Memphis musician Jim Dickinson dies at 67 : Local Obituaries : Memphis Commercial AppealPosted by giggity on August 15, 2009 at 11:14 a.m.
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Thank you for your contributions, sir. Now, enjoy your rest.
Posted by neondragon on August 15, 2009 at 11:16 a.m.
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A real loss, he will be greatly missed.
Posted by BigBup on August 15, 2009 at 11:26 a.m.
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My thoughts are with his family.
Posted by SamGould on August 15, 2009 at 11:27 a.m.
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I had the priveledge of meeting Mr. Dickinson last year at a film premiere, a kind, gracious man. Was he a part of Mud Boy & the Neutrons? R.I.P. Mr. Dickinson
Posted by Nighthawk on August 15, 2009 at 11:35 a.m.
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I will forever hold dear my recording at the Zebra ranch with the master himself on the scene. What a great guy and a wonderful musician. God bless you Miss Mary, Cody and Luther.
Posted by Mr_Kite on August 15, 2009 at 11:40 a.m.
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A true artist... JD had a hand in some of the greatest music... The respect of some of the greatest stars and musicians... and was humble enough to still play on local boys recordings that he liked, even if they were unknowns. An artist's artist.
R.I.P. JD.Posted by amphotography on August 15, 2009 at 12:06 p.m.
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This is truly a sad day for Memphis. Prayers go out to the family and friends.
-Amanda & Jonathan
Posted by Pippin on August 15, 2009 at 12:29 p.m.
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So sorry for Cody, Luther, and Mary.
Rest in Peace, we'll miss you so much. I am just so saddened by this.
SamGould, yes he was a member of MudBoy and the Neutrons.
Posted by Nightcrawler on August 15, 2009 at 12:31 p.m.
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My condolences to the Dickinson family for their huge loss.
Rest in peace Jim
Posted by billy2748 on August 15, 2009 at 12:39 p.m.
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When I was in college in the 70s my roommate and I drove up from Mississippi to see Muddy Waters at one of the Labor Day festivals they used to have on the downtown mall back then.
When he was finished we walked down the mall and came upon a band that had a keyboard player who was playing like a madman and he was wearing levis that had been patched up with duct tape. That was the first time I ever saw Jim Dickinson.
Hate to sound cliche but this is true - he was the man.Posted by rjgwork on August 15, 2009 at 12:47 p.m.
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World Boogie Is Coming.
Posted by scottp33 on August 15, 2009 at 12:49 p.m.
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Jim Dickinson was truly one of the great Memphis musical icons. I had the pleasure knowing Jim, and attending his 50th Birthday Bash at Phillips Studio on Madison St. His stature is reflected in the people who paid tribute to him that night, including the great Mr. Sam Phillips. Without Jim, much of the Memphis Sound would not have been captured. The author, Robert Gordon encapsulaed much of Jim's contribution in his great book, "It Came From Memphis;" a must read for anyone interested in the history of Memphis music. I met Jim through another great Memphis musical legend, my cousin Mark Unobsky, also of blessed memory. I got to be the fly on the wall during some of their lengthy pickin' & smokin' sessions. Outside of his impressive name-dropping resume, Jim was a great creator and producer in his own right. Without Jim Dickinson, we would not have Big Star, Mud Boy & the Neutrons and of course the North Mississippi All Stars. When Cody and Luther were kids, they joined with Steve Selvidge, son of Sid, to amuse themselves playing their daddies'(Mud Boy) songs, and became a memorable band in "Big A__ Truck." Jim was link to the original Sun Studio, where he served as a studio musician. Another lasting memory is a very sad one: When Lee Baker died in 1996, Jim led the surviving members of Mud Boy in a musical tribute at the funeral for Lee and his Aunt Sally, who was murdered with him. THAT was some of the most beautiful music I had ever heard, and the composure the guys showed on that tragic day was amazing. Like most of the attendees, I was a basket case that day, but Jim and the guys on stage were almost stoic as they played. Needless to say, Jim is worthy of such a tribute, and I regret not being able to be there to participate. My deepest condolences go out to Mary Lindsey, Cody, Luther and other members of his blood and musical families.
H. Scott Prosterman
BerkeleyPosted by candisekola on August 15, 2009 at 1:24 p.m.
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MUCH love and deep sympathy to the Family D.
I shall celebrate Jim's life for you today (and always).
Posted by Winter_Maiden on August 15, 2009 at 1:25 p.m.
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He once said, of his role as producer, something like "The artists can do what they want with the music, but the silence is mine." I have no idea what that means, but it sounds wonderfully Zen. I admired that man so much. A really terrible loss for Memphis (and American) music.
