The night they drove old Dixie down

April 22, 2013

Tonight I watched a tribute to Levon Helm call “Love for Levon.” A whole slew of grey-haired musicians like Roger Waters, Greg Allman, Joe Walsh, and many more sang their hearts out for Levon and his music for a couple of glorious hours.

I remember back in the early seventies in Austin. For about a year, there was a bar called Bonnie’s (I think) that became ‘the place’ to be on Wednesday nights. It was a little ramshackle place with a large outdoor patio. Beer was a quarter or fifty cents–what ever was really cheap back then. At the end of the night, every time, whatever band was playing that night, played the Band’s “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.” The whole audience sang along. That song signaled the end of the evening and if you didn’t have someone to go home with yet, that was the cue to find someone fast.

The tribute to Levon, made me cry. It made me miss my youth. Now, I’m OK with who and what my life is now, but really, those were the days.

So, I’m gonna take a load off fannie (mine being considerably larger these day), have a beer, or three, and watch that show again.