The fact that a drummer from the Deep South could get together with a bunch of Canadians, be the back up band for two Musical Legends, and then break out on their own, is a story unparalleled.

That "drummer" was Levon Helm. I'm 59 years old and have attended and promoted concerts for 45 years. He is still one of the greatest performers I have ever personally seen.

There's a reason they were called "The Band" and it was never disputed. All of them had more talent in their toenail clippings, than modern musicians have in their body and souls. LEGENDS!

Levon was something special. Incredible talent. Everyone in The Band was great. BTW, this song is not about war. It's about loss.

It's not a song about a war, it's a song about a lost war and the tragedy that follows.

I am 73 years old and was raised in a small town in Virginia. When I was a child just playing outside we found all kinds of civil war relics just lying around my grandparents property. This town was taken back and forth between the North and South over 70 times. In fact I thought the war was just fought in my parents life time until I went to school and found out differently. My daughter and her family live in a house that was a hospital for each side depending on who had the upper hand. I love this song and it always takes me back home tho I am now living far away

The Last Waltz movie directed by Martin Scorsese is probably the best concert movie ever made with so many great artists joining in.

It's not really about war. It's more about the suffering and humble heroism of the survivors of the losing side of a war. The civilians. It's about humanity and dignity.

Levon Helm on drums and vocals. You're right Hari, great singer! The Band was unique in so many ways!

Rick Danko singing "It Makes No Difference" from this concert (The Last Waltz) will stop you dead in your tracks. Just a bunch of lads from my home province of Ontario (and 1 from Arkansas) making a beautiful noise together. Great rxn, Harri - cheers!

This is from the 1969 album The Band. It's about the last days of The Civil War, written by Robbie Robertson after he read up on The Civil War. The 3 part harmonies of Levon Helm, Rick Danko and Richard Manuel fuse together to create a wonderful blend. Levon's voice carries the tune and delivers a great story. Joan Baez did a cover in 1971, and this was her highest charting song reading Number 3 in the US. Great reaction Harri. Thanks Harri and Miss Blondie. 👏👏 Cheers from Canada 🇨🇦

Levon Helm was just an all around special guy. His late in life albums after the throat cancer diagnosis are just as magical. His acting in the movie Shooter and just him being himself in some documentary footage from the early 2000s really made me appreciate more of his talent. RIP Levon.

Levon Helm is the Drummer and he's from Arkansas, the song was written by Robbie Robertson who is as the rest of the band are from Canada.

Many people have a misunderstanding of this song. They hear a couple of "keywords" and dismiss it as some kind of Southron Memorial. I am a Bluest of the Blue Yankee and this song expresses the sorrow of the utterly vanquished Gray. It breaks your heart and yet compels you to sing along. This is something only music can do. It is a Tragic Opera in 4 minutes. It is not a tale of "The Lost Cause".

The guys were asked to come back and re-shoot parts of the concert due to issues (cameras not working, etc.) Levon was the only one who refused to come back and reshoot anything. This version is original and unedited, and the best version of the song every done by anyone. RIP Levon, Rick, and Richard. You are very much missed.

It is a love song - the love of a poor Southern farmer for his homeland.

Drummer singer Levon Helm was born in Arkansas,may be that´s why he sings about this issue with special passion.The song is so well written that it widens the perspective on American civil war.Every war has its Virgil Cains.

Anything by The Band is an eargasm. Just genius. Eric Clapton once asked (only half-jokingly) if he could join the group. Clapton told the story when he inducted The Band into the R&R Hall of Fame. Fun fact, Harri: Levon Helm was the biological father of Donald Fagen’s step-daughter Amy Helm (she’s a singer too). Thanks Miss B and Harri.

RIP Robbie Robertson... we lost a great Canadian ... they were legends and legends never die

You can't leave out Karen Carpenter another drummer that sings very well

The Band. The Best. Ever. Period.

Robbie Robertson (the guitarist and writer of this song) said in interviews that a lot of the inspiration for this song came when he visited Levon Helm's family in the South for the first time. Levon's father told Robbie that, "The South will rise again". That stuck with him and helped him create this masterpiece.

Even though it looked like the guitarist was singing backup vocals the truth is his mic was dead. It was well known among followers of The Band that Robertson liked to sing along but the mic wasn't on. The higher backup vocal was being supplied by Richard Manuel. It was him along with the bassist Rick Danko singing back uo vocals to Levon Helms lead.

The greatest American voice ever . I named my son after this man as a walking tribute

Robbie Robertson wrote that song specially for Levon Helm who was from the south and the only American in the group . They were from Canada . The song is of course about the American civil war and the south’s surrender “on May 10th Richmond fell, it’s a time I remember oh so well “.

The song was written by Robbie Robertson, a Canadian, and The Band's lead guitarist, who recently passed away at 80.

I love this song. The emotion of defeat is stunning. And surprising.

The drummer, Levon Helm, was the only member from the south (Arkansas). The rest were Canadians, but touring with Ronnie Hawkins exposed them to southern gospel and folk music. They had a sound like no others, so musical and real.

I loved The Band's brown album. If I had a time machine and anti aging cream, I'd go back to 69. I was 21 too!

