The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

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Written by: Robbie Robertson
Produced by: John Simon, the Band
Released: Sept. '69 on Capitol
Charts: Did not chart

Robertson, a Canadian, vividly depicted the Civil War-era South in this moving dirge. "I remember taking him to the library so he could research the history and geography," said Levon Helm, the Band's only American, whose gritty vocal evoked the interior struggle of someone trying to make sense of a lost cause -- like, in 1969, the war in Vietnam.

Appears on: The Band (Capitol)

Next: (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher

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