Luther Dickinson is dipping back into the well of his influences with a new solo album of classic blues songs from the Grateful Dead, out on 17 October.
Guitarist Luther Dickinson of the North Mississippi Allstars has carved out a career as one of Generation X’s great modern bluesmen, with a slew of stellar blues-rock albums over the past quarter century, while also earning a reputation as one of the most prolific road warriors of the current era. Known for blending traditional influences in blues, rock, funk, soul, and folk with a modern psychedelic twist and taste for improv, Dickinson is now dipping back into the well of his influences with a new solo album, Dead Blues Vol. 1, due out 17 October via Strolling Bones Records.
Comprised of classic blues songs from the Grateful Dead‘s deep repertoire, the album takes these tunes that were such an essential part of the Dead’s repertoire in their formative years in the 1960s and puts a fresh stamp on them with Memphis funk flavor, Delta blues tones, and New Orleans soul stew stylings. The album also includes special guests, including Phil Lesh‘s son Grahame Lesh, Steve Selvidge of the Hold Steady, Dickinson’s brother, and North Mississippi Allstars bandmates, Cody Dickinson and Ray Ray Holloman.
PopMatters premieres the record’s second single today, Bo Diddley‘s “Who Do You Love”, one of the songs that the Dead’s legendary original keyboardist Ron “Pigpen” McKernan liked to play in the 1960s and up until his untimely passing from liver failure at age 27 in 1973.
“This Bo Diddley classic is built on a track I wrote on bass and keyboards and finished with my Memphis friends, Mem_Mods (Steve Selvidge and New Memphis Colorways),” Dickinson says. “Their contributions and Datrian Johnson’s vocals fit so naturally and felt so good, I knew we were on a like-minded endeavor showcasing some of my closest friends as well as scratching an aesthetic and stylistic itch of mine.”
Dickinson grew up on Southern roots music, where he and his brother, Cody, were more influenced by the likes of Mississippi bluesmen such as R.L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough. However, the brothers were invited by Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh to participate in his Phil & Friends musical collective in 2013 and became semi-regulars performing barnburner shows with Lesh at his Terrapin Crossroads club in San Rafael, California.
“The more we performed together, the more I realized how many great old blues songs the Dead had played in their time, which led to the Dead Blues concept,” Dickinson relates. “Phil changed my life. He welcomed me into his crew, taught me his repertoire, shared his improvisational approaches, and introduced me to a whole new community of musicians. This record reflects Phil’s wild musical spirit and approach to re-interpretation.”
Those lucky enough to catch Luther Dickinson tearing it up with Lesh at Terrapin discovered that these were two great players who spurred each other on to even greater heights. Dead Blues Vol. 1 will surely be a further testament to that elite collaboration.