Wednesday, August 11, 2010

You Can’t Raise a Caine Back Up…

… when he’s in defeat… Today in rock history, in 1971, Joan Baez hits #3 with the Band song "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down." This song has a special interest to me for several reasons. I’m an American Civil War buff, and, since the song has a “war between the states” theme to it, I like to listen to the lyrics for Civil War references. In my band “North of Nowhere,” we cover the Band’s version of the song, which to me is notable in that I had to transpose the bass part up ½ step (the guitarists get to use a capo, but no self-respecting bassist is going to use one of those contraptions, so you gotta transpose), so the song ends up in the key of A#, which is a strange key, to say the least. Plus, I just like the song! Thanks to www.rockhall.com for the info. Check out the Band’s version from “the Last Waltz,” and a cute clip from "The Muppets" featuring Joan Baez (lookin' mighty fine, I might add), and keep on rockin’!



3 comments:

Who Am Us Anyway? said...

At :14 it sure sounds like Joan's mis-singing the Stoneman's cavalry line as "StoneWALL's cavalry" -- confusing the armies, the generals, and the point.

Oh well, that's what happens when you take Ghandi from a baby.

Charlie_Mac said...

Yeah, a lot of people mishear that lyric in tabs I've seen on the 'net; "Stonewall," "So much," etc, but you'd think she'd get it right! Hey, are you coming to the Fair Saturday night to hear us? (7-9, Heritage Village bandstand)Hope to see you there - I'm going on Friday to see Roger too...

Who Am Us Anyway? said...

I'll definitely be there for your Sat show -- what time is Roger playing on Friday? If it's in the evening I will be there ... working on one last killer deadline right up to 5 p.m. Friday though ...