Chords Req: The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

Subject: the night they drove ol dixie down
From: GUEST,bb
Date: 02 Aug 01 - 01:43 PM

Has anyone the chords for The night they drove ol dixie down please. Also the chords for the city of new orleans by willie nelson

Subject: RE: the night they drove ol dixie down
From: katlaughing
Date: 02 Aug 01 - 01:56 PM

Here's the first one: please click here

Be right back.

kat

Subject: RE: the night they drove ol dixie down
From: Gary T
Date: 02 Aug 01 - 01:57 PM

When I compare The Band's (original) version with Joan Baez's (chart hit) version, I hear two different songs--different melodies with different chord patterns. The lyrics are essentially the same. Which version are you interested in?

Subject: RE: the night they drove ol dixie down
From: katlaughing
Date: 02 Aug 01 - 01:58 PM

Did you mean City of New Orleans as done by Arlo Guthrie? That one is here.

Hope those help,

kat

Subject: RE: the night they drove ol dixie down
From: Charley Noble
Date: 02 Aug 01 - 04:23 PM

The City of New Orleans as composed by Steve Goodman?

Subject: RE: the night they drove ol dixie down
From: Jim the Bart
Date: 03 Aug 01 - 10:55 AM

"I drove a train to Richmond, Nefelle"???????

No.
I believe the lyric is "By May the tenth Richmond had fell. It was a time that I remember oh, so well."

Hope this helped
have good day

Bart

Subject: RE: the night they drove ol dixie down
From: Little Hawk
Date: 03 Aug 01 - 11:01 AM

Baez screwed up the words to that one in a couple of places. I'm still puzzled by what a shoddy job she did on that song, since she is usually quite meticulous.

- LH

Subject: RE: the night they drove ol dixie down
From: GUEST,beadie
Date: 03 Aug 01 - 11:45 AM

In Ms. Baez' defence, I think the hit version of that song was recorded live in concert. . . not always the best place to assure a "perfect" performance.

I recall her introduction to "Lilly, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts" where she apologized to the audience, in advance, saying, "this is a long song and if I forget any of the words, I'll just hum,. OK?"

Subject: RE: the night they drove ol dixie down
From: GUEST,Jaze
Date: 03 Aug 01 - 01:53 PM

I always thought she said "I took the train to Richmond that fell". Not the best cover she ever did, but it was popular.

Subject: RE: the night they drove ol dixie down
From: Little Hawk
Date: 03 Aug 01 - 02:26 PM

Sounds to me like she's singing "I took the train to Richmond, it fell..."

Here are some other anomalies...

Orginal version: "Like my father before me, I will work the land"

Baez: "Like my father before me, I'm a workin' man"

Original: "Till Stoneman's cavalry came, and tore up the tracks again"

Baez: "Till so much cavalry came, and tore up the tracks again"

Then there's "I swear by the blood beneath my feet", "I swear by the mud below my feet" ...etc...

"blood" is better, in this case, than mud, as it refers to the death of the narrator's brother in the Civil War.

Anyone who wants to learn the song properly had better listen to the Band's version.

And I love Joan Baez dearly, but that's how it stands on this one.

- LH

Subject: RE: the night they drove ol dixie down
From: Kim C
Date: 03 Aug 01 - 04:24 PM

Oh yeah. Definitely The Band.

Subject: RE: the night they drove ol dixie down
From: Mrrzy
Date: 03 Aug 01 - 04:41 PM

Boy this one still gets to me. But they should never have taken the very best... Rat Own!

Subject: RE: the night they drove ol dixie down
From: Uncle Jaque
Date: 03 Aug 01 - 10:32 PM

I occasionally get a request for this song when doing a "Civil War" performance; Like "Ashokan Farewell", it is generally assumed by the public to have been an authentic ACW period piece.

I probably ought to learn it (anybody have the chord progressions? My Baez Songbook is waaay pre-Diamonds & Rust)just to humor them, I suppose. But first I'll stow the little gut-strung parlor guitar in the tent and haul out the steel-strung Yamaha and a pick.

Subject: RE: the night they drove ol dixie down
From: katlaughing
Date: 03 Aug 01 - 11:29 PM

Uncle Jaque, the first link I posted has the tabs.

Subject: RE: the night they drove ol dixie down
From: John Hardly
Date: 04 Aug 01 - 11:02 AM

The only thing I would add is that I favor playing it in a C (Am) fingering and capo to singing pitch. This is because it sounds right and natural to make the base run start on the A string (C,Bb,A,G the lowest note). If you do the run in G you run out of bass and have to jump back to the D string for a whimpy D bass.

...oh, and they sing "na,na,na,na,etc..."

Subject: RE: the night they drove ol dixie down
From: Little Hawk
Date: 04 Aug 01 - 11:35 AM

Kat - I like the way she does it too, but I just think the Band does it better, that's all. The words as transcribed on the Baez sheet are mostly correct, except it's not THE Robert E. Lee, it's just "Robert E. Lee". The Robert E. Lee was a sidewheeler riverboat, and I suspect it made its appearance after the Civil War was over, but I may be wrong about that. In any case, I believe it's the passing by of the commanding general of the Army of Virginia that is referred to in the song, not the boat.

