"The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down".

@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. 

@bdp24 

Thanks, once again, for the deep dive into music and those who make it possible to enjoy great performances in our homes.  As much as I enjoy technical conversations about Litz inductors (and, flux capacitors), these conversations are refreshing and time well spent.

On a personal note, I spent a few days in Gettysburg last month along with around 600 other delegates (an equal number of "reds" and "blues") to try to find ways to hold this country together.  Gettysburg was certainly symbolic of a time when American's weren't getting along very well with each other. I was driving about a week ago, listening to Tidal when Joan's cover of the song came on. I've heard this song dozens of times over the decades, but this time it really hit home to me, and created an emotional response.  

And, yes,  Festival Express is a fun video to watch.

Thanks again for the post.

When in the early-to-mid 1970’s mainstream Rock music became unpalatable to myself and others like me (I won’t name any of the bands and solo acts I’m speaking of), an underground movement took place in which we began following the breadcrumbs left over the years, following them back to the music that little-by-little led to the Rock ’n’ Roll music of the 1960’s upon we which we grew up listening to.

What we discovered were the roots of the music (Hillbilly, Jump Blues, etc.), almost all of which had come from the Southern States, Tennessee and Alabama being two of the major ones. And though that part of the country was still largely segregated, Rock ’n’ Roll had evolved from both the white and black cultures. A major reason early Rock ’n’ Roll shows were becoming prohibited in many cities was because the elders didn’t want the "races" mixing, which they saw happening at R & R shows.

In late-1979 and into 1980 I met and became slightly acquainted with the guys in Dwight Twilley’s band, all of whom had relocated from Tulsa to L.A. They all had that Oklahoma "drawl", and I learned that they had grown up in a very different culture than had we California boys. I had considered Oklahoma a Mid-West state, but I learned otherwise. It is located directly above Texas, and is part of the South.

Twilley’s guitarist Bill Pitcock IV had few interests outside of not just R & R music, but even just the music he, Dwight, and the other band members were themselves making. They didn’t have record collections, hi-fi’s, or even cars, and were almost complete unaware of the music other bands were making. All Bill did all day---sitting around the house Twilley’s record label paid the rent on---was play a huge "Civil War" board game, chain-smoke cigarettes, and guzzle coke from a liter bottle. Though only in his late-20’s, his teeth were already very rotted. He ended up dying of lung cancer at age 58. He had long ago moved back to Tulsa, as had Twilley. In his last years Bill made his only solo album (CD only), which I suggest you at-all-costs avoid hearing. It’s REALLY awful. His guitar playing with Dwight---and The Dwight Twilley Band’s drummer Phil Seymour, who left the band after the Twilley Don’t Mind album for a solo career---on the other hand, is fantastic!

I tell the above in the effort to make the point that growing up in the South---as did The Band’s Levon Helm---instills in one a different view of the history of The United States than does growing up in The North. That view is at the heart of "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", and that a Canadian could tell that story so well is a testament to the talents of Robbie Robertson. Rest In Peace, you rascal you 😊 .

In my opinion, if music lacks the Southern element, it ain’t Rock ’n’ Roll.

Learned a new word. Mondegreen. I have a ton of trouble hearing lyrics correctly.

One ton of tomatoes is how I hear an earworm Hispanic song.

Ten feet long is another from a Marshall Tucker song.

So forgive and there go I.

Also the Perfect is the enemy of the good. Best is just boring. 

@bdp24 how do you think the song would be different if a Southern black person had written it?  Let's face it, most Americans don't sing songs lamenting how bad it must have been to be a German in 1945 when the Russians crossed the Oder River.  And it was really bad.