{{Disputed}} Even Steven Levee (born Steven Louis Levee, 1951), is an American musician, bass player, recording engineer, record producer and former nightclub concert promoter. He is best known for his work with such bands as Lifeforce, ZRS, Brad Factor:10, The Slashtones, The Freak Parade, and his production work with Hedi, Barbara Lee George, MC Magic D and Gun Hill.
Levee was born in Crown Heights, New York, United States. He attended Miami Dade Junior College in Florida as an Art major while also playing bass in various local bands. His early musical influences of The Yardbirds, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin made his approach to music raw and quite loud.
Lifeforce / Lifesource
After college, Levee and future record producer, Frank Filippetti, formed the band Life Force in 1972. Life Force's blend of Rock, Jazz, Classical and Fusion led to their deal with Paramount Records. Unfortunately the Paramount Label folded before their debut album could be released. One of their songs, "Holy Moses" in 1974, was released on Streaker Records as a single, but was wrongly credited as "Force".[1]
Life Force disbanded in 1974, but Levee and some of the other members changed their sound and formed the band Life Source. The group hit the road touring the US and Canada for the next two years with their new "Top 40s" sound.
After Life Source disbanded, Levee toured for the following three years with The Profile Band, an R&B dance band based out of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Brad Factor:10
Levee returned to New York and co-founded Brad Factor:10 (aka "The Yuppies From Hell") in 1987. The band's stage persona was "The worlds first Yuppie Heavy-Metal Band" and their music reflected that. They developed a strong "cult" following performing at major rock venues like L’Amour's, Nirvana, The Cat Club, Limelight, Black Cat, The Chance and many others. In 1988, Brad Factor:10 competed and won the "New York City Rock Wars" contest, beating out Beggars and Thieves, Skin and Bones, The Throbbs and Please (later known as Trouble Tribe). Brad Factor:10 performed with such bands as: The Tubes; Enuffz N Nuff; D' Priest, The Stuttering John Band; Circus of Power; Sophia Ramos; Cycle Sluts From Hell; Electric Angels; Pleasure Bombs; Warrior Soul, Heads Up; and Raging Slab.
Jam sessions
Beginning in 1989, Levee hosted jam sessions at many of New York City's best known rock clubs like Spodee O Dee's, Limelight, Danceteria, Space At Chase, Lion's Den, Boom and others. These jams would include musicians like: Jason Bonham, Chip Z. Nuff, Adam Bomb, Lez Warner, Ryan Roxi, Joe Lynn Turner, Mark O'Conner, LSD; Mark Wood; members of Motörhead, Jon Paris, Andy Bigan, Terry Brock, Ed Terry, Anthony Michael Hall, Herbie Trabino, Roderick Kohn, Martha Velez, Delmar Brown; Lenny Kravits; Steve Farrone; Anton Fig, Bobby Chouinard; Barry Finnerty, Jon Hammond; Paul Sheehan; Grant Green Jr and many others.
The Slashtones
In 1993, Levee was one of the original members of the band that would become known as Harry Slash & The Slashtones, later best known for their original works heard on the Extreme Championship Wrestling television programs from 1997 to 2008. Levee remained part of the band's rotating live lineup and subsequent style changes that would include current and former members of Raging Slab, Murphy's Law, The Uptown Horns, Zebra, Riot, The John Entwistle Band, Frehley's Comet and others. Levee performed live with The Slashtones until 1995, when his need for back surgery forced him to step down from the group for a time. He would return to the stage with them in 1997 and once more in 1998.
Levee remained a fixture in The Slashtones rotating studio recording cast. He appeared on the band's 1995 limited release EP "Episode One" and on several tracks heard on the ECW television programs including the theme music for Ravishing" Rick Rude, SuperCrazy and Francine.
Levee made a return to the band's extended studio family in 2008, playing the five-string fretless bass on the band's rendition of "Friends", released on the compilation CD Tribute to Led Zeppelin, "Misty Mountain Hop",
Rattlesnake Guitar
In 1995, Viceroy Music's president, Arnie Goodman invited Levee to perform on the Peter Green tribute CD, Rattlesnake Guitar. Levee put together the band of himself, guitarist Ray Gomez from the Stanley Clarke Band and drummer Bobby Chouinard, formerly of Billy Squier. They recorded two songs, "Evil Woman Blues" and "Lazy Poker Blues", with vocalists Pete McMahon and Troy Turner. Rattlesnake Guitar also included musicians from Pink Floyd, The Yardbirds, Jeff Beck Group, The Animals, Jethro Tull, Savoy Brown, David Lee Roth, The Uptown Horns, and others. Levee's work also appears on Peter Green Song Book available via import and This Is The Blues - Volume 1 and 4 released in 2010 on Eagle Records (Fontana). This Is The Blues features performances by Jeff Beck, Jack Bruce, Savoy Brown, Mick Jagger, and Rory Gallager.
