Listen To 2019 Mix Of The Band’s ‘The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down’

Following news of Capitol/UMe’s 15 November release of a suite of 50th anniversary edition packages of The Band’s seminal, self-titled 1969 album, a 2019 stereo mix of one of its best-known songs, ‘The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,’ is out today (18). It’s available to stream now, and for immediate download with preorders of the digital album.

The song was written by Canadian Robbie Robertson about the last days of the Civil War, and sung by American southerner Levon Helm. Harmonies were provided by their Canadian bandmates Richard Manuel and Rick Danko. Pitchfork had it in their list of the “200 Greatest Songs Of The 1960s”, and avowed: “Helm’s vocals alone are perfectly evocative of the song’s character, but subtler and more crucial is his simultaneous drumming, skipping like a heartbeat whenever he gets to the really sad parts.

“With the rest of the Band bobbing and weaving within that perfect John Simon production, they get closer than ever to achieving their goal of escaping to a sepia-toned past.” Time magazine listed ‘The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down’ in their unranked “All-Time 100 Songs,” describing it as “a perfect folk-ballad simulacrum of sepia-toned Americana.” Rolling Stone also listed the classic among their “500 Greatest Songs Of All Time.”

The anniversary editions of The Band include a Super Deluxe CD/Blu-ray/2LP/7-inch vinyl box set with a hardbound book, 1CD, digital and 180 gram 2LP black vinyl editions, and a limited edition 180 gram 2LP “tiger’s eye” colour vinyl package. All were overseen by Robertson and feature a new stereo mix by Bob Clearmountain.

In the liner notes, Robertson describes the approach that he and Clearmountain took to re-presenting the record by saying: “The idea was to take you deeper inside the music, but this album is homemade. You can’t touch up a painting. It has nothing to do with what you get when you go into a recording studio.”

The 50th anniversary editions of The Band are released on 15 November. Scroll down for the full tracklisting, and pre-order them here.

The Band (50th Anniversary Edition) Tracklisting

CD1; Digital
1. Across The Great Divide
2. Rag Mama Rag
3. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
4. When You Awake
5. Up On Cripple Creek
6. Whispering Pines
7. Jemima Surrender
8. Rockin’ Chair
9. Look Out Cleveland
10. Jawbone
11. The Unfaithful Servant
12. King Harvest (Has Surely Come)
Bonus Tracks:
1. Up On Cripple Creek (Earlier Take) *
2. Rag Mama Rag (Alternate Version) *
3. The Unfaithful Servant (Alternate Version) *
4. Look Out Cleveland (Instrumental Mix) *
5. Rockin’ Chair (A Cappella / Stripped Down) *
6. Up On Cripple Creek (Instrumental Mix) *
* Previous unreleased

CD2; Digital
Live At Woodstock, 1969 (Original Rough Mixes)
1. Chest Fever
2. Tears Of Rage
3. We Can Talk
4. Don’t Ya Tell Henry
5. Baby Don’t You Do It
6. Ain’t No More Cane On The Brazos
7. Long Black Veil
8. This Wheel’s On Fire
9. I Shall Be Released
10. The Weight
11. Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever
Additional Studio Bonus Tracks:
12. Get Up Jake (Outtake – Stereo Mix)
13. Rag Mama Rag (Alternate Vocal Take – Rough Mix)
14. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (Alternate Mix)
15. Up On Cripple Creek (Alternate Take)
16. Whispering Pines (Alternate Take)
17. Jemima Surrender (Alternate Take)
18. King Harvest (Has Surely Come) (Alternate Performance)

Blu-ray (Stereo and 5.1 Surround – High Resolution Audio: 96 kHz/24 bit)
1. Across The Great Divide
2. Rag Mama Rag
3. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
4. When You Awake
5. Up On Cripple Creek
6. Whispering Pines
7. Jemima Surrender
8. Rockin’ Chair
9. Look Out Cleveland
10. Jawbone
11. The Unfaithful Servant
12. King Harvest (Has Surely Come)
Bonus Tracks:
13. Up On Cripple Creek (Earlier Version)
14. Rag Mama Rag (Alternate Version)
15. The Unfaithful Servant Alternate Version)
16. Look Out Cleveland (Instrumental Mix)
17. Rockin’ Chair (A Cappella / Stripped Down)
18. Up On Cripple Creek (Instrumental Mix)

“Classic Albums – The Band” (Documentary)

2LP (45 RPM)
180g black vinyl (included in the box set and available individually); ltd. edition 180g pink vinyl (available individually)
Side One
1. Across The Great Divide
2. Rag Mama Rag
3. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

Side Two
1. When You Awake
2. Up On Cripple Creek
3. Whispering Pines

Side Three
1. Jemima Surrender
2. Rockin’ Chair
3. Look Out Cleveland

Side Four
1. Jawbone
2. The Unfaithful Servant
3. King Harvest (Has Surely Come)

“Rag Mama Rag” (Original 1969 7” Capitol Single)
A. Rag Mama Rag
B. The Unfaithful Servant

Format: UK English