Leon Helm the drummer/vocalist was from Turkey Scratch Arkansas, so he well knew the pain of the South in the aftermath of the Civil War. This song and anything from the last waltz concert on Thanksgiving day, 1976 is fantastic and arguably the best concert of all time.

One of the greatest live vocal performances ever !!! Performed by Mr Levon Helm This live performance is so superior to the actual recording it almost like two different songs

The great drummer, Buddy Rich, said Levon Helm was the best singer drummer he'd ever heard.

Levon Helm was such a interesting genuine character. I could listen to him talk all day about his life stories in the music business. Great story teller. Sadly he’s passed on like the majority of the Band members. Only two members remain, Robbie Robertson and Garth Hudson.

It's amazing a Canadian guitarist (Robbie Robertson) could capture the American Civil War sentiment for many Americans in this song.

This is from their farewell which was made into an album and movie, The Last Waltz. A must see!

RIP, Robbie Robertson. Levon, you went before him. Huge losses for all of us music lovers.

Classic! This whole concert was awesome, with the best musicians from that time, and possibly from any time. Thanks so much, Harri! ✌🏻💀

Levon literally singing his heart out his chest on this one ❤

As many have suggested, invest a couple hours and watch the whole Last Waltz concert! It is truly outstanding and well worth your time !!!

You gotta love Levon's vocals...

We visited the childhood property of drummer Levon Helm a few months ago. Miles and miles from any town in the middle of thousands of aces of Mississippi Delta farmland in a small settlement named Turkey Scratch Arkansas. Yes, we spotted quite a flock of turkeys as we approached and not much more.

I think you hit the nail on the head about this being a love song. It's set during a war - a Civil war, the hardest kind - but it's actually a love song about family and home. The loss, destruction and pain of the war are used to show the intensity of one's love for family and home. The old cliche applies: "you don't know how much you love something until you lose it".

Loved the Band. The drummer, Levon Helm, played Loretta Lynn's Daddy in the movie Coal Miner's Daughter

Great story telling of an everyday southern man and his family during the Civil War and their struggles and sufferings they endured over the years of fighting. The legendary Levon Helm was an outstanding singer / drummer was the only one that was actually from the south, the rest were Canadian. Always got a kick of the band being name The Band. LOL

They were so different, totally unique. You could probably say they created Americana.

The song isn't about war. The song is about losing everything and having a wind blow the hot ashes of your life away and you cant even cry. And you don't even know what will happen next.

Robbie 🇨🇦 wrote this specially for Levon 🇺🇸, The Band was Canadian 🇨🇦 YOU MUST watch The Last Waltz!

The story behind the band is awesome. All but one member was Canadian and they started life as the house band for Rompin' Ronnie Hawkins (an Arkansan who moved to Toronto in the 60's and never looked back, becoming a fundamental contributor to the development of a native pop/rock/county music scene in Central Canada (or, as Torontonians call it, Canada!)). Hawkins just passed away last year, if memory serves. Selfless and true to his mentorship mission, he didn't stand in the way when his friend, Bob Dylan, expressed an interest in having "the band" back him instead. The next step after a successful time with Dylan was international stardom. They just never bothered to come up with a more specific name than "the Band." Come to think of it, they actually welcomed back Ronnie Hawkins to sing with them as part of this fabled concert of which you've just seen a small portion.

Harri, I think it's a song about loss, on a lot of different levels. A loss of family, innocence, and the destruction of the home he grew up in. That's why it invokes such feelings. Kind of like the way Neil Young's Powder Finger does.

God Bless Levon Helm! God Bless all those Canadians! It hits my soul!

One of the greatest songs in rock and roll.

One member not shown really in this clip is keyboardist and vocalist Richard Manual who you can hear singing along with bassist Rick Danko. I highly suggest "Makes No Difference" from this same concert movie, sang by Danko. Stunning performance. It has been noted that often during live performances the sound guy would turn down or turn off guitarist Robbie Robertson's microphone because he wasn't the strongest singer but boy does he look like he is giving it hell in this concert movie. He was good friends with the movie producer and thus got a lot of screen time while Richard Manual was cut out of a lot (band politics at its finest). The band members actually considered Richard Manual the lead singer of the group and he sang more songs than the others.

What a voice?! best voice ever. RIP Robbie and Levon. d

Levon is a legend in our home state of Arkansas. I l8ve near Fayetteville, the entertainment capitol of the state. Levon would play here frequently.

The GREAT Levon Helm from my state of Arkansas on drums and vocals. RIP sir and WooooPiiigggSooooiiieee!

This song isn't about the War, it's about the suffering of the people after during the Reconstruction.

A great time in music.

Levon Helm was one of the coolest cats that ever walked the earth!

In a class by themselves. And one of the greatest bands of rock history. Sorely miss these cats 🤘❤️

This is just a song that gets to me. I heard it on a transistor radio on a school field trip to Harper's Ferry WV in maybe 1970. Stuck right there and then.

Tragic history told by beautiful music.

