With songs like "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down","The Weight" and "Up on Cripple Creek" The Band fused rock, blues, folk and gospel to create a sound that seemed as authentically American as a Mathew Brady photograph or a Mark Twain short story. In truth, the group had only one American — Levon Helm. Helm, the drummer and singer who brought an urgent beat and a genuine Arkansas twang to some of The Band's best-known songs, helped turn a bunch of musicians known mostly as Bob Dylan's backup group into one of rock's most legendary acts. On this episode of Radio M, Tony Sarabia laments the passing of Levon Helm.

Also on the program, Chicago Reader music writer, Peter Margasak, stops by the WBEZ studios to chat with Tony about some new music from Ceu and Joan Soriano. Plus you'll hear tracks from Gil Scott-Heron, Nina Simone, Cheikh Lo, Brooklyn Qawwali Party and so much more! This playlist program contains highlights from an episode of Radio M that originally aired on April 20th, 2012 on WBEZ 91.5 FM (Chicago Public Radio).