| Jim
Dickinson Tribute LP Due November 10 |
 Onward
and Upward will be released on November 10 by Memphis International,
the label for which Jim Dickinson, as his
performing alter ego James Luther Dickinson,
released his last three albums, Jungle Jim and the Voodoo Tiger (2006),
Killers From Space (2007) and this year's Dinosaurs Run In Circles.
Just three days after the death of his father, Memphis (and Muscle
Shoals and Miami) music legend Jim Dickinson, Luther Dickinson opened
the doors to the family’s Zebra Ranch studio in Independence,
Mississippi and recorded Onward and Upward, an album of gospel songs
and hymns over the course of a few hours.
Luther, one third of the North Mississippi All-Stars and now a member
of The Black Crowes, was joined by an ad hoc group dubbed “The
Sons of Mudboy” (an homage to his late father’s influential
rock band Mudboy and the Neutrons) who were all close to Dickinson
the elder and wished to address his loss in a musical way. The Sons
of Mudboy include two veterans of the original Mudboy: Sid Selvidge
(guitar, vocals) and Jimmy Crosthwait (washboard, vocals). Also on
the session were Jimbo Mathus (guitar, mandolin, banjo, vocals) formerly
of the Squirrel Nut Zippers and of the South Memphis String Band,
Steve Selvidge (guitar, dobro, vocals) and Paul Taylor (washtub bass)
as well as vocalist Shannon McNally.
Inspired by Dickinson pater familias, Luther and company duplicated
the sound of mid-Century era reel-to-reel filed recordings, using
only two microphones plugged directly into a two-track ½ inch
tape recorder: no mixing after the fact. Ardent’s John Fry mastered
the tracks directly from the two track to the mother stamper from
which (vinyl) pressings were sourced. Most of the songs were nailed
in just one take with just a few exceptions and those were completed
in no more than three takes.
Onward
and Upward tracks include: “Let It Roll,” “His
Eye Is On The Sparrow,” “You Got To Walk That Lonesome
Valley,” “In The Garden,” and “Glory Glory."
|
|
