The Holidays are upon us, so Christmas music is inevitable. Instead of Rod Stewart’s latest sell‐out, check out Husky Team’s cool Christmas in Memphis album. It’s definitely better and more entertaining. Don’t get me wrong, Rod Stewart is one of my all time favorite singers, but he hasn’t sounded inspired since his When We Were The New Boys album in 1998, and he chose to coast through a Chi$tma$ album over recording a blues rock album with Jeff Beck! I believe that Luther Dickinson has surpassed Jack White as the busiest person in the music business. He shows up on three recent albums in this month’s music notes. I have personally only seen a handful of guitarists that can hang with Luther, and everything that he is involved with is great. Three Skulls And The Truth is a collaboration album that Luther recorded with David Hidalgo of Los Lobos, and Mato Nanji of Indigenous. It is a blues rock guitar fan’s dream come true. Luther’s brother Cody Dickinson has produced albums for British Bluesman Ian Siegel in the past, but this time, he plays drums and recruited Luther to play guitar. Garry Burnside, Lightnin’ Malcolm and Alvin Youngblood Hart show up as well, so this is pretty much a Memphis area musician album with Ian Siegel on vocals, which is a good thing. The Wandering is the brainchild of Luther Dickinson, who brought together four Memphis area female musicians in order to create a unique acoustic folk band that plays music that is rarely heard anymore, but deserves to be heard. Their debut album Go On Now, You Can’t Stay Here was released in May of this year to rave reviews.
Husky Team – Christmas in Memphis
Husky Team is Smithereens drummer Dennis Diken and keyboardist/DJ Dave Amels. They recorded a Booker T. & The MGs‐styled instrumental Christmas album that was released in 2002, but has remained under the radar for the most part. Booker T. & The MGs themselves released the popular In The Christmas Spirit in 1966, and it’s great, but it is more reserved than Booker T. & The MGs typically were on their other albums. There are no song duplications, so Christmas In Memphis sounds like a follow up to In The Christmas Spirit.
Christmas In Memphis is a lot of fun to listen to. The songs often begin with riffs from popular Memphis songs before the actual song kicks in, and then reappear throughout the song. Feliz Navidad begins as The Letter by The Boxtops, Santa Claus Is Coming To Town begins as Soulfinger by The Barkays , and Auld Lang Syne begins as Green Onions by Booker T. The MGs, as some examples. The musicians clearly love Memphis music as they play with authentic guitar and keyboard sounds that were the signature sound on Stax records. In fact, this really could pass as an actual Booker T. & The MGs album. Memphis music fans that aren’t necessarily fans of Christmas music will even enjoy Christmas In Memphis.
David Hidalgo, Mato Nanji & Luther Dickinson ‐ Three Skulls And The Truth
3 Skulls And The Truth could be the sleeper album of the year. I found out about it when it was posted on The North Mississippi Allstars Facebook page the day that it was released. I didn’t even know that David Hidalgo (Los Lobos), Mato Nanji (Indigenous) and Luther Dickinson (North Mississippi Allstars & The Black Crowes) knew each other, much less were recording together. The three met on the Experience Hendrix Tribute Tour, decided to record an album together and wrote twelve new songs especially for this project.
Having three of the best living guitarists on one album is awesome, but sometimes these collaborations don’t work very well. This one, however, works extremely well, due in large part to the fact that rather than compete, the trio gelled and came up with a very cohesive album. As expected, there are elements of Los Lobos, North Mississippi Allstars and Indigenous, but the music sounds fresh and tight, more like a band than a side project. All three guitarists are clearly having fun, which makes listening to the album fun as well. The music has drawn comparisons to Tres Hombres‐era ZZ Top, which is a major complement. The only thing that I would have had them do differently would be to have David Hidalgo sing more. He is the best singer of the three, but he rarely sings on the album. Perhaps he preferred to step back and play guitar more than sing as he is one of the most underrated guitarists around. There are plenty of guitar fireworks, and any fan of blues rock or classic guitar rock in general will love this album.
Ian Siegal & The Mississippi Mudbloods
Ian Siegal is a British blues singer and guitarist who mixes elements of folk music with the Chicago electric blues of Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf and the Mississippi Hill Country blues of Junior Kimbrough and RL Burnside. His vocals are soulful, smoky and gruff, so he sounds like a grittier Paul Thorn, which is a good thing. Siegal’s voice fits his slinky blues like a glove, and the music is bettered by his vocals. Two of Ian Siegal’s earlier albums were produced by former label mate Matt Schofield, but in 2011, Siegal came to Coldwater, Mississippi to record his excellent album The Skinny at Zebra Ranch with Cody Dickinson of The North Mississippi Allstars. He returned again in 2012 for the follow up album, Candy Store Kid, which is credited to Ian Siegal & The Mississippi Mudbloods, which is essentially The North Mississippi Allstars and friends. The results are Ian Siegal’s best album so far, and one of the best albums of 2012.
Ian Siegal named the album Candy Store Kid because he says being backed up by The North Mississippi Allstars was like being a kid in a candy store. The album definitely has the Dickinson brothers’ fingerprints all over it, but it’s fresh and unique and not overly derivative of their albums. It doesn’t rock quite as hard as the Allstars’ albums, but this album has swagger in spades. It’s laid back, funky and bluesy, but melodic and even folky at times. It’s enjoyable upon the first listen, but it also grows on the listener over time, and becomes even better. There isn’t a weak track on the album, and the playing is awesome and inspired, as would be expected given the musicians, but this is a much better album than I anticipated. The North Mississippi Allstars played the Lightnin’ Malcolm penned song So Much Trouble from this album at their annual Thanksgiving show at Minglewood Hall in Memphis, and it was a highlight of the show. It would be great if they would tour with Siegal, as the music on this album would be great in a live setting played by the actual band that recorded it.
The Wandering – Go On, Now, You Can’t Stay Here
The Wandering is Luther Dickinson’s acoustic folk group made up of four Memphis and North Mississippi female vocalists/musicians and himself on guitar. He selected four women from the Mid‐South area that he has worked with in the past in some form or another, and they got together in the studio to experiment with old acoustic blues and folk music, and the results were even better than he expected. Everyone got along remarkably well, the music fell into place, and they recorded the debut album Go On Now, You Can’t Stay Here in three days at his family’s Zebra Ranch recording studio. In addition to Luther, the group features Shannon McNally, Amy LaVere, Valerie June and Sharde Thomas. Luther only plays guitar in the group. He wanted it to be an entity that could go on with or without his involvement, and he is proud that they can continue without him if need be.
Go On Now, You Can’t Stay Here is a very laid back acoustic album of both familiar and obscure songs. The women take turns on lead vocals, and though all four sound distinctly different, they harmonize remarkably well. I was already familiar with the four women musicians, and appreciate all of their solo work, and they all do a great job, but Shannon McNally really comes into her own on this album. It is the best that she has ever sounded on a recording. Her singing on Little Willie John’s Love, Life and Money is worth the price of admission to this album alone.
The Wandering had their live debut in May of this year at The Levitt Shell to a record setting attendance, and they played some songs that are not on the album as well, so expect to hear more from them in the future. Shannon McNally and Amy LaVere have paired up together for some shows and have even done some recording together, so there is already an offshoot of an offshoot band.