Song 721: This week the playlist comes around to The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down by Joan Baez, written by Robbie Robertson, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. Tonight I highlight a ballad about an event that occurred 159 years ago on this evening. I think I first became aware of Joan Baez during my junior HS year when I heard a warning given to my religious group about a bunch of commies and Soviet puppets who had infiltrated our Top 40 airwaves, with Pete Seeger and Ms. Joan ranking as major adversarial agents. A couple of years later, as I increased my personal knowledge and collection of modern music, I soon learned a lot more about a certain Bob guy and how JB played a big role in expanding his audience. As I got to appreciate him more and more, I also added her 33s to my stack, including the one that featured this melodic tale soon after it came along in the summer of 1971, and it got plenty of spins on the turntable in that era. I had spent that summer in Atlanta, GA, which was the first time I lived in a southern state. Previously, during my years growing up in upstate NY, I actually had an interest in the history of the U.S. Civil War, so I could certainly have imagined when the bells were ringing on a particular night and all the people were singing.
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