Jim Dickinson and Joe Hardy working at Ardent Studios

This is a picture of Jim producing with engineer, Joe Hardy, the first time they worked with the Fairlight in Studio C at Ardent. The artist, songwriter Sandy Carroll, said that Jim hated it, but that was before he and Joe mastered the new software and perfected the mysterious technique of Quantizing.

The owner/founder of Ardent, John Fry, said about quantizing, "Describe Quantizing in a simple way?  Impossible."

 Jim's son, Cody,  North Mississippi Allstars' drummer extraordinaire, talks about the Fairlight and his dad:
" I love this picture of Dad and Hardy, working on the Fairlight.  They were so far ahead of their time it is mind-boggling.  I remember Dad telling me about sampling snare drums before rap music even existed.  They were inventing the future."

"For Your Love"

In the mid-sixties in Memphis, Ronnie Jordan was a singer/songwriter who had a recording band called the Honey Jug and a contract with Stax's pop label, H.I.P. Being a friend of Jim's, Ronnie recorded the single at "old" Ardent on National, with Jim producing and John Fry engineering. One critic called it, "a killer Memphis 45."

The personnel on the "For Your Love/In 1852 We" single is as follows:

Ronnie Jordan-vox

Jim Dickinson, Tommy Duncan-keys

Frank Watts-guitar

Joe Savage-bass

Joe Correro Jr., Charles Carrington-drums

Here's what Jim said in an interview:

"That's a hell of a track on 'For Your Love.' The whole time I was cutting that it sped up too much, probably my damned idea. That's Joe Jr. Correro on drums. 'For Your Love,' which was supposedly the A-side of that record, was the song that Ronny cared about."

John Fry commented, "We had a good time recording that song."

As fan Frank Bruno pointed out, "You can hear JD screaming, 'For your love' during the middle and end of the song."

"For Your Love" will be on the Memphis Psych compilation that Alec Paleo of Ace Records is putting together to be released soon.

World Boogie is coming!

Jim Dickinson- running with the big dogs!

In April, 2011, Memphis Magazine celebrated its thirty-five year milestone with "a lengthy photo essay, one that features thirty-five individuals whose influence, we determined, was critical to the growth and evolution of our city during the period of Memphis magazine existence." Luther, Cody, and I were thrilled to hear that Jim was included in this list of luminaries which included Jack Belz, Steve Cohen, William Eggleston, Kallen Esperian, Shelby Foote, Al Green, Karen Carrier, Henry Turley, J.R. "Pitt" Hyde, Fred Smith, and Justin Timberlake, among others. What an honor for Jim and our family.

Here's what Memphis magazine had to say about Jim:

"When he passed away in 2009, this underground godfather of modern Memphis music was the scene's most colorful commentator. With roots that reached back to jug bands and Sun records, Dickinson came of age in the garage-rock and folk revival '60s, presided over the birth of alternative music with Alex Chilton in the 70s, hung with Dylan and the Stones, did major work during the generally fallow '80s, and sired a promising new generation of Memphis music, both in his family (sons Luther and Cody of the North Mississippi Allstars) and in his home studio (Lucero, Alvin Youngblood Heart, Amy Lavere). He also found time to make some pretty fine records of his own. Dickinson contained multitudes. And he could tell you all about it."

Here's one of my favorite recording of Jim's music- a tribute that Oxford's Thacker Mountain Radio show compiled to honor Jim's work as the leader of their house band, the Yallowbushwhackers.
This is fifty-nine minutes of the most free and joyous arrangements Jim ever recorded. Enjoy!

"World boogie is coming!"

Can you dig it?

Here's Jim, playing with Luther and Cody, Paul Taylor on bass, and sax man extraordinaire, Jim Spake, rocking out on Beale Street, August, 1999, at the Southern Heritage Festival.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Puz8GGJQzng

World boogie is coming!

"The Motorcycle Session" - excerpted from Knox Phillips' remarks at the Jim Dickinson Brass Note dedication on Beale St., 4/3/20

A lot of you probably know about our “motorcycle” session. We were doing an album on Dan Penn---if you don’t know who he is, he’s probably the premier---in my mind’s eye---singer-songwriter-producer in the South today, and has been for years and years and years, the greatest voice. Great voice, great writer. Jim was producing an album for him. He produced the best album on Dan that Dan ever did in my mind’s eye.

I talked to Jim that afternoon, we were coming in that night, Jim said, “Dan wrote this song ‘Tiney Hineys and Hogs’”, obviously a motorcycle song. I said, “Jim, great,” and he said, “I want two live motorcycles on the floor running at the session while track is being cut.” I said, ok. So [we got] two ’74 Harley Davidsons into the studio and got them all set up. I mic’ed ‘em, tried to bounce them off a little bit. But I also had these great new red Koss headphones that just came in that day. They put on the headphones, the motorcycle guys did, they cranked up their motorcycles, Gene Chrisman was playing drums. Jim’s idea was to get the motorcycles to idle on the beat.

Now the deal is that in those days motorcycles had carbureators, maybe they still do. There’s an idle screw, you turn the idle up a little bit to increase the speed of the idle, and turn it down to decrease it.

What Jim was trying to do was get the beat and the motorcycles in time. We finally got all that, did a couple of cuts, as the song ended it builds up dynamically. Well, to build the song up dynamically, you have to gun it.

Toward the end of the song they’re gunning the motorcycles. We had to all run out of the room.

I’d shut the door, I’d turn the air conditioner on “suck.” We’d go out to the lobby or the lounge and wait thirty minutes and go back in and do another cut.

The point of that story is that where else but Memphis could that happen and in whose brain but Jim’s could that be invented?

by Glenn Goodman

Unveiling Jim's Brass Note on Beale Street

On hand for the unveiling of Jim Dickinson's Brass Note on the Beale Street Walk of Fame were his wife, Mary Lindsay Dickinson, sons Cody (on left) and Luther Dickinson and his wife Necha, and their daughter, Lucia.

Speaking to the crowd, Knox Phillips said he was sure that if Jim was there, he would say, "It's about time." Knox praised Jim's "independent and maverick spirit." With the emphasis on "maverick!"

"You couldn't want a better friend or professional colleague," said John Fry, Ardent Studios' Owner.

"We're fortunate he came our way," said U.S. Representative Steve Cohen..

I'm his wife, Mary Lindsay Dickinson, and I said to the crowd, "God is love. Love is eternal. Jim is with God, co-heirs to God's Kingdom with Jesus. Jim loved us then; he loves us now, still, always, and forever." And in the words of John Fry, "If this offends your political correctness, contact me and I'll forgive you."

"I no longer think only of Jim Dickinson as a guy who makes music like no one else, though that's sure enough true. I think of him and the music he makes as something a lot bigger."

-Nick Tosches

Sweet Peace Within

Beginnings of the Dickinson Musical Family

"I think of Jim often. I don't think I understood that every time he told a story, it was a parable--a lesson that we needed to hear. The stories were so wonderful, I had no idea I was learning something important--about energy, creativity, or taking care of the artists around you. Those lessons follow me wherever I go."

This comment was made recently by our family friend, Kirt Gunn, who was best friends with Luther when he was three years old and Kirt was seven. Luther is three in the picture above and I'm pregnant with Cody. We are soaking up the music Jim is playing at Ardent Studio.

Monkey Man