Great stuff. The Band so talented

When I was in the Navy, one of my jobs was choosing & showing movies. A lot of the crew thought I got a dance movie "The Last Waltz". I had a lot of negativaty directed my way, until the start. This was 1980. Levon Helm was also in "Shooter" with Mark Wahlberg. He played the shooting/fire arms expert.

The Band is one of the finest bands ever. I'd love to see a reaction to King Harvest (Has Surely Come), their funkiest song. So glad you appreciate them!

Some people say this is one of the greatest performances of song ever done.

Robertson was inspired to write this song when The Band was touring down south -- conversations with locals would often have some old-timer saying "The South will rise again!" So he wrote about their lowest moment. A classic.

If you like to hear him sing, you should hear him talk. He's got the most beautiful accent. I love this song .

Thanks for the review. It's an amazing tune. The word you used "emotive" is a great description. This tune and "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda," are the two greatest songs about war and loss.

Can’t go wrong listening to any Band songs 🎶🎶🎶

It's about the end of the war, going back home and all is vastly different. They drove old Dixie down, never to rise again.

You are a good man, Harry! Love your reactions! 🎶🎵🎺📯🎷💋💖🍿😎😎

I believe it's "I swear by the blood beneath my feet" makes it more chilling and heayy

I can see the love song in it .. though its not about boy & girl.. its the love of a young man for his family.

The drummer / singer Levon Helm was the only so called dixie in the group and he wanted to make sure that the writer Robbie Robertson would treat general Robert E. Lee with respect in the lyrics, which he did.

YES the live version at their retirement concert is THE best by this amazing Band. Levon puts his all into this song

Levon, the drummer, was a Southerner. The rest of the guys were Canadians or maybe from the Northern states. They all did justice to this song's sentiments.

the passion that Levon plays and sings with is just epic

As many others will mention, this is one of the greatest concert movies ever made, and maybe the greatest. It's the same concert you saw a bit of when you reacted to them performing "The Weight" with the Staple Singers, and that's just two of the highlights of the concert. I'd like to see you react again to pretty much any song from this concert!

Can't stress enough to watch the whole movie, a literally who's who of talent from the time. Folk, rock, gospel, all represented. If you aren't that familiar with The Band then The Weight should be your next song, guest starring The Staples.

Incredible history lesson. I can't get over how great this is. Levon...so so awesome.

Every couple years around Thanksgiving I'll put this DVD concert on, pour myself a little whiskey, crank up the audio, and I feel like I'm there.

Thanks, Miss Blondie, for this fantastic choice. To me, The Band were one of the great shambling bands, other examples being Credence Clearwater Revival, Family, Lindisfarne and yes, even Fat Grapple. Shamblers are groups made up of great musicians who can write outstanding songs and who can perform raucous versions of them live. The key thing to them is that although they are perfectly in control of the performance, they are always on the edge so that it seems that things could so easily fall apart but they never do. It would be difficult to name the best song by the Band, there are so many, which can be seen in "The Last Waltz." You almost feel that this song should be on repeat play, it's such an enjoyable experience.

The entire Last Waltz concert, The Band and every guest performance I highly recommend. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down was a mighty fine submission, Miss B. Harri, your review was once again sterling-level.

Great song, the Band has a unique and distinctive sound of their own.

Im presuming you've never heard this track before, and as a person who was 16 when this was recorded, its extraordinary to me that in one generation, so many have no idea the greatness that came before them.. and this is one of the best examples.

Robbie Robertson in my eyes was one of the finest songwriters of our time. Never really got enough credit for his song writing ability. It would have been alot of fun to see him and Eric Clapton in the same band.

The reason all the harmonies sound so good is because four of the five members took turns singing lead on a number of their songs. Only Garth Hudson didn't sing, but he was a genius instrumentalist. He even played the tuba some nights.

My great- great-grandfather was in Stoneman's calvary when he tore through the South. Apparently he was exceedingly proud of that fact and never let anyone forget it for the rest of his life.

Thank you family thank God the south is still alive

Excellent reaction. Excellent song.

Levon Helm was from Arkansas, the rest of The Band from Canado, Toronto and nearby areas. Robbie Robertson wote this song after visiting Levon and his family.

When in Junior High my best friend's favorite band was The Dave Clark Band, a drummer leader and singer.

Well said! Art has a way of beautifying the worst in us and restoring faith in the human spirit! loved the review, I'm also a fan of Drummer/Vocalist. I believe its one of the hardest things to do and as you identified the harmonies are exceptional!

"The guy on the drums" is the great Levon Helm.

A nice , cogent , heartfelt review of my favorite recording of one of my favorite songs .....Thank you , Harry !

my fave song & performance by The Band! ♥

This brought me back to elementary school playgrounds. For unknown reason, scenes are vivid in mind. Guess I needed to hear this song today. THANK YOU.

On your own, watch “The Last Waltz”, the bands last concert documentary special guest, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Muddy Waters, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Dr. John, Ronnie Hawkins, The Staple Singers, and more.

Thank you for reminding us all that black or white, and all those in between, we 'little nobody people' must keep together.

A bit hard to hear in the mix, but Richard Manuel, the pianist, was bringing in the high harmony on top of Levon's melody and Rick's middle. Best performance ever of that song.