"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
Having a Southern heritage myself it always dismays me when entire swaths of people are vilified, as if they acted in unity to commit "evil". Viewed through the lens of todays (hopefully) forward thinking, enlightened perspective we can easily analyze past practices that never should have been allowed to happen. To my way of thinking we should all dust off our copy of Randy Newman's classic album "Good Old Boys" and give a close listen to one of the greatest album lead-off songs: "Rednecks" |
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…. |
Well said @rettrussell.
Unknowingly found myself on the (right-side of town) during a very first Memphis trip searching for a late night Pizzeria to-go. Found one, walked into the establishment with shall I say, "all eyes on me." Brought on a smile. The Joint was literally packed from top to bottom and here comes strolling in this only Caucasian with ... hey, how’s the Pizza here? The Pizza is very good! Parents never taught color or race ... equality.
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“Lipstick Sunset” vis a vis “Lipstick Traces” as pointed out by the OP are different songs but both have a connection to The Band. “Sunset” thru John Hiatt and “Traces” through Allen Toussaint who wrote the song under pseudonym Naomi Neville. “Traces” was a regional hit around the Gulf South with covers by Bennie Spellman, Ernie K-Doe and later Amazing Rhythm Aces and was frequently played on WWOZ.. Allen Toussaint and Dr John along with several others from NOLA were collaborators with the band. At one time Levon Helm owned a music club in downtown NOLA.
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One movie I still need to see is Birth Of A Nation. One of my longtime faves is To Kill A Mockingbird, which just yesterday I again watched for the first time in years.
One of my sisters recently reminded me of an incident that occurred long ago. After the death of her husband (my Dad’s Father) in early-1969, my paternal Grandmother moved to San Jose to live with us. One afternoon the sister heard the doorbell rang, then ring again. She exited her bedroom and stepped into the hallway that led to the front door. She saw the Grandmother standing at the far end of it, peaking around the corner where the hallway met the entrance foyer. The sister thought that odd, and headed down the hallway to see what was going on. The grandmother saw her coming, put out her arm to stop her, and said "Don’t answer the door Robyn, there’s a big black n*gg*er outside." My friends found that story hysterical, again and again insisting I tell it.
My High School was attended mostly by white kids; we had a smattering of Hispanics and Asians. and only one black male. He just happened to play guitar, and every musician I knew in 1967 wanted him in his or her band. Blues was the dominant musical style, and Hendrix and Cream were leading the pack. Having a black musician in your band gave you instant credibility!
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