The Night they drove Old Dixie Down - The Band | ANDY & ALEX FIRST TIME REACTION! 

Wars started by elites sounds like it's more modern day. This time period was civil war... ish and not started by elites. Sorry that I'm off track a bit cuz this is music not politics. My apologies. Just a slightly different take

Tell that to the young people who’ve criticized it as an endorsement of slavery, the blues of slave owners, and supporting the Confederacy. Idiots probably don’t even know it was written by a Canadian with no dog in that hunt.

@@bobbyreno2990 "Elites" have always been with us.

@@bobbyreno2990 Well, the term "elites" is certainly a modern one with political baggage. The truth is a tiny percentage in the Confederacy owned slaves. But the landowners who owned slaves - and sure we can call them elites - whipped up a war to protect their economic interests and got ordinary schmoes to fight it. Same as almost every other war. (I'd make an exception for WWII and in theory Afghanistan, though the latter was only in theory: it had no clear goal or exit strategy and then lasted almost 20 years, so that makes a guy skeptical as well.)

Every war ever was started by "elites." They're very expensive to conduct

Robbie Robertson is a Canadian of half Jewish half Native ethnicity, raised partly in the city of Toronto and partly on the Six Nations Reserve outside of Toronto. He became obsessed with rockabilly and blues at an early age, learned guitar and managed to join Ronnie Hawkins & The Hawks, who were from Arkansas (Levon was the drummer). When he went down to Arkansas to rehearse with the band and work on his chops, he took in the whole culture of the Mississippi Delta and used that knowledge to eventually write songs like this.

From Ronnie Hawkins biography: In 1958, on the recommendation of Conway Twitty - who considered Canada to be the promised land for a rock'n roll singer - Hawkins came to Hamilton, Ontario to play a club called The Grange. He never left. Adopting Canada as his home, Hawkins became a permanent resident in 1964.

Very true. It is not lamenting the loss of the Confederacy but the loss of his brother, his career as a railway man, and the waste of so many lives.

Yes and about something that happened 100 yrs before that

Very well said . They were pioneers and so incredibly talented.

There is a kind of interesting irony that this song is written by a half indigenous / half Jewish Canadian. The Mohawk side of his lineage was very musical.

I’m a bit late to the party here - but just want to say that when you do one of your whole album listens The Band - The Band has to be one of those albums. You need to listen to the whole album in one sitting and then you’ll start to appreciate their greatness.

God Bless Dixie

His birthday is actually today, July 5.

Garth Hudson is 85.

I love his Music for the Native Americans-with the Red Road Ensemble.

The only 2 left.

.....and who is KILLING it on the new Scorsese movie. He does the music for it and the first two trailers have some great stuff in it. Best stuff he's ever done since the Band. Usually I don't like his movie scores, but this is really good. "Killers Of The Flower Moon", there are two amazing trailers for it. See the first one first......then see the one that dropped yesterday.

All but one was Canadian.

Levon Helm the singer and drummer was from Arkansas the only one of the 5 members not Canadian. Robbie Robertson wrote it with help from Levon to research. Robbie is First Nations born to a Cayuga and Mohawk mother.

Another song that hits the "feeling Southern by someone who isn't" is Elton John's My Father's Gun. It's beautiful and sad... And I'm still not sure how he and Bernie settled on the subject matter, but I'm glad they did.

Absolutely!! Levon poured his entire soul into that performance! I have heard that Levon never performed that song after the Last Waltz, and I can't find evidence that he ever did.

Great song firmly in the genre of "Americana". I'm so very thankful the North won, but can appreciate a masterpiece that can put you in another's shoes for a few minutes. RIP Levon!

In war, no one really wins. So much loss.

This song gives me the chills from all aspects…the pure talent from The Band, the tragedy of war, and the story told so well from the personal perspective of the storyteller.

"I guess we all died a little in that damn war" - Josey Wales.

The only loser was the confederacy.

I don’t disagree with your sentiment, but you are convoluting what happened to the Native people of America and the United States Civil War. They were both horrific events, but they’re not related.

I grew up 12 miles from Woodstock and met Levon when I was eighteen. He invited me to his studio, what a thrill.

