The Band - The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
They were four kids that grew up in rural Ontario Canada, listening to
late night radio from Nashville, TN and Cleveland, OH. At some point
they met up with Levon Helm from Marvell, Arkansas. By 1960 they were
touring with Ronnie Hawkins' Rockabilly Band. In 1964, they separated
from Hawkins, after which they toured and released a few singles as
Levon and the Hawks and the Canadian Squires. By now they were a
road-tested, kick-ass rock and roll band. The next year, Bob Dylan hired
them for his U.S. tour in 1965, introducing rock'n'roll to a folk music
audience that booed them every night. They were all in their early 20s.
In
1966 when the tour ended, Rick Danko found this big Pink house in
Woodstock New York, and the 5 Band members moved in, and started
creating what may be the most unique American Music ever made. It was
not Rock, or Folk. Robbie Robertson's vision was to create an album of
story telling, evocative of the past, but living in the present, miles
away from the drug-fueled psychedelia of the late '60s.
Their
first two albums, released in 1968 and 1969, still stand as some of the
best music to come out of the '60s. The Band continued to play
stadiums and festivals until 1976, when they left in a triumphant final
"Last Waltz" in 1976, filmed by Martin Scorsese. Here is a clip from
that concert, please enjoy The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.
