Showing posts with label James Luther Dickinson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label James Luther Dickinson. Show all posts

Friday, March 24, 2017

James Luther Dickinson - I'm Just Dead, I'm Not Gone (Lazarus Edition)

Size: 100,9 MB
Time: 40:05
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2017
Styles: Memphis Blues, Blues Rock
Art: Front

01. Redneck, Blue Collar (4:39)
02. Lazarus (5:52)
03. All Out Of Blue (5:50)
04. Hadacol Boogie (3:40)
05. Fraulein (4:30)
06. Band Intro (1:06)
07. Somewhere Down The Road (5:12)
08. Midnight Rider (3:33)
09. Ubangi Stomp (2:44)
10. I Forgot To Remember To Forgot (2:54)

When Jim Dickinson died on August 15, 2009 at the age of 67, his hometown paper, The Memphis Commercial Appeal, ran a lengthy, appreciative obituary chronicling his many achievements and credits. The lead read "The North Mississippi Allstars have lost their father, Bob Dylan has lost a 'brother,' rock and roll has lost one of its great cult heroes and Memphis has lost a musical icon with the death of Jim Dickinson."

His work in the studio with the likes of Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Big Star, the Replacements, Ry Cooder and others had consistently put him in the front ranks of recording studio "go to" guys, not only in Memphis, but in Muscle Shoals and Miami, as well. His music was powerful, a driving force, marked by explosive spontaneity, it was an outlet for a creative spirit who found inspiration in the artists with whom he worked as well as those who had influenced him early on. Son Luther Dickinson writes in his poignant liner notes, "Nobody could rock as hard as he could."

I'm Just Dead, I'm Not Gone (Lazarus Edition) is Jim's 5th album released on Memphis International Records. The "Lazarus Edition" is the second album culled from his Friday, June 2, 2006 concert on the stage of the New Daisy Theater on Beale Street. He is backed by the North Mississippi All Stars, sons Luther on guitar and vocals and Cody on bass and vocals along with de facto/honorary son Chris Chew on bass plus session jack-of-all-tracks Jimmy Davis on guitar and vocals. The "Lazarus Edition" includes unreleased tracks from that live recording and two historical live tracks featuring legendary Sun Records rhythm section band members including Roland Janes, Stan Kessler, Cowboy Jack Clement, Billy Lee Riley and J.M. Van Eaton.

I'm Just Dead, I'm Not Gone (Lazarus Edition) is a reflection of Dickinson's lifelong affinity for songs that have style, substance and, are at the same time, truthful. Dickinson is very much alive on these incendiary tracks reaffirming the prescient contention that gives this remarkable set its title.

I'm Just Dead, I'm Not Gone

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

James Luther Dickinson & North Mississippi Allstars - I'm Just Dead, I'm Not Gone

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 42:51
Size: 98.1 MB
Styles: Hill country blues, Roots rock
Year: 2012
Art: Front

[5:35] 1. Money Talks
[3:55] 2. Ax Sweet Mama
[6:29] 3. Codine
[4:47] 4. Red Neck, Blue Collar
[4:56] 5. Kassie Jones, Pt. 1
[3:06] 6. Rooster Blues
[4:02] 7. Never Make Your Move Too Soon
[4:24] 8. Truck Drivin' Man
[5:33] 9. Down In Mississippi

Despite Memphis music enigma Jim Dickinson's long, winding, illustrious, and infamous musical career as a musician and producer, he never released a live in Memphis album. Until now that is. I'm Just Dead, I'm Not Gone fills that gap in his catalog. Recorded in 2006 at the New Daisy Theater on Beale Street in Memphis, the album pairs the music legend on piano and lead vocals with his kids' band, the North Mississippi Allstars (Luther Dickinson, guitar; Cody Dickinson, drums; Chris Chew, bass), and special guest Jimmy Davis on rhythm guitar and backing vocals in a riotous set of blues, R&B, and country covers played at maximum speed and volume. It was all captured in the moment -- without further window dressing -- by Kevin Houston. From the elder Dickinson's poignantly surreal poem that opens Sir Mack Rice's "Money Talks" (in which, at 90 mph, he discusses everything from prayer, George W. Bush, honey, bad whiskey, and money), the proceedings are off to an uproarious start. It's raw and non-stop. While everything here works exactly as it should, there are some real standouts. The snaky blues cover of Buffy Sainte Marie's "Codine" is among the most original readings of the tune ever, with ghostly piano and Luther's deep blues lead guitar. The rocked-up party blues in Furry Lewis' "Kassie Jones" is another. Things get country-fried on Bob Frank's "Red Neck, Blue Collar" and Terry Fell's anthem "Truck Drivin' Man." Closer "Down in Mississippi" features a smoking extended guitar break by Luther, who shines throughout. But the real star is the man the album is named after. His command of the proceedings is no less authoritative than Jerry Lee Lewis' and just as unhinged as Charlie Feathers'. A cursory listen will offer the mistaken impression that this is a glorified bar gig. That said, a slightly deeper one will yield proof of Dickinson's prophetic, historical genius: in his persona and practice, he embodies the crossroads of all American roots song forms, from folk and blues to R&B and rock. His advice for his sons -- ...It's okay to rush, but don't drag..." -- is proven here time and again. At a shade over 42 minutes, I'm Just Dead, I'm Not Gone is a concise yet fully fleshed, sweaty, grimy, gritty exercise in everything that is truly great about rock & roll. ~Thom Jurek

I'm Just Dead, I'm Not Gone mc
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