Posted by dirtysmelly on August 15, 2009 at 1:25 p.m.
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Everyone who played with Jim Dickinson played better that day, and no doubt thereafter.
Posted by OICUR12 on August 15, 2009 at 1:44 p.m.
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I went to high school with Jim, and one of my most favorite memories of him was when he played and sang in the White Station HS talent contest and brought the house down with his screamin shakin style. His antics on stage got him disqualified, but he became a local cult hero afterwards. He leaves behind a rich legacy and will be missed.
Posted by pay_attention on August 15, 2009 at 1:56 p.m.
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What a HUGE loss for the Memphis music scene. Prayers for his family.
Posted by mkjpottscamp on August 15, 2009 at 2:07 p.m.
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man, what a terrible loss. Never had the pleasure of meeting him, sorry to say. My condolences to his family.
Posted by AllMemphisMusic on August 15, 2009 at 2:13 p.m.
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Jim will always be heard on All Memphis Music.
Our prayers to the family.Posted by bornin47 on August 15, 2009 at 3:36 p.m.
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Had the pleasure of working with Jim on a couple of occasions, and he was the consummate professional.
An architect of Memphis music has gone, but he left behind one hell of a legacy.Posted by willie_watkins on August 15, 2009 at 5:32 p.m.
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"You're all gonna be wearin' gold plated diapers."
- Jim Dickinson
Posted by tiger4life on August 15, 2009 at 6:04 p.m.
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OH, NO !!!!!!!
well, i'm sure Lee Baker was there to cross him over, they're probably ripping into some 'Walkin' Blues' as i type....Jim always missed Lee so tremendously so
i'm tore down, tearful tore down....Jim was my Hero
i'm privileged to have shared many a private moment of conversation with Jim (discussing our favorite subject, memphis music), he will forever speak through my words
courage Luther, Cody...and prayers for Ms Mary
Lord Have Mercy :(
Posted by tiger4life on August 15, 2009 at 6:10 p.m.
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in response to Winter_Maiden
yes, that is truly something Jim would say....Jim owned the 'pause' between the 'notes'
his engineering technique was/is unmistakable, unique, and revolutionized the recording industry
a master of the mix
Posted by davidsweeney on August 15, 2009 at 6:14 p.m.
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We well miss you, Luther.
Posted by PDCMem on August 15, 2009 at 6:17 p.m.
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Three of the greatest concerts I ever attended were performances by Mud Boy. One was outside on the Mid-America Mall downtown and they had these strippers dancing on the stage with them and the band was playing for the devil. Pretty soon someone from the city came round and had the power turned off to the stage in midnote. Mud Boy finished the set still playing electric (though silent) guitars.
The next was inside at the Orpheum,before it was cleaned up. One of the guys started cutting up a guitar with a chainsaw. It was during that concert that a la Paul on the road to Damascus, Lee Baker was a god.
The last was was outside on a field near Beale in the evening. After a long and terrific set, Mud Boy settled into Bo Diddley's groove, led by Jimmy C on a bass drum, the type they used to roll down the street to welcome the circus to town. It was massive and its beat levitated the entire crowd as the sunset over the city.
Sorry to hear of Mr. Dickinson's passing , but at least Lee now has someone to play Memphis rock and roll with up in heaven.
Posted by MidtownLisa on August 15, 2009 at 8:33 p.m.
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Huge loss for Memphis and for the rest of the music world as well. Our condolences to the Dickinson family. Cody and Luther....please make sure the light of your Dad's genuis keeps shining on and on and on........
RIP Jim.
Posted by tubo on August 15, 2009 at 11:12 p.m.
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Losing Jim Dickinson is something that's going to take a long, long time to get over.
I just can't understand how this jive old world can keep on turning and the laws of gravity still apply.
We lost a giant, Memphis.
The legend that will always be Jim Dickinson lives on and his spirit continues to maintain the ultimate groove.Posted by ben_n_tn on August 15, 2009 at 11:21 p.m.
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The article failed to mention his work as the leader of the Yalobushwhackers. I will remember all of his Thacker Mountain Radio performances fondly. In fact I shook his hand after his very last one. And I'll always love his dirty raspy performance of "Down in Mississippi" on the North Mississippi All-Stars' Hill Country Revue:Live at Bonnaroo CD. I love that song and that CD.
RIP Mr. Dickinson!
Posted by BobMehr on August 15, 2009 at 11:32 p.m.