Freak Parade
From 1999 to 2002, Levee was the bass player for the band Freak Parade, featuring two original founding members of Utopia, keyboardist Moogy Klingman and drummer Kevin Ellman. The band recorded and released a studio CD titled Here Comes The and several live CDs.
Currently
Levee continued to play bass with Joy Ryder and Rhythm Club TV (until Joy's death), Barbara Lee George, The 253 Boys, the recent reformation of Brad Factor:10, Buzzy Linhart, hip-hop artist TRP, and his studio band AFU GoodFriends as well as writing, producing, recording music and voice-overs.
As co-owner of i~Potato Music, Levee is producing new Hip Hop, Folk, and RnB artists with partner Arthur Steuer, including: MC Magic D, Gun Hill, AFU GoodFriends, Voice of The People with Joe Butler (Lovin' Spoonful) and i-Potato - The Adventures of Lumpy and Homefry.
Levee has also produced, engineered and played bass with singer songwriter Barbara Lee George whose CD Protected By Love was released in 2011. Levee placed Barbara's song "To Young To Die" in a 10-hour Vietnam War special scheduled to air on History Channel in November 2011.
In addition Levee produced, engineered, played bass and co wrote the music with Don Puglisi on "The Curse", a poem by Florence Kaye. "The Curse" also appears on Don Puglisi's release Goodbye New York. In addition, Puglisi and his song "Stoned On The Range" are included on Goodbye New York, and both appear in the major motion picture Taking Woodstock. Don Puglisi is also performing with punk rockers, The 253 Boys.
Chicago blues is a form of blues music that developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but is performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of African Americans of the first half of the twentieth century. Key features that distinguish Chicago blues from the earlier traditions, such as Delta blues, is the prominent use of electrified instruments, especially the electric guitar, and especially the use of electronic effects such as distortion and overdrive.
Renaissance are an English progressive rock band, best known for their 1978 UK top 10 hit "Northern Lights" and progressive rock classics like "Carpet of the Sun", "Mother Russia", and "Ashes Are Burning". They developed a unique sound, combining a female lead vocal with a fusion of classical, folk, rock, and jazz influences. Characteristic elements of the Renaissance sound are Annie Haslam's wide vocal range, prominent piano accompaniment, orchestral arrangements and vocal harmonies.
Little Games is the fourth American album by the English rock band the Yardbirds. Recorded and released in 1967, it was their first album recorded after becoming a quartet with Jimmy Page as the sole guitarist and Chris Dreja switching to bass. It was also the only Yardbirds album produced by Mickie Most.
"When the Levee Breaks" is a country blues song written and first recorded by Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe McCoy in 1929. The lyrics reflect experiences during the upheaval caused by the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927.
"Dazed and Confused" is a song written by American singer-songwriter Jake Holmes in 1967. Performed in a folk rock-style, he recorded it for his debut album "The Above Ground Sound" of Jake Holmes. Although some concluded that it was about a bad acid trip, Holmes insists the lyrics refer to the effects of a girl's indecision on ending a relationship.
The Human Beinz is an American rock band from Youngstown, Ohio. Originally known as The Premiers, the band initially featured John Richard "Dick" Belley, Joe "Ting" Markulin, Mel Pachuta, and Gary Coates (drums), later replaced by Mike Tatman.
Having a Rave Up with the Yardbirds, or simply Having a Rave Up, is the second American album by the English rock group the Yardbirds. It was released in November 1965, eight months after Jeff Beck replaced Eric Clapton on guitar. It includes songs with both guitarists and reflects the group's blues rock roots and their early experimentations with psychedelic and hard rock. The title refers to the driving "rave up" arrangement the band used in several of their songs.
The Subdudes are an American roots rock group from New Orleans. Their music blends folk, swamp pop, New Orleans rhythm and blues, Louisiana blues, country, cajun/zydeco, funk, soul and gospel with harmonic vocals. Their sound is notable for the band's substitution of a tambourine player for a drummer. The subdudes formed in 1987 through a music venue in New Orleans called Tipitina's.
