Jim Dickinson – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

North Mississippi Allstars – Meet Me In The City

I had never heard of this band until recently. What a rootsy down to earth band. I had some headphones listening to this band. Fantastic is what I’ll say about them.

The North Mississippi Allstars formed in 1996 in Hernando, Mississippi. Brothers Luther and Cody Dickinson grew up immersed in Hill Country blues through their father and legendary producer and musician Jim Dickinson. He worked with everyone from the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan to Big Star and Alex Chilton. Blues was not something the Dickinson brothers discovered later; it was already in there. The brothers are credited with guitar, vocals, cigar box guitar, drums, bass, drums, percussion, vocals, guitar, and synthesizer.

The band took its name from the North Mississippi Hill Country blues style, a cousin to Delta blues, associated with artists like Fred McDowell, R.L. Burnside, Junior Kimbrough, and Otha Turner. Unlike the regular 12-bar structures of Chicago or Delta blues, Hill Country blues leans heavily on repetition and groove that builds as it goes.

This song was written by Junior Kimbrough in 1992. It’s been covered by The Black Keys and others. The North Mississippi Allstars released it on their album World Boogie Is Coming. It has a groove that is irresistible. Luther Dickinson’s guitar is the engine that makes it run, sliding around that beat like it’s got its own ideas on what it’s about. Cody Dickinson locks in underneath with a drum pattern that’s less about fills and more about being hypnotic. It’s just plain out cool.

This is some cool blues going on here with that groove. This sounds like it came out of a bar somewhere while slightly rattling the glasses. I’m going to give you a bonus song called Peaches that I liked on the first listen. Peaches came off the album Up and Rolling, released in 2019.

Meet Me In The City

Meet me over in the city
In the city, things so fine
We’ll get together, ah yes we will girl
Oh yes, we will
We’ll make everything alright now, honey don’t, oh honey don’t
So please, please don’t leave me right now girl
‘Cause right now, right now, oh no no no

You got me baby, you got me girl
You got me where you want me, whoa ho-ho-ho yeah
Now girl I know you are satisfied baby
So please, please don’t leave me right now girl
‘Cause right now, right now, oh no no no

Sometimes I think I will baby
Then again my, my-my-my-my-my-my mind will change
Now tell me don’t do it no more
So please, please don’t leave me right now girl
‘Cause right now, right now, oh no no no

…

Big Star – Third/Sister Lovers …album review

This was written for Dave’s Tuntable Series. The topic is Going out on a High Note. We all have seen artists who stick around long after they should have exited gracefully. For this round, pick a musical artist who you think ended their career on a high note, a great final album, or a triumphant concert tour before they grew stale.

I could have picked The Beatles, probably one of the best examples of going out on top with Abbey Road, but as usual, I wanted to go down the path less travelled. I wanted to feature Big Star’s last album, recorded in 1974. Parts of the band did release an album in 2005 under the Big Star name, but I’m not counting that one. This album was on Rolling Stone Magazine’s 500 Greatest Albums list at #285.

If there’s an album that feels like the final curtain was lowered, it’s Big Star’s Third/Sister Lovers album. Recorded in late 1974, it dribbled out years later in different forms; the record doesn’t just mark the end of Big Star, it feels like the end of Alex Chilton’s patience with power pop itself. This album had test pressings in 1975, but didn’t get officially released until 1978

Unlike #1 Record and Radio City, which had power-pop perfection, Third/Sister Lovers is messy and sometimes unsettling. It sounds less like a polished album and more like a band trying everything while the tape keeps rolling. Jim Dickinson’s production at Ardent Studios only added to the loose, haunted feel, he let Chilton and whoever else showed up throw down takes that feel unfinished and unfiltered.

Songs like Kizza Me, Jesus Christ, and Thank You Friends have some of Big Star’s old jangle, but the edges are jagged. Then you get Holocaust and Kanga Roo, two of the most desolate tracks they ever did. Holocaust is not something you hum; it’s something that stays with you afterward.

Part of the mythology of this album is that no one really knows the “real” tracklist. Different labels sequenced it differently when it trickled out in the late 70s and early 80s. By the time Rykodisc issued it on CD in the 90s and Omnivore Recordings gave us the expanded Complete Third box, it was clear… this wasn’t one neatly tidy album, it was choppy, uneven, and brilliant.

