Review of "I'm Just Dead I'm Not Gone"

James Luther Dickinson and North Mississippi All Stars

I'm Just Dead I'm Not Gone

(Memphis International Records)

By Bill Bentley






There aren't many musicians who cast as wide a shadow as James Luther
Dickinson.  Around Memphis he was an instigator of countless escapades,
from early days pushing aging bluesmen to the front of the line, then as
keyboard player in the decidedly funky Dixie Flyers and producer non-pareil
of everyone from Big Star, the Replacements, Texas Tornados, John Hiatt and
onward. Some first found out about Dickinson from his aching piano on the 
Rolling Stones' "Wild Horses," which opened a lot of doors for someone who
wasn't shy about knocking them down if need be. He was Ry Cooder's 
co-conspirator for years, and even ended up on a Bob Dylan album a
decade ago. There was nowhere this man didn't go.

In the '90s his sons Luther and Cody Dickinson kicked up their own sand
after forming the North Mississippi All Stars. Needless to say, the music never
stopped around the Dickinson abode, and as he once explained, he had to 
"raise his own band," which the father definitely did. When he died in 2009, Jim
Dickinson had aptly reminded everyone beforehand, "I will not be gone as long 
as the music lingers." This live concert recorded at the New Daisy Theater on 
Memphis' famous Beale Street in 2006 captures the man and his sons in full 
glory, taking a blowtorch to roots music and fashioning something altogether 
their own. They had such an instinctual feel for these songs--music that was 
almost literally in their blood--that the sound feels like it comes from a down
 home frontporch with the ions thick in the summer night and the spirit of 
America in the air.

The set list is one that reflects where Jim Dickinson started, with classics by 
Sleepy  John Estes, Furry Lewis, B.B. King and J.B. Lenoir to cover the blues 
foundation. Then there's songs by Mack Rice, Buffy St. Marie, Bob Frank, 
Jerry West and Terry Fell that veer from swampy rockers to country stompers. 
Everything comes out with an unstoppable beat and bad boy attitude, 
something the Tennessee favorite son came by naturally. With a gruff voice 
that commanded complete attention, it sometimes seems like Dickinson might
have missed his calling as a preacher or a politician, but in a lot of ways that's
what he was too. He just did it from behind a piano, and let the notes fall 
where they may. There is no denying we won't see his like again, but once
more the Big Man was right when he predicted: he's just dead, he's not gone.
Thank God

I'm Just Dead, I'm Not Gone - PRE-ORDER CONTEST

James Luther (Jim) Dickinson's first and only live record with sons Luther and Cody plus Chris Chew of the North Mississippi Allstars, and Jimmy Davis on rhythm guitar is being released on July 3, 2012. The CD is called, "I'm Just Dead, I'm Not Gone." It was recorded at the New Daisy Theater in Memphis. It's probably Jim and the boys' BEST live performance ever. Jimmy Davis puts them over the top. Great sound, pickin', and Jim is on fire.

To make this more fun, Zebra Ranch is offering a pre-release contest until July 3 to win FREE cds. Order "I'm Just Dead, I'm Not Gone" from the http://zebraranch.com/store.htm, Zebra Ranch Store before July 3, and you will automatically be entered in a drawing to win the contest. The prize is 3 more CDs of your choice from the Zebra Ranch Store absolutely FREE! This includes Luther's Grammy nominated tribute to his dad, "Onward and Upward."

Whoever orders a vinyl copy of "I'm Just Dead, I'm Not Gone" will receive 3 extra cds of his/her choice for free.

All CDs and vinyl purchased from the http://zebraranch.com/store.htm, Zebra Ranch Store including the winners will be shipped on July 3. Can't beat this with a stick! Be there or be square! World boogie is coming!

The Allstars at the Beale Street Music Festival

"As in life, time seems to fly by at the Beale Street Music Festival. Not that long ago, the North Mississippi Allstars and Three 6 Mafia were among the festival's fledgling acts, musical upstarts representing the new generation of Memphis music.

