"The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down".


 

I am very fortunate in having heard this amazing song performed live by The Band on their tour in support of the s/t "brown" album. The only other live music experience I’ve had that equals it was hearing Little Village perform John Hiatt’s "Lipstick Traces" on a soundstage in Burbank in ’92. The Little Village album was not so hot, but they sure were!

The Beatles? Saw them in ’65. Hendrix? Saw him in ’68 and ’69. Cream? Saw them in ’67 and ’68. The Who? Saw them in ’68 and ’69. Who else ya wanna name? Sorry, hearing The Band live spoiled me for just about EVERYONE else. Not Iris DeMent, whom I just saw this past Thursday. Stunningly great!

 

Here’s J.R. Robertson, Eric Levon Helm, and some other guy talking about the song and its’ creation:

 

https://youtu.be/nVYBW_zCvOg?t=1

 

 

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Showing 1 response by fbpearce

“Lipstick Sunset” vis a vis “Lipstick Traces” as pointed out by the OP are different songs but both have a connection to The Band. “Sunset” thru John Hiatt and “Traces” through Allen Toussaint who wrote the song under pseudonym Naomi Neville. “Traces” was a regional hit around the Gulf South with covers by Bennie Spellman, Ernie K-Doe and later Amazing Rhythm Aces and was frequently played on WWOZ.. Allen Toussaint and Dr John along with several others from NOLA were collaborators with the band. At one time Levon Helm owned a music club in downtown NOLA.