who recorded the night they drove old dixie down
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" is a song written by Robbie Robertson and originally recorded by the Canadian-American roots rock group the Band in 1969 and released on their eponymous second album. Levon Helm provided the lead vocals. The song is a first-person narrative relating the economic and social distress experienced by the protagonist, a poor white Southerner, during the last year of the American Civil War. Frequently appearing on lists of the best rock songs of all time, it has been cited as an early example of the genre known as roots rock.
Alabama (American band) Alabama was formed by guitarists Randy Owen and Jeff Cook, and bassist Teddy Gentry, three cousins born and raised near Fort Payne, Alabama, an area with strong country music roots.[4] Owen and Gentry grew up on separate cotton farms on Lookout Mountain (a plateau that stretches across northeastern Alabama, through northwest Georgia and into Tennessee), learning guitar together and singing in church before the age of six.[5] Gentry and Owen played in numerous groups during the 1960s, ranging from pop to bluegrass.[5] Cook joined the band in 1969 forming the group Young Country, which first jammed together around Christmas.[4] Cook also played in numerous bands and was a rock and roll disk jockey.[5] The three cousins all shared vocal duties, with another cousin, drummer Jackie Owen, completing the group's first lineup.[4] The band's first performance was at a high school talent contest (playing a Merle Haggard song), for which they won first prize and tickets to the Grand Ole Opry.[6][5] Despite this, all were busy with prior commitments to pursue music: Owen still in high school, Cook working for Western Electric, and Gentry laying carpets full-time.[4] The band grew further inactive when Cook went to college and Owen into the military.[5]