Everyday Creation
Everyday Creation is about living our purpose, lifting our vibes, and expressing our creativity for the highest good. The show's title refers to three types of creation: The ways we express ourselves (for example, with art, music and so many other pursuits fueled by purpose and passion); the parts of life that fill us with awe — birth, death, love, the big picture; and our innate personal power to create our best possible lives while also making the world a better place. You’ll hear conversations with terrific guests on matters we care about, as well as spiritual perspectives, personal essays on being our best selves, and episodes simply for information and fun. I'm your host Kate Jones, welcoming you to Everyday Creation.
Everyday Creation
Tribute to Robbie Robertson, featuring Sheldon Zoldan
Robbie Robertson was with the influential group The Band when he wrote “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” in 1969. The song still touches a nerve, according to this tribute by Sheldon Zoldan, who also writes Song of the Day, a music-related story sent daily to an email list of subscribers.
In this video, you can hear "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" in a scene from Martin Scorsese's "The Last Waltz" about The Band's farewell concert on Thanksgiving Day, 1976, in San Francisco. On hand to help say goodbye to the group were some of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 1960s and '70s. You can go here to rent or purchase a copy of the film or watch it on Amazon Prime.
And here, you can go to a video of Joan Baez doing the song in 1971. There's a cute anecdote in the comments about a cane. I won't spoil it for you by saying more.
The picture in the chapters of this episode is of Robertson performing with The Band. The image was provided by Capitol Records and is available on wikipedia.org.
Also in the chapters, you can skip my introduction and go right to the start of the tribute; feel free to skip the closing remarks too. I included them to provide context for those who haven't yet listened to other tributes.
To get on the Song of the Day subscriber list, email shzoldan@comcast.net with the subject line ADD ME TO SOTD.
Audio engineer/musician Mike Villegas edited all the audio for this series. Hope you enjoy these intriguing glimpses into the lives of the people who made some of the music we love.
This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Spotify and Audible.
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Kate:
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Hello, and welcome to Everyday Creation. This is
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your host, Kate Jones, with one of 44
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tributes
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to significant figures in the music industry
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who passed away in 2023.
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My guest Sheldon Zoldan,
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a longtime writer and newspaper editor,
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wrote these short biographies
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and recorded them.
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Each one is an intriguing
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glimpse into the life and impact of someone
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who contributed
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to the soundtracks of our lives. Here's what
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Sheldon has to say in this tribute.
Sheldon:
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Never has one Canadian caused so many Americans
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so much angst by writing a song about
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a historical event.
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Robbie Robertson
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was with the influential
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group The Band when he wrote "The Night
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They Drove Old Dixie Down" in 1969.
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The song still touches a nerve with its
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meaning.
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Robertson died August 9 in Los Angeles after
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a long illness.
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He was 80 years old.
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Robertson's music career can be divided into four
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phases.
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He was only 16 when he became a
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member of Ronnie
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Hawkins and the Hawks.
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The Hawks left Hawkins and eventually backed up
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Bob Dylan on his first electric tour.
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The Hawks morphed into The Band in
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1968,
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recorded several hit albums, and grew into one
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of the most respected bands of that era.
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Robertson went solo after the band broke up
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in 1976,
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as well as producing
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other musicians.
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He then turned to the movies.
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He became director Martin Scorsese's
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go-to music man.
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He wrote the music for some of the
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director's biggest hits.
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He scored "Killers of the Flower Moon,"
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which came out last fall.
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Our Song of the Day is cinematic.
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It's also controversial
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because it's from the viewpoint
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of a Confederate soldier
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as the Civil War ended.
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Robertson had the music, but he needed a
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lyric.
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He remembered when the father of the group's
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only non-Canadian band member, Levon Helm,
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who was from Arkansas, told him, "Don't worry,
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the South is going to rise
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again."
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Robertson knew very little about the Civil War
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and had to do research at the library.
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The result was "The Night They Drove Old
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Dixie Down."
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Joan Baez popularized
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it when she recorded it in 1971.
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It reached number 3 on Billboard's
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Hot 100.
Kate:
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This is Kate again. Please go to the
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description for more information and to hear the
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song that Sheldon referenced.
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If you enjoyed this tribute, please check out
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the rest of them. Although some of the
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names are not as familiar as others, the
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biographies
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are equally intriguing.
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Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation.
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Please share this episode with anyone who might
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enjoy it.
