Levon (song) Levon (song) "Levon" is a song written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin and recorded by Elton John. John recorded it on February 27, 1971 and released it on his fourth album, "Madman Across the Water". Backing vocals are provided by Tony Burrows. The song reached number 24 on the U.S. "Billboard" Hot 100, and peaked at number six on the Canadian RPM singles chart. According to Gus Dudgeon, Bernie Taupin was inspired by The Band's co-founder, drummer and singer Levon Helm to name the song after him. The Band was apparently John and Taupin's favourite group at the time.
Zachary Leader Zachary Leader Zachary Leader (born 1946) is a professor of English Literature at the University of Roehampton. He was an undergraduate at Northwestern University, and did graduate work at Trinity College, Cambridge and Harvard University, where he was awarded a PhD in English in 1977. Although born and raised in the U.S. he has lived for over forty years in the U.K., and has dual British and American citizenship. His best-known works are "The Letters of Kingsley Amis" (2001),"The Life of Kingsley Amis" (2007), a finalist for the 2008 Pulitzer Prize in Biography, UK; 2007, US), and "The Life of