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August 16th, 2009Dylan's "Brother," Jim Dickinson, Has DiedBy John Lewis |
Bob Dylan and Jim Dickinson, who passed away yesterday, were kindred spirits. When Dylan won his Grammy for Time Out of Mind, he thanked “Jim Dickinson, my brother from Mississippi” in his acceptance speech. In Chronicles, Dylan wrote that he found himself “thinking about Jim Dickinson” while recording Oh Mercy in New Orleans and noted that “we had a lot of things in common and it would have been good to have him around.” And during the “Street Map” segment of Theme Time Radio, Dylan referred to Dickinson as “that magical musical maestro from Memphis” and claimed “he was the kind of guy you could call to play piano, fix a tractor, or make red cole slaw from scratch.” It’s high praise, and well deserved.
As Dylan wrote, Dickinson had “manic purpose” and recorded the last single, “Cadillac Man,” for Sun Records; played with the Stones (“Wild Horses”), Ry Cooder (including the Paris, Texas soundtrack), and Aretha Franklin (Spirit in the Dark); and produced albums by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Big Star, and The Replacements. He also cut a handful of excellent solo albums, including Dixie Fried, Free Beer Tomorrow, and Jungle Jim and the Voodoo Tiger.
Dickinson took his work seriously, and part of his job was passing on what he’d seen, heard, and learned along the way. Just ask his sons, Luther and Cody, of the North Mississippi Allstars. He thought long and hard about the musical and social significance of the music he loved so much. That’s why he’s the most articulate talking head in a string of documentaries, riffing about the importance of Sam Phillips, Johnny Cash, or the city of Memphis (in Scorcese’s blues series). He got it, and he wanted you to get it, too.
That’s why he spoke so freely about the Time Out of Mind sessions. Over the last decade, few outtakes have leaked from those sessions—Dickinson always claimed “Red River Shore” was the best song they cut and was glad to see it finally released on Tell Tale Signs—and most of the players have been tight-lipped. But not Dickinson. He felt obligated, as an oral historian and storyteller, to talk about that seminal moment in Miami.
Never self-aggrandizing, he focused on the small, but hardly inconsequential, details and placed them within the grand arc of Dylan’s career. From the strong coffee Dylan drank to casual conversations in the parking lot, nothing seemed to escape Dickinson’s gaze. He offered a rare and respectful peek from a peer—or, rather, a “brother”—into Dylan’s world.
Dickinson had been working on an autobiography, so, hopefully, more details will emerge if it gets published.
I’ll post more about Dickinson in the coming days. I considered him a dear friend and spoke to him every few weeks for the past 15 years. He was a giant among men.
He also had a strong Baltimore connection in that he produced two CDs by my wife’s group, Boister, and was a big fan of the band's. At his invite, they recorded their most recent disc at Dickinson’s Zebra Ranch studio in Coldwater, Mississippi last summer. Here’s a quick You Tube video from those sessions.
[photo: Bob Dylan, Daniel Lanois, Jim Dickinson, courtesy Jim Dickinson]
3:39 pm
Categories: appreciation, music
Those rich years of your friendship will make us the wealthier in understanding the extraordinary spirit of this man. Thank you, John
Dear Mr. Lewis
Thanks for this wonderful posting. It was thru Daniel Lanois I came to appreciate Jim Dickinson's musicality. It woudl really be nice to find a few more postings on the artistic legacy of Mr. Dickinson. It would open up many a window to music that are ignored or closed for now.
kind regards
Rob Geurtsen
Rob,
Check back over the next week for more posts about Jim. There's much to tell...
John
[...] Jim Dickinson, a storied man of music and a good friend of Bob Dylan’s, passed away on Saturday. One of the many pieces on him is by a writer named John Lewis who knew him well. [...]
Jim D.
Make it rain, and let it snow
Take me out where the four winds blow
Blues, and Jazz, rhythm & soul
Hail, hail Rock and Roll
And saying goodbye is really saying hello
My first concert was Elvis Presley, I was seven years old
What I remember more is a long ride to Bonnaroo
And the company kept on that road
We miss you in Memphis, from Chicago to Muscle Shoals
In Oxford, Clarksdale and London
At the Ritz and in the Ghetto
And we miss you at the Kroger, down in Hernando
A wildcat’s growl echoes from the Coldwater bottoms
Some things, you know, will never be forgotten
So rack ‘em up and shoot, smoke ‘em if you got ‘em
Tears must be cried but then we’ll call it even
That’s how I got to Memphis
And that’s how I’m a leavin’
Stranded In Canton
Waiting For A Train
Policeman lookin’ to learn a name
Take me back to the 4th ofJuly, 1956
Charlie and Furry and Mr. Sputnik
It’s a freak show baby, deal with it
It came from Memphis and that’s a fact
But you know damn well there ain’t no goin’ back
So hand me a nickel, I’ll give you a dime
I’m leavin’ Memphis, at a quarter ‘till nine
A big star shines tonight...out on the borderline
With every ebb, there is a flow
And there is one last thing that I want you to know
I’ll remember you out on those old country roads
And on the boulevards and haunted streets of Memphis town
For I know now that you are glory bound
Farewell Jim D...I’ll see you around
That's a keeper. Thanks, Steven. You obviously knew Jim. Thanks for checking in.
[...] both instances, he turned up unannounced with no fanfare or entourage. That would jibe with a story Jim Dickinson told me some years ago about a conversation he had with Dylan at the Time Out of Mind sessions in [...]
Great write-up on Jim and Bob. Jim said once Dylan told him about a pilgrimage he made to Humes High School in Memphis (where Elvis graduated). Dylan said he went to the audttorium, walked out in the middle of that stage (where we know the young Elvis sang) and just stood there a while....'then I looked down, and....I found a lucky penny!'
Duff, the post after this one is about exactly that. And you should be introduced as THE Duff Dorrough of the legendary Tangents and the Thacker Mountain Radio house band. How was last Saturday's tribute to Jim?