a straight Stax/Volt Southern R&B style..."