It?s Only Rock ?n Roll

A Tyson Foods-sponsored concert that could feature such legends as Bob Dylan, Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, and Arkansas native Levon Helm is still in the planning stages for Walton Arena. While no date has been officially set, the latest plan is for the concert to take place this fall.

Dylan is a longtime friend of Helm, who played drums for The Band and backed Dylan during part of his first electrified tour of England in 1966.

Sheryl Crow and Dr. John were other performers planned for the show, which could have the Max Weinberg Seven as the house band. That group appears nightly on the Conan O’Brien Show. Helm will be the musical director for the concert and proceeds will benefit the Tyson Share Our Strength food bank.

Helm, originally from Marvell, played the Fayetteville nightclubs as a youngster while touring with Ronnie Hawkins.

Helm would later be one of the most visible members of The Band, which recorded such hits as “The Weight” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.” Helm, who still has two sisters living in Northwest Arkansas, was the lead vocalist on many of The Band’s songs and played mandolin and harmonica in addition to drums.

Helm has also appeared in several movies, including playing Loretta Lynn’s father in “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” “The Right Stuff,” and more recently as a preacher in a Steven Segall film, “Fire Down Below.”

Helm fought throat cancer for the last couple of years, making him give up singing and smoking, but not performing.

No one has denied this event has been planned, but we’re cautiously optimistic about some of the headliners who might appear. As Helm once said, “That’s what they say but I’m not sure that’s true. ‘They say’ and ‘I heard’ are two of the biggest damn liars in town.”