In the name of everything sacred to man and beast, I think The Little Village album is fantastic! The Weight is among my favorite top 10 songs of all time. I am also of the opinion that Robbie absolutely smoked Clapton on Further On Up the Road on the The Last Waltz, which is also a personal all time favorite album. Now, back to your regularly scheduled program….
"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