Lee was a huge hero to the people of the South, as we all know...

And it's "like my brother above me", which works better than saying "before" twice in one verse.

This is not to say that one can't slightly alter lyrics in a song, but why alter them for the worse?

- LH

Subject: RE: the night they drove ol dixie down
From: Gary T
Date: 04 Aug 01 - 01:25 PM

I rather liked the repetitive emphasis provided by saying "before" twice, and "my brother above me" sounds unnatural and strange to my ear. Personal taste, of course.

Subject: RE: the night they drove ol dixie down
From: Peter T.
Date: 04 Aug 01 - 01:42 PM

OK buffs, who was Stoneman?

yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: the night they drove ol dixie down
From: jaze
Date: 04 Aug 01 - 01:47 PM

Being a devout Joan Baez fan, I'm partial to her version,perhaps it's because it's the first version I heard and therefore seems like the "right" one. I have and like The Band's version. Strange that this song, one of her less stellar covers, was her one big "hit". And it's the ONLY Baez song ever played on the radio in Richmond.

Subject: RE: the night they drove ol dixie down
From: katlaughing
Date: 04 Aug 01 - 02:18 PM

I like "before" better, also. Thansk for the info on the Robert E. Lee, LH. I didn't know about it. I agree in the song they are referring to the person.

Peter, here is an article from 1963, provided by a grand-nephew of Stoneman: Stoneman

Subject: RE: the night they drove ol dixie down
From: Little Hawk
Date: 04 Aug 01 - 02:53 PM

I guess it's common for people to like the first version they heard the best. I heard the Band's version first, so there you go. I love Joan Baez, but was a little disappointed in her cover of the song, in comparison. I felt the same way about her cover of the Jackson Browne song, "Fountain of Sorrow"...not bad, but could have been better. There again, I was already familiar with Jackson Browne's original recording of it.

Pretty interesting stuff about Stoneman. I don't get how he could have been captured in 1864 (during the Atlanta campaign) and then been campaigning again for the Union shortly thereafter...? Strange.

The Robert E. Lee paddle-wheeler ran a famous race on the Mississippi with the Natchez (a similar boat), and Currier & Ives did a print of the event. The Robert E. Lee won the race.

- LH

Subject: RE: the night they drove ol dixie down
From: JedMarum
Date: 04 Aug 01 - 04:37 PM

I used to sing this song years back. I'd kinda forgotten it, and when I started learning/writing, I never went back to this one, for some reason - and no one's asked for it?? Still, it's a great song. I don't understand the historical context. And also the last verse, I always heard the line, "you can't raise the caine back up when its in the feed." It made sense to me, so I sang it that way. Guess I'll haffta fix my errant lyrics if I go back to this one!

Subject: RE: the night they drove ol dixie down
From: Naemanson
Date: 05 Aug 01 - 08:26 AM

Kat, in the 11th line of your version of the song I think you have a typo. I think "LA" is supposed to be spelled "la".

Duckingandrunningveryfast.....

Subject: RE: the night they drove ol dixie down
From: Banjer
Date: 05 Aug 01 - 09:46 AM

I have always liked this song, maybe not for the same reasons others do, but I have always had some concerns about historical fact. Virgil lived with his wife in Tennessee. She said 'come see, there goes the Robert E Lee'. I have always asumed that she was speaking of the paddlewheeler because Robert E Lee was primarily involved with teh Eastern Theater while Tennessee would have been in the Western Theater. The Mississippi runs through Tennessee so there fore the reference to the boat would make more sense. Could the boat have been carrying returning troops home after the surrender? Was that the possible reason for the sighting? Also the phrase 'winter of sixty-five' ties in with the returning troops becasue the war was over already. I guess there are as many interpretations as there are people listening.

Subject: RE: the night they drove ol dixie down
From: Gary T
Date: 05 Aug 01 - 04:24 PM

Intrigued by Banjer's comments, which seemed reasonable, I found this site, which seems to explain the context of the song pretty well. It draws on quotes from the members of The Band, and seems authoritative. It makes clear that the reference is to General Lee, not to the boat, including this comment: the fact that Robert E Lee was never in Tennessee after the war doesn't mean that people didn't think they saw him. Likewise, the winter mentioned is shown to be that of 1864-65, not 65-66.

This site has the type of background info that can really flesh out certain songs for me. I hope those interested enjoy it. NOTE: it has a link to lyrics with chords, which I would assume are the "official" ones.

Subject: RE: the night they drove ol dixie down
From: katlaughing
Date: 05 Aug 01 - 04:35 PM

HeyaNaes, thanks, not my typo, though I've fixed it. That's what I get for copying and pasting!**BG**

Great site, gary, thanks!

kat

Subject: RE: the night they drove ol dixie down
From: Banjer
Date: 05 Aug 01 - 05:50 PM

Yes, real neat site...Blew some old myths of mine out of the water and explained some others that I hadn't even thought of! Thanks!!