@@waynegray1380 Nice! What a good memory. :)

@@richardsimpson9039 He's saying both sides went on to obliterate most natives in the western half of what is now teh continental US. And he's right in that happening and that it is classic US imperialism. Another pro tip: George Washington's false teeth were not made of wood.They were made of teeth from slaves.

It was written by a guy from farther north than you...

They were Bob Dylan’s band in the mid to late 60s

Correct. "The Basement Tapes" is an interesting collection of unique songs, a collaboration between Bob and The Band.

Right, after hearing this album, Clapton left Cream and wanted to join them, George Harrison had his fill of The Beatles, the Stones turned away from psychedelia and plugged into their purple patch, and Fairport Convention gave up trying to be the British Jefferson Airplane and plugged into their British roots. Not to mention Deja Vu by CSN&Y (just look at the cover!).

@@JCPJCPJCP yes. Million Dollar Bash is a favorite of mine from that lp

@@imabeliever85 they were and always will be The Band

I agree. Plus, it's a song about what my direct ancestors were put through. I guess if this didn't happen there wouldn't be Cajuns (a nickname for southern Acadians).

Levon said that the lyric refers to the actual Robert E Lee. He criticized Joan Baez’s version for putting a “the” before Lee’s name.

@@billdouglas8701 Helm didn't write the lyrics - Robbie Robertson did - and Robbie said it was referring to the steamboat.

If that were the case originally, I would think the band’s version would have Levon sing “the Robert E Lee” instead of omitting the article. Levon said he directed Robbie toward certain Civil War histories so that “General Lee would come out with all due respect.”

They started out with Ronnie Hawkins, then moved on with Bob Dylan.

This.

Yes- it’s more about the destruction that followed the war. Lincoln wanted the country to heal and the worst thing for the South was his assassination. Andrew Johnson didn’t share that sentiment and punished the South so there was little healing and the rise of the Klan followed.

The song is NOT by Levon Helm. It is a song sang by Levon Helm as a member of The Band. The song was written by Canadian Robbie Robertson of The Band.

@@BobSoltis1 Robertson definitely wrote the tune, so my error; I associate the song with Levon and should have checked. Levon and Robbie worked on the lyrics together; some say Levon deserved more of a song-writing credit than he got; he was certainly the source of knowledge regarding the post-civil war south. Call it 80% Robbie, 20% Levon.

​@@Tommeadowcroft The ONLY person who made the claim that Helm worked on the lyrics with Robertson was Helm and that was AFTER Helm became a broke-ass jealous junkie. Helm's abuse of drugs broke him and altered his mind into an almost pathological jealousy and hatred of Robertson. Helm had every opportunity to make his claim when the song was written and released. He didn't. Why? Because he had no case. He did NOT write it with Robertson - he added some drumming, possibly a word or phrase in the final mix, and maybe made some suggestions as to the arrangement. That does NOT give him any song writing credits. Everyone in the industry and in the world of copyright knows that. If any lawyer thought Helm had a chance at gaining something they would have worked on a contingency. The other band members would have backed him in court if it were true. Helm was not a songwriter. Period. He covered other people's songs his entire life. Robertson sold songs to Ronnie Hawkins when Robbie was 15 and Hawkins and his band (with Helm drumming) recorded them. Helm couldn't and didn't write back then and he died as a musician and actor and producer but not a song writer. Robbie Robertson has written songs all his life and is still doing so at age 80.

She's a great singer, but she completely fucked up the lyrics in her version

It was a radio hit, at least where I grew up. And honestly I like her version much better than this one.

Heard a rumour - maybe untrue - that her version has different lyrics because she wrote them down while listening to the song on MW radio and misheard some lines.

​@@CycolacFan It's true. For example, that part about "Stoneman's Cavalry came and tore up the tracks again" is referring to Union general George Stoneman and his 1865 raid across 6 Confederate states that covered 2000 miles . When Joan Baez covered the song she misheard the lyrics and sang it as, "So much cavalry came and tore up the tracks again..." It's odd because the Band had been Bob Dylan's backup band previously and she was Dylan's girlfriend. So, you'd think it would have been very easy for her to get an actual lyric sheet from either the band, their management or their publisher before she decided to record it.

That's the version I remember. It was on the radio a lot. I do prefer Baez's version to the Band's.

