Lyrics: Robbie Robertson
Music: Robbie Robertson
Played by Jerry Garcia with most of his solo bands from the 1970s to the
1990s. There is one account
of it being played by the Grateful Dead:
"My favorite Dead show was the New Monk in Berkeley. The show had been advertised as a Jerry Garcia Band show but the Dead showed-up instead and they did all covers. This was the last time I saw Pigpen, he did not look good at all. This is my favorite show because 1) I can remember some of it and 2) it was totally unique for them. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down and Johnny B. Goode are the two great tunes I remember them doing."There is a fuller account of the evidence here, but it doesn't seem strong enough for me to have added the song to the list of covers played by the Grateful Dead.
Virgil Caine is the name and I served on the Danville trainNotes
'Til Stoneman's cavalry came and tore up the tracks again
In the winter of sixty-five
We were hungry just barely alive
By May tenth, Richmond had fell
It was a time I remember oh so well
Chorus
The night they drove old Dixie down
And the bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down
And the people were singing, they went
La la la la la la, la la la la la la la la, la
Like my father before me I will work the land (note 1) (note 2)
And like my brother above me who took a rebel stand
He was just eighteen, proud and brave
When a Yankee laid him in his grave
I swear by the mud below my feet (note 3)
You can't raise a Cain back up when he's in defeat
[chorus]
Back with my wife in Tennessee when one day she called to me (note 4)
Virgil, quick come see, there goes Robert E Lee
Now I don't mind choppin' wood
And I don't care if the money's no good
You take what you need and you keep the rest
But they should never have taken the very best
[chorus]
Jerry Garcia Recordings | |||||
Date | Album | Recorded By | |||
21 May 1971 | Garcia Live Volume 15 | Jerry Garcia & Merl Saunders | |||
1972 | Heavy Turbulence | Merl Saunders/Jerry Garcia (note 3) | |||
23 Jan 1973 | Garcia Live Volume 12 | Jerry Garcia & Merl Saunders | |||
5 Jul 1973 | Garcia Live Volume 6 | Garcia/Saunders | |||
11 Aug 1974 | Garcia Live Volume 9 | Jerry Garcia & Merl Saunders | |||
1 Sep 1974 | Pure Jerry 4: Keystone, Berkeley | Jerry Garcia & Merl Saunders Band | |||
14 Dec 1974 | Garcia Live Volume 3 | Legion Of Mary | |||
15 Dec 1974 | Garcia Live Volume 3 | Legion Of Mary | |||
1 Mar 1975 | Jerry Garcia Collection, Volume 1 | Legion Of Mary | |||
24 Jul 1977 | Best Of Jerry Garcia | Jerry Garcia Band | |||
29 Jul 1977 | Pure Jerry 1: Theater 1839 | Jerry Garcia Band | |||
22 Mar 1978 | Garcia Live Volume 4 | Jerry Garcia Band | |||
21 Oct 1987 | Pure Jerry 3: Lunt-Fontanne: Best Of The Rest | Jerry Garcia Band | |||
2 Sep 1989 | Pure Jerry 5: Merriweather Post Pavilion | Jerry Garcia Band | |||
16 Sep 1989 | Garcia Live Volume 13 | Jerry Garcia Band | |||
9 Aug 1990 | Jerry Garcia Band | Jerry Garcia Band | |||
9 Nov 1991 | Pure Jerry 7: Hampton Coliseum | Jerry Garcia Band | |||
15 Nov 1991 | Garcia Live Volume 16 | Jerry Garcia Band | |||
23 Nov 1991 | Garcia Live Volume 8 | Jerry Garcia Band | |||
31 Oct 1992 | Garcia Live Volume 19 | Jerry Garcia Band |