"Shapes of Things" is a song by the English rock group the Yardbirds. With its Eastern-sounding, feedback-laden guitar solo and environmentalist, antiwar lyrics, several music writers have identified it as the first popular psychedelic rock song. It is built on musical elements contributed by several group members in three different recording studios in the US, and was the first Yardbirds composition to become a chart hit; when released as a single on 25 February 1966, the song reached number three in the UK and number eleven in the US.
"I Wish You Would" is a song recorded by Chicago blues musician Billy Boy Arnold in 1955. It was developed while Arnold was performing with Bo Diddley and incorporates a Diddley-style rhythm. Called "a timeless Chicago blues classic", "I Wish You Would" is Arnold's best-known song and has been recorded by several artists, including the Yardbirds, who recorded it for their debut single in 1964.
Harry Slash & The Slashtones are an American musical group, formed in 1993 by New York native Harry Slash under the name "Harry & The Slashtones". Harry would later change the band's name many times, from "The Slashtones", to "Life?!","Not The Slashtones" and then to "Harry Slash & The Slashtones" during the era that Harry Slash produced music for Extreme Championship Wrestling. Their best known songs are the ECW theme, Taz's theme and Sabu's theme. After Extreme Championship Wrestling went bankrupt in 2001, Harry Slash continued to record and perform with the band after changing its name back to "The Slashtones". After several years of inactivity the band’s name was changed back to Harry Slash & The Slashtones in 2023 when they began recording again. The name of the band is a parody of Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, itself a play on Dick Dale and the Del-Tones.
"Train Kept A-Rollin'" is a song first recorded by American jazz and rhythm and blues musician Tiny Bradshaw in 1951. Originally performed in the style of a jump blues, Bradshaw borrowed lyrics from an earlier song and set them to an upbeat shuffle arrangement that inspired other musicians to perform and record it. Johnny Burnette and the Rock and Roll Trio made an important contribution in 1956 – they reworked it as a guitar riff-driven song, which features an early use of intentionally distorted guitar in rock music.
Sonny Boy Williamson & the Yardbirds is a live album by Chicago blues veteran Sonny Boy Williamson II backed by English rock band the Yardbirds. It was recorded at the Crawdaddy Club in Richmond, Surrey on December 8, 1963. However, the performances were not released until early 1966, after a string of Top 40 hits by the Yardbirds.
"Too Much Monkey Business" is a song written and recorded by Chuck Berry, released by Chess Records in September 1956 as his fifth single. It was also released as the third track on his first solo LP, After School Session, in May 1957; and as an EP. The single reached number four on Billboard magazine's Most Played R&B In Juke Boxes chart, number 11 on the Most Played R&B by Jockeys chart and number seven on the R&B Top Sellers in Stores chart in the fall of 1956.
"Treat Her Right" is a soul music song, with a standard 12-bar-blues structure. Written by Roy Head and Gene Kurtz, it was recorded by Head and The Traits and released on the Back Beat label in 1965.
"Good Morning, School Girl" is a blues standard that has been identified as an influential part of the blues canon. Pre-war Chicago blues vocalist and harmonica pioneer John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson first recorded it in 1937. Subsequently, a variety of artists have recorded versions of the song, usually calling it "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl".
"Don't Start Me Talkin'" is a blues song written and performed by Sonny Boy Williamson II. It was Williamson's first single recorded for Checker Records, and reached number three in the US Billboard R&B chart in 1955.
The Yardbirds are an English rock band, formed in London in 1963. The band started the careers of three of rock's most famous guitarists: Eric Clapton (1963–1965), Jeff Beck (1965–1966) and Jimmy Page (1966–1968), all of whom ranked in the top five of Rolling Stone magazine's list of 100 greatest guitarists. The band's other members during 1963–1968 were vocalist/harmonica player Keith Relf, drummer Jim McCarty, rhythm guitarist Chris Dreja, and bassist Paul Samwell-Smith, with Dreja switching to bass when Samwell-Smith departed in 1966. The band had a string of hits throughout the mid-1960s, including "For Your Love", "Heart Full of Soul", "Shapes of Things", and "Over Under Sideways Down".
"Rattlesnake Shake" is a song by British rock group Fleetwood Mac, written by guitarist Peter Green, which first appeared on the band's 1969 album Then Play On. The track was one of the band's crowd-favorites in the late 1960s.
"A Certain Girl" is a rhythm and blues song written by Allen Toussaint, with the credit listed under his pen name Naomi Neville. New Orleans R&B singer Ernie K-Doe recorded it in 1961. Minit Records released the song as the B-side of "I Cried My Last Tear".
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