Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down was written by Robbie Robertson. Robertson, who is Canadian, spent about eight months working on the song and researched the history of the American Civil War with help from Levon Helm, a native of Arkansas.
Levon Helm sang lead vocals on the Band's original 1969 recording. Helm was the only Southerner in the group and also played drums on the track.
The song was released in 1969 on the Band's eponymous second album. It is considered one of the highlights of that record.
Joan Baez's version peaked at number three on the Hot 100 and the Cashbox Top 100, reached number one on the Record World Top Singles chart for the week of the 25th of September 1971, and became a certified Gold record on the 22nd of October 1971. Billboard ranked it the number 20 song of 1971.
After the Band's 1976 Thanksgiving concert, Helm refused to perform the song again. While a dispute with Robertson over songwriting credits was long assumed to be the reason, Garth Hudson stated that Helm's refusal was caused by his dislike for Joan Baez's cover version.
The song is set during the final months of the American Civil War in 1865. It draws on one of George Stoneman's cavalry raids behind Confederate lines and references the fall of Richmond on the tenth of May, portraying a poor white Southerner named Virgil Caine who worked on the Danville train.