For all its chaos, this album became a blueprint for generations of indie and alternative bands. You hear its fingerprints in REM., Replacements, and Wilco, artists who weren’t afraid to experiment with pop and let it stand on its own. For a band that never could catch a break, Big Star ended with an album that was seldom properly released, yet somehow became arguably their most influential. That’s Big Star in a nutshell: tragedy, beauty, and magic all together.

Thank You Friends

Thank you, friendsWouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for youI’m so grateful for all the things you helped me do.

All the ladies and gentlemenWho made this all so probable

Thank you, friendsI rejoice to the skiesDear ones like you do the best I doAs far as can see my eyes

All the ladies and gentlemenWho made this all so probable

Without my friends I got chaosI’m often a bead of light.Without my friends I’d be swept up high by the wind

do, do…

All the ladies and gentlemen (I said all)All the ladies and gentlemen (I said all)All the ladies and gentlemenWho made this all so probable

Thank you friends (thank you again)Thank you friends (thank you again)Dear, dear friends (thank you again)Thank you friends (thank you again)And again, and again…Never too late to start

…

Primal Scream – Rocks

I posted Rocks Off by the Stones a couple of weeks ago, and Clive (Thanks Clive!) said that song influenced this song by Primal Scream. I took a listen, and I absolutely love it. It sounds like the Faces to me…pardon the pun, but that primal seventies rock. I told Clive it has a throwback sound to it. This was a departure from what they usually did..

This sure isn’t Britpop, which was popular at the time. You can tell when they recorded this that it’s supposed to sound like it could’ve been on a jukebox in 1973, and that is a wonderful thing. When it came out, the song and album baffled some critics, but it connected with a wider audience. It was their biggest UK hit to date. It was on the album Give Out But Don’t Give Up.

They decided to record in Memphis at Ardent Studios, the same place Big Star cut their records, in a location with a southern atmosphere. The idea was to tap into the same groove and gospel feel that the Stones did briefly in Muscle Shoals. The sessions were not smooth. They brought in Tom Dowd to produce, a legend whose resume included Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Eric Clapton. Dowd was used to working with bands who could cut a track live, warts and all. Primal Scream didn’t work that way. It was a constant party in the studio, and Dowd had to work through that.

The album was not easy to finish. Some tracks were reworked in London, others remixed to strip out what the label saw as “too much American bar-band” in favor of something more radio-friendly. Critics were split; some thought it was a brave move, others called it a lazy “Stones cosplay.” But for all the mixed reviews, Rocks came out swinging as the lead single in early 1994, and it worked.

One critic compared the album to U2’s Rattle and Hum, not in sound, but because of their desire to discover American influences with this album. I like it when bands do something different than expected. That is how you grow, and they took a shot, and to me, they ended up with a winner. Jimmy Miller, former producer of the Stones’ golden age, mixed a version of this as well.

The album peaked at #2 in the UK, #22 on the US Heatseekers Albums, and #12 in New Zealand in 1994.

The single peaked at #7 in the UK, #47 in Canada, and #8 in New Zealand in 1994.

Rocks

Dealers keep dealing, thieves keep thievingWhores keep whoring, junkies keep scoringTrade is on the meat rack, strip joints full of hunchbacksBitches keep a bitching, clap just keeps itching

Ain’t no use in praying, that’s the way it’s staying, babyJohnny ain’t so crazy, he’s always got a line for the ladies(Yeah, yeah, yeah)

Get your rocks off, get your rocks off, honeyShake ’em now, now, get ’em off downtownGet your rocks off, get your rocks off, honeyShake ’em now, now, get ’em off downtown

Creeps a-keep crawling, drunks a-keep fallingTeasers keep a-teasing, holy Joe’s a preacherCops keep busting, hustlers keep a hustlingDeath just keeps knocking, souls are up for auction

Ain’t no use in praying, that’s the way it’s staying, babyJohnny ain’t so crazy, he’s always got a line for a lady(Yeah, yeah, yeah)

Get your rocks off, get your rocks off, honeyShake ’em now, now, get ’em off downtownGet your rocks off, get your rocks off, honeyShake ’em now, now, get ’em off downtown (yeah, yeah)

