onurblues: North Mississippi Allstars

April 15, 2022

North Mississippi Allstars - World Boogie Is Coming (2013)

21st century vintage boogie

Take some old vintage Mississippi blues, preferably Hill Country style, put them through modern rock technologies filters like quasi systematic reverb, saturated amps and synthesizer effects, with pinches of DJ hip-hop style and psychedelia here and there, you've got NMA. The modern tech sound will appeal to rock audiences but the vintage spirit of Hill Country will not turn off blues aficionados. The same recipe has been applied by Fat Possum Records to the late albums of R.L. Burnside in particular, and used by some of his sons.

NMA is a flexible band, built around the core Dickinson brothers , Luther and Cody, sons of the late famous Memphis producer and musician Jim Dickinson. They were of course raised in a musical surrounding. If Luther is the one who's attracting the spotlights, Cody is no less interesting as a multi-instrument player in charge not only of drums and percussion but also quite at ease on guitar or keyboards.

Luther (left) & Cody Dickinson ►

The Dickinson brothers must live a hectic creative life that doesn't leave them with much sleep hours. Cody is also a documentary movies maker and film scores composer, and set up the side project band Hill Country Revue. Luther multiplies the musical ventures : he played guitar in several bands like the Black Crows (from 2007 to 2011), The Word (an instrumental, sacred steel and gospel blues jam band with pedal steel player Robert Randolph and keyboardist John Medeski), The Wandering (with Valerie June, Amy LaVere, Shardé Thomas and Shannon McNally), and nowadays leads The Cooperators (featuring again Shardé Thomas) and The Sisters of the Strawberry Moon. In addition to his own solo albums (like the acoustic instrumentals collection "Hambone's Meditations"), he worked on different projects with Robert Hiatt, the South Memphis String Band (with ex-Squirrel Nut Zippers guitarist Jimbo Mathus and Alvin Youngblood Hart), Jon Spencer, and as a guest player on albums from Calvin Russell, Jimbo Mathus or Jim Lauderdale among many others. He also became as a preservationist of traditional Mississippi folk music by producing "Otha" Turner's two albums : "Everybody Hollerin' Goat" and "From Senegal To Senatobia".

◄ "Otha" Turner & and his Rising Star Fife and Drum Band

Hill Country blues kings Junior Kimbrough, R.L. Burnside and "Otha" Turner are largely paid their dues in this album, though the treatment given to their songs might surprise more than one : heavy greasy sound of the saturated guitars and bass, thundering drum beat, electronic effects and background sounds (hard rain fall, talking and clapping...) blended with real rustic traditional North Mississippi drums and fife. And the most amazing thing of all is that this daring mix doesn't sound artificial a bit ! It appears almost as naturally authentic as a joyful Mississippi pic-nic jam. Here appears the Dickinson's talents as musicians, leaders and producers, and the excellent musicianship of their guests.

Rhythm is the master word of the album and one can feel the strong influence of the Mississippi Hills drums and fife rhythmic pattern. Most tracks are killer boogies : the thundering "Rollin 'n Tumblin", the shaking 'n rolling "Boogie", the electro hip-hopish "Snake Drive", the double "Shimmy"/"My Babe", Bukka White's "World Boogie", "I'm Leaving" with Luther's psychedelic guitar solo, the short judiciously titled "Cuttin' Shorty" (!), and the outstanding 10-minute long hypnotic version of R. L. Burnside's "Jumper On The Line", certainly the summit of the album.

◄ Shardé Thomas (on fife)

The rest is as rhythmical, from the stormy slide versions of "Goin' to Brownsville" from "Sleepy" John Estes and "Furry" Lewis, and of Fred McDowell's "Back Back Train", to the strange bluegrass-tinged "Hodown" featuring a tuba-like sound, or the heavy acoustic rural folk "ML (Goin Home)" that concludes this fascinating opus.

The moral of the story is that tradition and modernity are far from being incompatible… provided the blend is cooked by talented chefs. And the Dickinson brothers and their pals surely are. ■

Who wrote what

"Otha" Turner & young Shardé

01. "JR" : Junior Kimbrough
02. "Goat Meat" : Luther Dickinson, Steve Malcolm
03. "Rollin 'n Tumblin" : Traditional
04. "Boogie" : Traditional
05. "Get the Snakes Out the Woods" : R. L. Burnside, NMA
06. "Snake Drive" : R. L. Burnside
07. "That Dog After That Rabbit" : Othar Turner, NMA
08. "Meet Me in the City" : Junior Kimbrough
09. "Turn Up Satan" : Luther & Cody Dickinson, Chris Chew
10. "Shimmy" : Othar Turner
11. "My Babe" : Willie Dixon