But as the 2012 edition of the three-day concert event kicked off on Friday evening, the Allstars and Three 6 had come to occupy a rather different position: the two groups having evolved into Mid-South institutions epitomizing the wide spectrum of Memphis music that's defined the past two decades. Led by the Dickinson brothers -- guitarist Luther and drummer Cody -- the Allstars were in fine fettle on the Bud Light stage as they savored the fading bits of daylight, conjuring an impressive kickoff to the weekend's entertainment.

The band's prodigiously built bassist Chris Chew, who's developed a second career as a tour bus driver, and who will soon be taking a hiatus from the group, was a welcome sight on stage as his rock steady rhythm and infectious presence seemed to galvanize the Dickinsons.

The three-piece combo, aided by a trio of sweet-voiced backing singers, and the odd guest, including British bluesman Ian Seigel, delivered a crowd-pleasing set, carving new filigrees into familiar favorites like "Keys to the Kingdom" and "Let My Baby Ride."

Their performance reached a crescendo as Luther broke out an electric diddley bow -- a distinctly fashioned one string guitar -- and made the instrument come alive to the strains of "Rollin' and Tumblin'" while brother Cody strapped on a washboard; together they summoned the "world boogie" sound their departed father, Memphis producer Jim Dickinson, fashioned as his mantra and legacy, while family matriarch Mary Lindsay Dickinson watched approvingly from the side of the stage"

-Bob Mehr, Commercial Appeal
May 4th, 2012

Recording with The New Beale Street Sheiks

" ….I called Crosthwait and asked him if he had ever thought about playing the washboard. We went to a hardware store down by Memphis State and got a Zinc King washboard and half a dozen sewing thimbles to use as picks.  We drafted our friend George Gillis who had played bass on my Home of The Blues session to play wash tub and the New Beale Street Sheiks were born.

         We rehearsed once, played a gig Friday night at The Pastimes Peanut Bar, and showed up at Sam Phillip’s Studio Saturday morning for the session.  Nobody was there except Scotty Moore, Bill Black, and Rowsey, the repair man.  Justis had failed to nail down the booking for the session, and Scotty wasn’t buying it.  We looked pretty bad.  Crosthwait had hair trailing down his back and Gillis and I were hung over.  I told Scotty to call Justis in Nashville, which he did.  After he got off the phone, Scotty okayed the session and it fell to Rowsey to engineer.  I found out later it was his first and only session.  We set up around a couple of RCA 77s and laid down four songs as fast as we could.  While we were cutting, Bill Black was calling people on the phone and having them come over and laugh at us from the control room.

          When we finished Bill Black was shaking his head.  “Dickinson, this is the wildest thing you’ve ever done,” he chuckled."

         
(From The Search for Blind Lemon copyright by Jim Dickinson)

Americana Music Awards

Luther and Cody worked as part of Buddy Miller's house band,
backing various artists at the 2011 Americana Awards show.

Jim Dickinson- receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award for Engineering and Production from the Americana Music Association, Ryman Auditorium, Nashville,  Tennessee, 2007.

Listen to his speech below:


Jim Dickinson's Acceptance Speech for Americana Music Association's Lifetime Achievement Award by Jim Dickinson's Legacy

Jim Dickinson and the Hardly Can Playboys

Jim Dickinson's first appearance with his very young sons at the Overton Park Shell in 1989 (Cody Dickinson we are told was 13 but looks even younger which makes Luther just almost old enough to drive maybe ...?) also includes Jim Lancaster on bass and Jim Spake on sax on this way-rocking version of J.B. Lenoir's "Down in Mississippi". The "Hardly Can Playboys" left no doubt from the start that the younger Dickinsons could keep up with their legendary Dad. Some of the most formative shows for all involved have taken place at the Shell and the younger Dickinsons have made many more appearances on this stage over the years while developing into North Mississippi All-Stars. 

This performance was part of the "Memphis Medicine Show", series of live radio broadcasts over WEVL-FM from the stage of the Overton Park Shell for two years in the late '80s.

The historic Memphis amphitheater was fully renovated in 2008 thanks to a generous grant from the Mortimer Levitt Foundation and the renamed Levitt Shell now sponsors 50 free concerts every year devoted to developing community through the performing arts.

Jim Dickinson 2nd Annual Folk Festival