Flashback Friday: The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

 

"Virgil Caine is the name and I served on the Danville train
Till Stoneman's calvary came and tore up the tracks again.
In the winter of '65, we were hungry, just barely alive,
By May the tenth, Richmond had fell, it's a time I remember oh so well..."

Written in 1969 by Robbie Robertson for the Canadian-American rock group,
 The Band,  "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" is a first-person account of the 
severe depredation suffered by southerners in the last days of the Civil War, especially
after Union General George Stoneman and his raiders launched a notorious military
 campaign against the civilian population of eastern Tennessee, western North Carolina,
 and southwestern Virginia, which included the destruction of all railroad lines and bridges.

In this clip from the 1978 movie, "The Last Waltz" American singer/songwriter and drummer
for The Band, Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm, (1940-2012) whose birthday is May 26th, leads  
 the members of the group through a passionate rendition of this Civil War-inspired song.

In his 1993 autobiography, "This Wheel's On Fire"  Helm, wrote, "Robbie and I worked on
 "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" up in Woodstock.  I remember taking him to the
 library so he could research the history and geography of the era and make 
General Robert E. Lee come out with all due respect."

The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

(1978)

The Band

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(July 12, 2017)