Levon gets right to my heart every time. If I’d had a son I would have named him Levon.

Damm you went to the Barn...man I betcha that was sublime 👍

​@@evangeline3152me too

Respectfully, nah. Read/listen to the lyrics: It’s about how, when they lost, they were ready for it, ready to move on. - All the bells were ringing, all the people singing: It’s the locals (Southerners) celebrating the end. He laments his lost father and brother, and is getting back to life.

About loss of loved ones, having your home and crops burned.

Strange how we're still remembering ( some would say living ) this conflict in song and sentiment.

Virgil was in the army, during the war, serving on the Danville (VA) train, moving military supplies and troops.

@@lilbuglerThe aren’t celebrating, they’re mourning.

George Harrison met the Band while visiting with Dylan in Woodstock.

They did NOT compose the music to "The Big Pink" while they were "Bob Dylan's band". The members of the band - minus Levon Helm - played as Dylan's backing band for a while but they were not backing Dylan when they moved to Woodstock and wrote and recorded the album.

Thanks to Bob Dylan and Ronnie Hawkins, we have The Band

@@HamiltonRb 👍😎

@@HamiltonRb Dylan had nothing to do with the forming of the band. As a matter of fact - they lost Levon Helm when he quit because he hated touring with Dylan. It was only after the band left Dylan and they promised not to tour with him that they convinced Helm to return to the band.

@@BobSoltis1 The original band with Dylan, was Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm, Harvey Brooks and Al Kooper. When they went on tour in 65 they included other members of the Hawks, and the reason Helm left was not that he disliked Dylan, it was that he got frustrated with the audience booing when Dylan started playing electric.

Yes - he hated touring with Dylan which is exactly what I said. Nowhere did I state he disliked Dylan.

It was written by a Canadian who was born and raised in the city of Toronto whose mother was First Nations and father was Jewish.

@BobSoltis1 , fail to see your point??? Aren't we saying the same thing?

@@telebender You left out 1/2 of his ancestry. Why is the fact his mother was an First Nations person more important than his father was Jewish? He certainly was not raised as a First Nations person. He was a city kid through and through and only visited his relatives on the reserve a few days once or twice a year.

@BobSoltis1 Wow...ok. Why so salty on a Wednesday, Bobby? Sorry, I must have misplaced the memo, putting you in charge of the editorial board that comprises my stream of consciousness. Please re-fwd. Btw, I think HR wants a chat...just sayin'.

Maybe my favorite Elton John album. But it did have a decidedly southern bias, especially with songs like "Burn Down the Mission"..

EXCELLENT explanation!! That’s exactly what this song is. Joan Baez made this a hit.

There's a great live (in a studio) version here in RU-vid that's worth seeing.

Love that song but hit a deer a couple years ago while it was playing and now always think of that when I hear it.

@@oceanfrogThat version was my introduction to the song close to ten years ago. It’s been my favorite Band song ever since.😊

@@randomperson-dy6kjSorry to hear that. I can see how it would definitely change the song for you.

Friend in the UK has truck nutz on her ‘86 Caprice hearse 😀

Yes...Well said....

Yes, these are more wonderful tracks by the boys. (note: it's actually "Acadian Driftwood" ( Canadian reference :))

Didn't Springsteen write "Atlantic City"?

Atlantic City was written by Bruce Springsteen.

@@JCPJCPJCP yes

It's on "Nebraska," of course, which is one of only two Springsteen albums I've listened to often. No reason. Not a Bruce fan. But he has written some good songs, and his music is Americana, a genre some people say The Band invented. (Sometimes I make a statement in the form of a question.)

Yes, Joan got several of the lyrics wrong. She also changed "Robert E. Lee" to "the Robert E. Lee" - from a man to a ship. Oddest of all was "I will work the land" became "I'm a working man"; she changed the lyric to one that didn't fit her gender.

I believe it is true. I've read about it in several sources.

Agreed

Definitely. Either the one on rock of ages or the one from the last waltz.

Yep, a rare case where the live version is better.

Last Waltz was perfect! Love (and miss) Levon!

But remember that the band was formed in Canada by an American - Ronnie Hawkins.

Dude, it was over 100 years ago, let it go