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American Son is a studio album by American country rock musician Levon Helm, who is most famous for his work as drummer for the rock group the Band. It was released in October 1980 on MCA Records and was Helm's third studio album. It had generally been considered Levon Helm's best solo work until the release of Dirt Farmer in 2007.

American Son
Studio album by Levon Helm
Released	1980
Studio	Bradley's Barn, Mount Juliet, Tennessee
Genre	Country rock
Length	35:20
Label	MCA
Producer	Fred Carter, Jr.
Levon Helm chronology
Levon Helm (1978) American Son (1980) Levon Helm (1982)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Rolling Stone	favorable[2]

Background

Helm played the part of Loretta Lynn's father in the 1980 film Coal Miner's Daughter and was asked to record a version of Bill Monroe's "Blue Moon of Kentucky" for the film's soundtrack. The session went well, and producer Fred Carter, Jr., decided to cut more tracks. Using a band of veteran Nashville session players, Carter and Helm recorded 20 tracks over two weeks, half of which ended up on American Son.[3]

Critical reception

Billboard's reviewers noted that the album was more rock-like than country-like and pleasant to listen to. The authors also suggested that due to the success of the film, which starred Levon Helm, sales of the disc will be high.[4]

Track listing

1. "Watermelon Time in Georgia" (Harlan Howard) – 3:53
2. "Dance Me Down Easy" (Larry Henley, Billy Burnette) – 2:51
3. "Violet Eyes" (Tom Kimmel) – 3:10
4. "Stay with Me" (Fred Carter) – 3:03
5. "America's Farm" (Ronnie Rogers) – 3:09
6. "Hurricane" (Keith Stegall, Stewart Harris, Thom Schuyler) – 4:04
7. "China Girl" (Joe New, Jeff Silbar) – 3:19
8. "Nashville Wimmin" (Howard) – 4:13
9. "Blue House of Broken Hearts" (Bill Martin, Todd Cerney) – 3:29
10. "Sweet Peach Georgia Wine" (Ronnie Reynolds) – 3:51

Personnel

• Levon Helm – drums, vocals, background vocals, harmonica
• Jerry Shook – guitar, mandolin
• Buddy Emmons – steel guitar
• Kenneth Buttrey – drums
• Jerry Carrigan – drums
• Hargus "Pig" Robbins – piano, electric piano
• Bobby Ogdin – organ, electric piano
• Billy Sanford – guitar
• Henry Strzelecki – bass, background vocals
• Mitch Humphries – organ, background vocals
• Steve Gibson – guitar, electric guitar
• Steve Schaffer – bass
• Clifford Robertson – organ
• Beegie Adair – piano
• Todd Cerney – background vocals
• Buzz Cason – background vocals
• Buster Phillips – drums

Technical personnel

• Jim Foglesong – executive producer
• Fred Carter, Jr. – producer, arranger, guitar, background vocals
• Joe Mills – engineer
• Ernie Winfrey – engineer
• Bobby Bradley – assistant engineer
• George Osaki – art direction
• Andy Engel – design
• Joo Chung – cover illustration

Chart performance

Chart (1980)	Peak position
Canadian RPM Country Albums	24

References

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