The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
"The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" is a song written by Robbie Robertson, first recorded by The Band in 1969 and released on their self-titled second album.
Meaning of song
The lyrics tell of Virgil Caine watching as the Union Army General George Stoneman destroys the railroad where he makes a living, and then witnessing the fall of Richmond, Virginia. Virgil relates and mourns the loss of his brother, "He was just eighteen, proud and brave / But a Yankee laid him in his grave."
Robertson claimed that he had the music to the song in his head but had no idea what it was to be about. "At some point [the concept] blurted out to me. Then I went and I did some research and I wrote the lyrics to the song." Robertson continued, "When I first went down South, I remember that a quite common expression would be, 'Well don't worry, the South's gonna rise again.' At one point when I heard it I thought it was kind of a funny statement and then I heard it another time and I was really touched by it. I thought, 'God, because I keep hearing this, there's pain here, there is a sadness here.' In Americana land, it's a kind of a beautiful sadness." [1]
Contribution of Levon Helm
Adding further resonance is the vocal delivery of the song by Arkansas-bred Levon Helm, who also provides the loping, ragged beat that suits the song's defeated yet proud theme.
Context within the album and The Band's history
According to the liner notes to the 2000 reissue of "The Band" by Rob Bowman, the album, "The Band", has been viewed as a concept album, with the songs focusing on peoples, places and traditions associated with an older version of Americana.
Though never a major hit, "Dixie" was the centerpiece of The Band's self-titled second album, and, along with "The Weight" from Music From Big Pink, remains the song most identified with the group.
The song "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" is part of the The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll list.[4] It was #245 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.[2]
Covers of song
The song spawned a handful of cover versions, notably Joan Baez's top-10 version from 1971, as well as one by Richie Havens. Johnny Cash covered the song on his 1975 album John R. Cash. In addition, it was a live staple of Jerry Garcia's various solo configurations.
Of particular interest is the lyrics change made by Baez. She changed the words "there goes Robert E. Lee" to "there goes the Robert E. Lee." However, in the CD that is named "The Best of Joan Baez," there is a live recording where she sings that lyric in its more traditional form, that is "there goes Robert E. Lee." Another change on Baez's version is apparently a result of her mis-hearing the second line "Till Stoneman's cavalry came". Baez sings "Till so much calvary came". On the second verse, she changes "I don't mind chopping wood" to "I don't mind, I'm chopping wood". Baez later told Rolling Stone's Kurt Loder that she initially learned the song by listening to the recording on the Band's album, and had never seen the printed lyrics at the time she recorded it, and thus sang the lyrics as she'd (mis)heard them. In more recent years in her concerts, Baez has performed the song as originally written by Robertson. [3]
In 1972, a cover of the song named "Am Tag, als Conny Kramer starb" (which translates as "On the Day Conny Kramer Died"), was a number one hit in West Germany for singer Juliane Werding. For this version, the lyrics have not been translated, but rather changed completely to an anti-drug anthem about a young man dying because of his drug addiction -- an extremely hot topic in that year, when heroin was making the first big inroads in Germany.
Old-time musician Jimmy Arnold recorded the song on his album "Southern Soul", composed of songs associated with the southern side of the Civil War.
Steve Young recorded the song on his 1975 album Honky Tonk Man
Richie Havens performed the song on his "Live at the Cellar Door" Album in 1990.
Jerry Garcia played this tune from the Legion of Mary days with Merl Saunders until the 80's and early 90's when this was a staple song in his shows.
A cover of this song by John Denver was included in his 2001 release, John Denver The Greatest Collection.
This song has also been covered by The Black Crowes. Live versions can be found on a few of their 2005 & 2006 Instant Live recordings, and on their video "Freak and Roll into the Fog".
Jackie Greene performed the song as an encore several times on tour in 2006, later posting it online for fans.[1]
The Allman Brothers Band have also performed the song recently, including at Bonnaroo in 2005 and at the Beacon Theater in 2007.
The Twilight Singers have performed excerpts from the song on the last leg of their 2006 tour.
Michael Vermillion, a Seattle area musician, and former member of the band Vendetta Red, recorded a version, and often performs the song at his live shows.
Bruce Hornsby, a friend of Robertson's, has also covered the song at many of his live shows.
The Decemberists covered the song in the encore performance of their 7/22/07 concert at McMenamins Edgefield Manor.
Duke Special covered the song, accompanied by Brian Houston during his concert on 8/22/07 at the Empire Music Hall, Belfast.
City and Colour covered the song, with Attack in Black during a concert on 9/12/07 at the Music Hall, Toronto as well as at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival.
References
- ^ The Band: The Last Waltz
- ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/11028260/the_rs_500_greatest_songs_of_all_time/3
- ^ Kurt Loder (1983). "Joan Baez: The Rolling Stone Interview". Rolling Stone 4/14/83 (issue # 393)/4
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