Ain’t no use in praying, that’s the way it’s staying, babyJohnny ain’t so crazy, he’s always got a line for the lady(Oh, yeah, yeah)

Get your rocks off, get your rocks off, honeyShake ’em now, now, get ’em off downtownGet your rocks off, get your rocks off, honeyShake ’em now, now, get ’em off downtown

Get your rocks off, get your rocks off, honeyGet your rocks off, get your rocks off, honeyGet your rocks off, get your rocks off, honeyGet your rocks off, get your rocks off, honey

Get your rocks off, get your rocks off, honeyGet your rocks off, get your rocks off, honey

…

Big Star – Kanga Roo

This album was quite different than the other two Big Star albums. This song has a wonderful melody but it sounds like the world is collapsing around him when he sings it.

This song was on their 3rd album “Third/Sisters Lovers.” By this time the bands founder Chris Bell had been gone since the debut album was released and bassist Andy Hummel quit after their second album Radio City. There were only two original members on the album…Alex Chilton and drummer Jody Stephens. This album sometimes has been looked at as an Alex Chilton solo album…Jody did contribute a song and brought in a string section that was used in other songs.

They used different Memphis musicians on the album. Alex was dating Lesa Aldridge (who would go on to form a punk band calle The Klitz) and she helped with the album also.

Jim Dickinson produced this album and he got close to Chilton and encouraged him to try new things. Alex sometimes cut tracks late at night, then presented them to Jim the following day. After the two had been discussing the producer’s role, Alex showed up with “Like St. Joan,” possibly referencing the martyred Joan of Arc, which morphed into “Kanga Roo.”

Jim jumped into action, adding electric guitar feedback, strings via a Mellotron, and his own amateurish drums—since Jody wasn’t there that day—including a very loud cowbell. Inspired, Alex grabbed a drumstick to use as a bow on his Strat, creating an eerie sound. Effects were added to Alex’s drowsy vocals, which presumably related the story of his and Lesa’s love affair:

Jim Dickinson: “Alex came in one morning and he had this little evil grin on his face,” “He said, ‘Lesa and I cut something last night I want you to hear.’ Okay, so he plays me ‘Like a Kangaroo’ [its second title], which is acoustic twelve-string and vocal on one track [making it difficult to separate the sounds]. I said, ‘Yeah, Alex, what do you hear on that?’ And with the evil grin, he says, ‘Well, why don’t you produce it, Mr. Producer?’” “I first saw you, you had on blue jeans / Your eyes couldn’t hide anything . . . Thought you were a queen, oh so flirty.” Alex later said of the lyrics that he was spewing things out loud, just song after song. . . . The whole process was kind of automatic, free association.” “I think of Alex as a collaborator. He allowed me to collaborate with him.

Kanga Roo

I first saw you
You had on blue jeans
Your eyes couldn’t hide anything
I saw you breathing, oh
I saw you staring out in space

I next saw you
You was at the party
Thought you was a queen
Oh so flirty
I came against

Didn’t say excuse
Knew what I was doing
We looked very fine
‘Cause we were leaving

Like Saint Joan
Doing a cool jerk
Oh, I want you
Like a kanga roo

Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me Documentary

Hanspostcard is hosting a movie draft from 12 different genres…this is my musical entry and final pick.

Such a great band but such a frustrating story. Robyn Hitchcock remarked, “Big Star is like a letter that was mailed in 1972 but didn’t arrive until 1985.” That is a great way to explain them. They made three of the best albums of the decade that were not heard until much later. When they were finally discovered they influenced many artists such as The Replacements, REM, Cheap Trick, Matthew Sweet, and more. The last time I checked it was on Netflix…watch this documentary.

When these musicians and critics talk about Big Star…they talk about them like people talk about The Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Who, and The Kinks. In this documentary you have Cheap Trick, REM, Mitch Easter, Robyn Hitchcock, and others talking about the band.

The first album got great reviews…you couldn’t ask for better. When the label called radio stations trying to get them to play it…the stations would say it’s not selling. When someone actually heard the songs on the radio, they couldn’t find the record to buy it. This was basically the same story with all of the albums.

Distribution problems and just bad timing. Stax didn’t do a good job of distribution…they made a deal with Columbia before the second album to distribute the album…problem solved right? Nope, Clive Davis who made the deal was then fired at Columbia. The deal fell through and then Stax disintegrated.

