The Band - The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down - Early Live Performance!

A very rare and early live performance of Dixie Down from 10/26/69. This is a high quality audience tape that sounds amazing, and captures The Band playing in front of a small Philadelphia college crowd. This show was only 1 month after the brown album was released, and in my opinion the greatest document of early live material.

[@andreasenzmann4546]

Great singing from Levon! Really a hymn and no one played it better than the BAND!

[@AidanDavidCK]

Saw the Band at Blossom Music Center August 1985 and they performed Dixie

[@alexrishi2740]

This is interesting, it sounds a lot like the studio version and almost completely different from the last waltz version. It really shows how much the song changed throughout their live performances

[@blrenx]

Awesome

[@TheWeis]

@Gotesson I've read somewhere that he regularly played it as part of Ringo's All Starr Band, which was post Waltz. But he definitely didn't play it with the new Band in the 80's or with his current band.

[@Gotesson]

It's cool to hear this without the horns, so raw and real. None of the band members performed this after the last waltz right? Not even Robbie?

[@Gotesson]

@djbamber85 Well I read this recent interview with Robbie and it seems to be something mysterious about this song, I think this is the #1 song you associate with Levon, yet he never plays it... Robbie said he don't know anything about it, but the interviewer was pretty sure no one has played it after the last waltz.

[@panagdimi]

I've heard some weird rumor that Lavon Helm (being originally from the South), for his own unknown yet reasons, even though he was the one who helped Robbie Robertson research and refine the lyrical content of this song, in later days he had a change of heart and felt the "Dixie" song was somewhat patronizing and offensive for the southern people. Thus he has refused to sing it since then. I know it sounds very-very strange but that's what I've read somewhere (and -for the life of me-cannot remember where).

[@1stSaintsFan]

I don't think any have performed this song...Levon being from Ark. I would think he would give it try or two in public...Any story behind the reason for not playing...???