"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 2 responses by jpwarren58

Learned a new word. Mondegreen. I have a ton of trouble hearing lyrics correctly.

One ton of tomatoes is how I hear an earworm Hispanic song.

Ten feet long is another from a Marshall Tucker song.

So forgive and there go I.

Also the Perfect is the enemy of the good. Best is just boring. 

Birth of a Nation is an important watch if you value cinematic history in regard to the development of techniques still used to this day.

The black and white depiction of the Civil War betrays our desire for easy answers. Most northerners did not fight to end slavery. Racism was ingrained d

nationwide due to scientific, cultural, and religious justifications. The implications and inheritance of such  systemic rationalizations unfortunately still exist. I appreciate the song in question as a lament and enjoy the discussion to its meanings.  I wonder if there were any songs rueing the fall of the Roman Empire?