Chris Bell who was key in creating the sound the band had quit after the first album. He came back but then quit again. Chris had depression problems and wanted badly to do something on his own. Alex Chilton continued and finished the second and third album with a new bass player on the third album.

After that, it follows Chris and Alex’s career to the end of both. It also covers Jim Dickinson’s role on the third experimental album. Family members, fans, and rock writers also share their love of Big Star and memories of the band members.

In May of 1973 Ardent Studios where Big Star recorded invited 100 rock writers down to Memphis to hear Big Star live. They all loved Big Star and it went over great…but that wasn’t the band’s problem…it was the business side. What would have happened if they would have signed with a label more suited to them?

Before watching this documentary, a couple of years back I didn’t realize Chris Bell was so instrumental in developing their sound. I knew it wasn’t the Alex Chilton band, but Chris was invaluable and started the ball rolling. All 4 members did contribute writing and singing but Chilton and Bell were the Lennon and McCartney of the group.

It’s a great documentary about a great band that had the talent, but fate wasn’t on their side.

There is the often-used Peter Buck quote that everyone who bought the first Velvet Underground album went out and started a band…the same is true with this band.

My recommendation? Watch it…NOW

Cast

Billy Altman … Self – Writer
Jon Auer … Self
Lester Bangs … Self (archive footage)
Chris Bell … Self (archive footage)
David Bell … Self – Chris Bell’s Brother
Norman Blake … Self
The Box Tops … Themselves (archive footage)
Panther Burns … Themselves (archive footage)
Cheap Trick … Themselves
Stephanie Chernikowski … Self – Photographer
Alex Chilton … Self (archive footage)
Rick Clark … Self – Writer and Musician
Stephen Ira Cohen … Self – U.S. Congressman (archive footage) (as Steve Cohen)
The Cramps … Themselves (archive footage)
John Dando … Self – Band Manager, Ardent Studios 1972-1975
Luther Dickinson … Self
Mary Lindsay Dickinson … Self
Steven Drozd … Self
Van Duren … Self – Musician
Mitch Easter … Self – Musician and Producer
Bruce Eaton … Self (voice) (archive footage)
William Eggleston … Self
Tav Falco … Self
John Fry … Self – Founder, Ardent Studios
John Hampton … Self – Engineer, Ardent Studios
Douglas Hart … Self – Bass, The Jesus and Mary Chain
Robyn Hitchcock … Self
Andy Hummel … Self (archive footage)
Ross Johnson … Self – Writer and Musician
Ira Kaplan … Self
Lenny Kaye … Self – Writer and Musician
John King … Self – Promotions, Ardent Studios 1972-1975
Curt Kirkwood … Self
John Lightman … Self
Carole Manning … Self – Ardent Studios 1972-1975
Mike Mills … Self
The Replacements The Replacements … Themselves (archive footage)
Steve Rhea … Self – Promotions, Ardent Studios 1972-1975
Will Rigby … Self – musician
Richard Rosebrough … Self – Engineer, Ardent Studios 1972-1975
Kliph Scurlock … Self
Tom Sheehan … Self – Photographer
Chris Stamey … Self – Musician and Producer
Big Star … Themselves
Jody Stephens … Self
Sara Stewart … Self – Chris Bell’s Sister
Michael Stipe … Self
Ken Stringfellow … Self
Matthew Sweet … Self
Alexis Taylor … Self
Marge Thrasher … Self – Hostess of Straight Talk (archive footage)
Jon Tiven … Self
Pete Tomlinson … Self – Writer
Jaan Uhelszki … Self – Writer (as Jaan Uhelzski)
Terry Edwards … Conductor, London (uncredited)

Scruffs – Break The Ice —-Power Pop Friday

Memphis in the early 1970s was more than Big Star. Many power pop bands and artists were coming out of there at that time. Not many made it huge but many were recognized later. They formed in 1974 and released their first album Wanna Meet The Scruffs? in 1977. Like the others around this period. Many of the power pop musicians worked with each other. The Scruffs worked with Alex Chilton, Tommy Hoehn, and Jim Dickinson. Break the Ice was the first single off of the album. It reminds me of the Raspberries.