Subject: RE: the night they drove ol dixie down
From: CRANKY YANKEE
Date: 06 Aug 01 - 03:06 PM

THE NIGHT THEY DROVE OLD DIXIE DOWN
IT WAS A GREAT OCCASION
THE NIGHT THEY DROVE OLD DIXIE DOWN
UNLESS YOU WERE CAUCCASIAN

Subject: RE: the night they drove ol dixie down
From: bob jr
Date: 06 Aug 01 - 06:56 PM

i heard that baez changed it to the steamer robert e lee because she felt that the song was too sympathic to the south(which i always thought was the point of it in the first place) and that she didnt want to mention the general by name so she changed him to a boat which to me never made a lick of sense ,i mean there is something sad in seeing a defeated leader of your troops go by and soemthing else completly to seeing a boat go by...but thats just my taste i guess

Subject: RE: the night they drove ol dixie down
From: LR Mole
Date: 07 Aug 01 - 01:49 PM

I always thought "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" was about Joan taking the maid to the bus stop. No, I didn't. Cheap shot. Who said that?

Subject: RE: the night they drove ol dixie down
From: Uncle Jaque
Date: 07 Aug 01 - 03:30 PM

How is ol' "Joannie" these days, anyhow? I havn't heard much from or about her in ages, and have such fond memories of wearing out her LPs back in the 60s, then singing some of those fine old songs 'til I was hoarse.

My Wife (of 30 years now) had a voice and a nose not unlike "Joannie's" which no doubt attracted me to her in the beginning. Sadly, the voice (for singing at least) is long gone - although the nose is still there.

It was wonderful to hear her make that little "comeback" with the D&R project, and I was hoping we would hear more of her - but she seems (to me anyway) to have dropped out of sight. We had fond hopes that she had run her course of "saving the world" with her Socialist activisim theme-songs and might get back to singing some decent "real" (i.e. "Traditional") Folk Music for a change.

Despite our significant differences in political ideaology, I was terribly fond of her and her Music in my youth, and some of that sentiment lingers yet.

If any of ye should encounter the dear Lady in the course of your travels, do convey to her my fondest regards, won't you?

Subject: RE: the night they drove ol dixie down
From: Gary T
Date: 07 Aug 01 - 05:34 PM

She put on a fine concert in Kansas City this past winter. She still has a fine voice and a pleasant and engaging stage presence.

Subject: RE: the night they drove ol dixie down
From: JedMarum
Date: 07 Aug 01 - 06:04 PM

Gary T - thanks for the link to a great site! Good info there 'bout this song, and it answers a lotta questions!

And I don't have any question at all about Lee and TN. People have seen Elvis all over the place since he died - a little reference to Master Lee for artistic purposes in the song is entirely appropriate, and probably even fits well with historical events, if you assume the "Elvis Sighting" context with which it could well have been used.

Great song!

Subject: RE: the night they drove ol dixie down
From: Peter T.
Date: 07 Aug 01 - 07:01 PM

Keep saving the world, Joan, pay no attention. If it weren't for people trying to save the world, there would still be slaves in Dixie.

yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: the night they drove ol dixie down
From: jaze
Date: 07 Aug 01 - 08:49 PM

Joan hasn't had a new studio lp in several years, but she has still been out there touring alot and taking up and coming young singers with her to introduce to new audiences. She cancelled current tour plans to stay home with her sister Mimi, who passed away just a few weeks ago. Thank God someone tries to save this world. She's not a saint, but she has my undying respect for making it a lifelong commitment.

Subject: RE: Chords Req: The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
From: SuperDave
Date: 29 Oct 18 - 12:53 PM

According to Wikipedia:
"The Baez recording had some changes in the lyrics. Baez later told Rolling Stone's Kurt Loder that she initially learned the song by listening to the recording on the Band's album, and had never seen the printed lyrics at the time she recorded it, and thus sang the lyrics as she had (mis)heard them. In more recent years in her concerts, Baez has performed the song as originally written by Robertson."

Many people prefer the Baez version (it made several Top 100 lists and became a gold record), which may in part be due to Joan's voice being more pleasing. Levon Helm's version, while authentic (as a co-writer with Robertson) suffers by comparison.

Sorry, KimC and others, don't mean to disrespect The Band.

Subject: RE: The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
From: Felipa
Date: 19 Aug 20 - 04:02 PM

Jack Hamilton sees the song not as a Confederate anthem but as basically an antiwar song inspired by the Vietnam war, with Americans defeated in Vietnam like Dixie defeated in the American Civil War. https://slate.com/culture/2020/08/night-they-drove-old-dixie-down-band-confederate.html

I never heard the song as a rallying cry for the Confederates, but as more a personal song of loss, the experience of young Virgil Caine who fought on the losing side.