James Luther Dickinson
Free Beer Tomorrow (Artemis)You may know Jim Dickinson as the daddy of those North Mississippi All-Stars, producer of the Replacements' Pleased to Meet Me, or the guy who played piano with the Stones on Sticky Fingers and Dylan on Time Out of Mind. For others, he's the white cat out of Memphis, who 30 years ago cut his one and only solo album Dixie Fried, one of the best rock & roll albums of all time. Well, the Dickinson growl and his hard-bitten Easy Credit No Money Down, Years to Pay philosophical rant is back, most clearly evident in "Hungry Town," which throws more than a few hints about where the Stones at their peak learned their funk. Or take "Asshole," a tune that manages to rhyme the orifice with both "that's so" and "low class-o," and even inject "little children" into the lyrical fray while skipping along to a musical duel to the death that pits a gypsy violin against a smoky xylophone. With his greasy fingerprints smudging a gospel rant/Ry Cooder retro-roots mandolin stomp ("JC's NYC Blues"), sentimental covers of Irma Thomas' "It's Raining," and Blaze Foley's "If I Could Only Fly," plus loads of references to gambling that only Texas hustlers in Vegas and Southern cads on riverboats can fully appreciate, Dickinson's album should be required to carry the following warning: "Anything Dixie Fried may not be good for your health, but it sure sounds good anyway." The artery-clogger lives.
