Electric Dirt

Dirt Farmer, former Band singer and drummer Levon Helm’s 2007 acoustic-based comeback solo album after a bout with throat cancer, sounded a touch tentative and cautious. Electric Dirt is another matter entirely—it’s a raucous romp through a century of country, blues and rock that finds Levon in terrific voice and high spirits. He and an ace crew of backing musicians eagerly dig into can’t-miss material like Randy Newman’s “Kingfish” and the Staple Singers’ “Move Along Train,” but the handful of new originals from Levon, producer and guitarist Larry Campbell and young Americana band Ollabelle (which happens to feature daughter Amy Helm) works just fine as well.