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"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

 

 

128x128bdp24

Showing 4 responses by stuartk

stuartk
2,376 posts
 

@bdp24 

The Brown Album is a top 10 favorite of mine and "Lipstick Sunset" one of my favorite tracks off "Bring the Family". It's too bad that same group didn't click when they went into the studio to record "Slow Turning". Can you imagine how Cooder and company might've handled the likes of "Icy Blue Heart", "Paper Thin" or "Feels Like Rain" ?  

We diverge a bit when it come to TNTDODD. I've simply heard that song over the airwaves too many times to enjoy it, now. In fact, Classic Rock radio has ruined quite a few songs for me, but I digress. TNTDODD seems to be the one song that people who know nothing about the Band recognize --  the equivalent to R. Thompson's "1952 Vincent Black Lightning".

At this point, I could happily live without ever hearing either song again but this is a minor quibble. 

stuartk
2,376 posts
 

@bdp24

Explanation:

I read an interview with Hiatt in which he stated that his intention was to record Slow Turning with the Bring the Family group; that in fact they went into the studio and began running down the songs but that the band was not clicking with the material, which is why other players ended up on the record.

Sonny Landreth is a killer player but I'm not drawn to his songwriting. 

I found Slow Turning disappointing but unlike you, I eventually gave up on Hiatt because I've yet to hear an album that's not inconsistent. I liked Walk On and Crossing Muddy River for awhile but they're no longer in my collection. I saw him live on a solo acoustic tour and it was great, BTW.

stuartk
2,376 posts
 

@bdp24 

Another disappointment from the group was their sole Little Village album.

Yeah-- the fist and only time I listened to that, I thought "WTF is this?" 

I'm not familiar with "The New Basement Tapes" but then again, I was never a fan of the old ones, despite repeated attempts. 

 

 

stuartk
2,376 posts
 

@onhwy61 

Who from The Band could play in LZ?  Robbie R. could and so could Garth.

Garth -- OK -- he can play just about anything. I love The Band and I'm not a Zep fanatic by any means but RR?  Maybe you're joking? 

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