solo-1

solo-1
“There are cool cats and there are cool Memphis cats but no one, not
Elvis, not Jerry Lee, not even the Wolf came close to epitomizing Memphis
and cool like Jim Dickinson did. He was the Top Cat Daddy, an
inspiration, a mentor and my friend.

If you knew his music and understood his role as one of the links between
black and white culture and between blues and rock and roll, you know what
I'm talking about. If he is unfamiliar to you, now's as good time as any
to get to know him, even though he's checked out of the motel.”

--Joe Nick Patoski


For more about Jim go to
http://www.zebraranch.com
http://joenickp.blogspot.com/2009/08/james-luther-dickinson.html

Sunday, November 4, 2012

'Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me' - Eagerly Awaited Music Doc Has 'U.S. Premiere' Here Thursday




"Having inspired a Grammy-winning box set, international tribute
concerts and now a documentary film, has Big Star -- the Memphis
 rock band that achieved legendary status long after the commercia
l failure of its 1970s recordings -- reached the apex of its influence
 and posthumous popularity?
"Just as soon as you think it's peaked, it hasn't," said Jody
Stephens, 60, drummer and only surviving member of the
Big Star lineup that recorded the revered early 1970s power
pop masterpieces,"#1 Record" and "Radio City," as well
as the more ghostly final studio album,"Third/Sister Lovers."
Years in the making, the documentary "Big Star: Nothing
Can Hurt Me" has its designated U.S. Premiere as the
opening night "Gala" selection of the 15th annual Indie Memphis
Film Festival. The movie screens at 6:30 p.m. Thursday,
November 1, 2012 at Playhouse on the Square.
Link to the original article by John Beifuss: http://blogs.
commercialappeal.com/the_bloodshot_eye/2012/10/
big-star-nothing-can-hurt-me---eagerly-awaited-music-doc-
has-us-premiere-here-thursday.html"

This is a must-see film for anyone who cares about the direction
of music in the past few decades. Big Star's influence was
seminal and (except for John Fry), nobody's influence on the band
was stronger than that of Big Star Third's producer, Jim Dickinson.

A subject that is not touched on in the movie is what inspired Alex
Chilton to ask Jim Dickinson to produce Third.  I can't answer that,
but I'll never forget the cold winter day when Alex brought
the demos to our house to play for Jim. I was rocking baby
Luther in the next room but I heard every note.  After Alex left,
I came out and looked at Jim.  He read the bewilderment on
my face.  "Don't worry," he laughed. " I can hear exactly where
Alex is going."

Jim not only produced Big Star; he played on the Cramps record
that Alex produced, nurtured and produced Tav Falco and Panther
Burns, and produced The Replacements' Pleased to Meet Me,
whose anthem, "Alex Chilton" re-introduced Big Star to the world.
The rest is history.

Where would American music be without Big Star and Jim
Dickinson's legacy?  It wouldn't be the same.  Big Star
forever changed the direction of pop music.

by Mary Lindsay Dickinson, November 4, 2012