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The Weight
What a great song ... one of my all time favorites.....
The Band, with The Staple Singers
This was used in the movie Easy Rider. The Band performed the version heard in the movie, but on the soundtrack, a different group was used because of legal issues.
On September 28, 1968, this song reached its peak US chart position of #63. That same day, Jackie DeShannon's cover reached its peak of #55 US. DeShannon's release wasn't what she had in mind. She explained in her Songfacts interview: "I absolutely said, 'No way I'm going to do it, it's The Band's record, goodbye.' But the label kept calling me, so I finally said, 'Well, if you can get confirmation from The Band that they're not putting it out as a single and I can do it with their permission, then okay.' So, I recorded it. The record's going up the chart and all of a sudden, here comes The Band's single. Then Aretha Franklin's version comes out. So I was at a radio station talking to the program director, and there were two other people promoting the same record outside the door."
Aretha Franklin's version was the biggest hit, reaching #19 in March 1969. Many other acts have since covered the song. A version by Diana Ross and the Supremes with The Temptations reached #46 in October 1969, which was the last time it charted in America. The song was also recorded by: A Group Called Smith, The Black Crowes, Bob Dylan, Grateful Dead, The Allman Brothers, Joan Osborne, Keller Williams, King Curtis & Duane Allman, Otis & Travis, Rotary Connection, Joe Cocker, Spooky Tooth, and The Ventures.
Aretha Franklin's version featured Duane Allman playing slide guitar using an empty bottle of decongestant pills.
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Our old rooster, Virgil Caine:
Such a handsome guy, but he turned into total dick, as roosters sometimes do. Our dogs (big pitties) were terrified of him. So was I- had to walk around the yard holding a giant piece of cardboard, like a body shield, so couldn't attack my legs. 
I don't have a problem with the song. In fact, I think it's one of their best. I don't see it as glorifying the South, but as a lament by a poor Virginia man devastated by all the loss.