12. "Granny, Does Your Dog Bite" : Othar Turner, Shardé Thomas
13. "World Boogie" : Booker T. Washington White aka Bukka White
14. "Goin' to Brownsville" : John Adam Estes aka "Sleepy" John Estes, Walter E. Lewis aka "Furry" Lewis
15. "I'm Leaving" : Junior Kimbrough

◄ R.L. Burnside

16. "Jumper on the Line" : R. L. Burnside
17. "Cuttin' Shorty" : Cody Dickinson, Steve Malcolm
18. "Crazy Bout You" : Junior Kimbrough
19. "Back Back Train" : Fred McDowell
20. "Hodown" : Traditional
21. "Brooks Run To The Ocean" : Fred McDowell
22. "ML (Goin Home)" : NMA

► NMA official site : https://www.nmallstars.com/

► NMA YT channel : https://www.youtube.com/c/northmississippiallstars

Free audio downloads
● NMA's live concerts free of rights can be downloaded in Flac quality on : https://archive.org/details/NorthMississippiAllstars

Interviews

● ITW of Luther & Cody Dickinson about NMA's 2019 album "Up & Rolling" on Blues Kitchen TV : https://youtu.be/8oduHSksF-Q

● Luther Dickinson discusses how he has stayed busy during the Covid pandemic : https://youtu.be/C2w-e_bleSE

Extra long live shows videos

● At the "Belly Up" Tavern in Solana Beach, CA, in 2022 : https://youtu.be/iWZJ35lWHNs
● At Hadden Lake Park, GA, in 2021 : https://youtu.be/U0WsmQQ02TI
● At Tuffy's Bottle & Lounge Club in Sanford, FL, in 2021 : https://youtu.be/_l9ulRU0cGI & https://youtu.be/wsq6WVwV8Oc
● At Antone’s in Austin, TX, in 2020 : https://youtu.be/mQ1DyN2k7f8
● In Fort Collins, CO, in 2019 : https://youtu.be/3qB8jaddTIQ
● At the Copper Country Festival in Copper Mountain, CO, in 2019 : https://youtu.be/qpj6uwJLZRI
● At the Boathouse, Newport, VA, in 2019 : https://youtu.be/ODFvJNkz73A

● At Jannus in St. Petersburg, FL, in 2019 : https://youtu.be/HlmrmwL0Uf4
● At Knuckleheads Garage in 2018 : https://youtu.be/YLwrdFWyUmM
● At the 4 Peaks Music Festival in Bend, OR, in 2018 : https://youtu.be/8ASBGTHWwRg
● At the Puistoblues Fest. in Finland in 2017 : https://youtu.be/SrVaYjmIzwo
● In Atlanta, GA, in 2017 :
→ set 1 (acoustic) : https://youtu.be/orrLdeT5wHo
→ set 2 : https://youtu.be/D42_RM6BVuI
→ set 3 : https://youtu.be/f5WJ8PZjbq4

● At the l Lockn' Festival in Arrington, VI, 2015 : https://youtu.be/rFsuS3Sr8Og & https://youtu.be/k4CrlQ2yeZw
● In San Francisco, CA, in 2014 : https://youtu.be/rVah_47Qi44
● At the All Good Music Festival in Legend Valley, Thornville, OH, in 2013 : https://youtu.be/yXqaYtR7__8
● In St. Louis, MO, in 2012 :
→ part 1 : https://youtu.be/PWJ0fJ-njxw
→ part 2 : https://youtu.be/QxjEgXrakEw

● In Birmingham, AL, in 2012 :
→ part 1 : https://youtu.be/w9pl8LViJkg
→ part 2 : https://youtu.be/stss7xBKvhk
● In Brooklyn, NY, in 2012 :
→ part 1 : https://youtu.be/tEn0wuReg7s
→ part 2 : https://youtu.be/qmc5c5jv3g4
● In Hattiesburg, MS, in 2012 :
→ part 1 : https://youtu.be/N9u74s-vWD0
→ part 2 : https://youtu.be/uiuBOFpgkOw

● At the Azkena Festival in Spain in 2012 : https://youtu.be/fEavWRfKS6w

● In Boulder, CO, in 2008 : https://youtu.be/-dm-nEb47-o

● In Burlington, VT, in 2005 : https://youtu.be/v0or-0oxoQo
● Acoustic show at the Univ. of Southern Mississippi in 2001 : https://youtu.be/7JZULS6ypGQ