To show what some rock critics thought of the band…here is Robert Christgau (rock critic):

Only a sucker for rock and roll could love this record, and I am that sucker. A middle-period Beatles extrapolation in the manner of Big Star (another out-of-step Memphis power-pop group on a small, out-of-step Memphis label), it bursts with off harmonies, left hooks, and jolts of random energy. The trouble is, these serve a shamelessly and perhaps permanently post-adolescent vision of life’s pain, most of which would appear to involve gurls. To which objection the rockin’ formalist in me responds, “I wanna hear ‘Revenge’ again.”

Pretty good endorsement right? That is just one of many but again they just couldn’t break through. They did not have the influence like Big Star did but they were a great power pop band. I listened to all of this album and that jangle of the guitar is infectious. The song was a regional hit but was not played outside of Memphis too much. They did move to New York in 1978 had some high profile gigs at CBGB and Max’s Kansas City.

The Band broke up in 1981 but Stephen Burns the singer, guitar player, and songwriter would continue recording albums under the Scruffs name into the 2010’s…with Peter Buck from REM guesting on the 2011 Kill! Kill! album .

Sorry I could not find the lyrics.

Jim Dickinson – Dixie Fried

He hollered, rave on, children, I’m with you
Rave on, cats, he cried
It’s almost dawn, the cops are gone
Let’s all get Dixie fried

He was born James Luther Dickinson but most people knew him as Jim Dickinson. It doesn’t get much more southern than this album and the title track.

He worked at Memphis Sun Records and Ardent Studios in the 1960s on, to sessions with the Rolling Stones (piano on Wild Horses at Muscle Shoals), Ry Cooder and Bob Dylan. He also played with his roots band Mud Boy & The Neutrons and the Dixie Flyers.

Dickinson produced recordings for performers as diverse as Willy DeVille, Green on Red, Mojo Nixon, Tav Falco’s Panther Burns, Toots and the Maytals and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins.

In the 70s he produced Big Star’s 3rd Sisters/Lovers album and in the 80s The Replacements Please To Meet Me album in Memphis.

In 1971 he started to focus on production work, producing and appearing on Ry Cooder’s acclaimed Into The Purple Valley and Boomer’s Story albums. Atlantic offered him a chance to record a solo album, and his debut Dixie Fried came out in 1972. It gave him the chance to present his own off-beat take on southern roots music, resulting in an album full of R&B and country.

The song was written by Carl Perkins and Howard “Curley” Griffin.

So if you want… sit back and sip some Tennessee Straight Sour Mash Whiskey and get Dixie Fried.

Dixie Fried

On the outskirts of town, there’s a little night spot
Dan dropped in about five o’clock
Took off his jacket, said, the night is short
He reached in his pocket and he flashed a quart

He hollered, rave on, children, I’m with you
Rave on, cats, he cried
It’s almost dawn, the cops are gone
Let’s all get Dixie fried

Well, Dan got happy and he started raving
He pulled out a razor, but he wasn’t shaving
And all the cats knew to jump and hop
‘Cause Dan was raised in a butcher shop

He hollered, rave on, children, I’m with you
Rave on, cats, he cried
It’s almost dawn, the cops are gone
Let’s all get Dixie fried

Well, the cops heard Dan when he started to shout
They all ran in to see what it was about
And I heard him holler as they led him away
He turned his head and this is what he had to say

He hollered, rave on, children, I’m with you

Rave on, cats, he cried
It’s almost dawn, the cops are gone
Let’s all get Dixie fried

Now, Dan was the bravest man that we ever saw
He let us all know, he wasn’t scared of the law
The black dog barked, but the boy didn’t flinch
He said, it ain’t my fault, hon, that I been pinched

He hollered, rave on, children, I’m with you
Rave on, cats, he cried
It’s almost dawn, the cops are gone
Let’s all get Dixie fried

Now, Dan was the bravest man we ever saw
He let us all know he wasn’t scared of the law
And I heard him holler as they led him away
He turned his head and this was what he had to say

He hollered, rave on, children, I’m with you
Rave on, cats, he cried
It’s almost dawn, the cops are gone
Let’s all get Dixie fried

Yeah, it’s almost dawn, the cops ain’t gone
And I’ve been Dixie fried