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in response to ben_n_tn
I wanted to include something about Jim's work on Thacker Mountain Radio, as he was especially proud and gratified by the experiece, but obviously, there were so many things Jim did and not enough space to cover them all.
However in the article I wrote on Jim's album from May, it was discussed prominently, and with his unique sense of humor:
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/...
Over the past few years, Dickinson finally got his chance to dig into those styles while playing on the Oxford-based "Thacker Mountain Radio" show, which broadcasts live from the city's Off Square Books.
"I really love playing on the radio," says Dickinson. "We've developed an interesting following of little old ladies, college students and homeless people, who really didn't know me or my background at all.
"One lady told me: 'We just thought you were some old man who liked music'. Well, that's pretty much what I am," says Dickinson, laughing.
Posted by ben_n_tn on August 15, 2009 at 11:52 p.m.
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in response to BobMehr
Hey Bob, I didn't mean that as a slam on your article. It was a good piece. I just happened to have an affinity for Thacker Mountain Radio, so it jumped out at me. Jim Dickinson did so much there would be no way to cover it all.
August 16, 2009
Memphians Take a lot of Music for Granted (with good reason), but Not Jim Dickinson (with good reason)! - Read the Local Comments from Preceeding Article - Memphis Commercial Appeal
Jim Dickinson Dies at 67 - Memphis Commercial Appeal Obit - Photo Essay - Career Highlights
Memphis musician Jim Dickinson
dies at 67
Use this link for Twitter:http://bit.ly/Ahyek
Career of artist, producer touched four decades, many lives
The North Mississippi Allstars have lost their father, Bob Dylan has lost a “brother,” rock and roll has lost one of its great cult heroes and Memphis has lost a musical icon with the death of Jim Dickinson.
The 67-year-old Dickinson passed away early Saturday morning in his sleep. The Memphis native and longtime Mississippi resident had been in failing health for the past few months and was recuperating from heart surgery at Methodist Extended Care Hospital.
“He went peacefully,” said his wife, Mary Lindsay Dickinson, adding that her husband remained in good spirits until the end. “He had a great life. He loved his family and music. And he loved Memphis music, specifically.”During the course of his colorful half-century career, Dickinson built a worldwide reputation as a session player for the likes of Dylan and The Rolling Stones, a producer for influential groups including Big Star and The Replacements, a sometime solo artist and the patriarch of a small musical dynasty through his sons, Cody and Luther Dickinson of the North Mississippi Allstars.
Just last weekend, a tribute concert headlined by singer-songwriter John Hiatt and featuring a host of Memphis musicians was held at The Peabody Skyway to help defray Dickinson’s medical costs.
Dickinson’s earthy musical approach resonated with his peers: Bob Dylan, who was a longtime friend and collaborator, acknowledged him as a “brother” while accepting a Grammy award for 1997’s Time Out of Mind; The Rolling Stones, ever wary of outsiders, brought Dickinson in to add his soulful piano touch to their classic Sticky Fingers ballad “Wild Horses.”
As a producer, Dickinson was a studio alchemist in the tradition of such great Memphians as Sam Phillips and Chips Moman, for whom he worked. Dickinson was willing take on any role, acting as a protector, parent or prankster for his artists — thus helping him forge creatively rewarding relationships with difficult talents including Alex Chilton, Paul Westerberg and Ry Cooder.
Dickinson’s reach and impact on Memphis music over the last four decades is significant; perhaps more than anyone, he was uniquely connected to the city’s historic past and its present.
In addition to being one of the key forces behind the rise of Memphis’ Ardent Studios, Dickinson’s deconstructionist roots-rock band Mud Boy & the Neutrons proved a seminal influence on several generations of local acts.
Dickinson remained busy during his final years, continuing to produce local artists, including the breakthrough CD for Memphis roots chanteuse Amy LaVere, as well as several projects for his sons. He’d also been writing and performing with a crew of musicians half his age in the garage bands Snake Eyes and Trashed Romeos in recent months.
Born in Little Rock on Nov. 15, 1941, and briefly raised in Chicago before settling in Memphis, the young James Luther Dickinson came up in a musical hothouse, influenced by his piano-teacher mother and mesmerized by the sounds permeating from the radio.
“There was something about the voice coming out of the box that got me. That’s where it all started,” Dickinson recalled in his final interview, given to The Commercial Appeal in May.
As a student at White Station High School, Dickinson formed his first band, The Regents; he later had the distinction of singing on The Jesters’ 1966 garage-rock nugget “Cadillac Man,” the final release on Sun Records.
After a stint in college in Texas, Dickinson returned to the Bluff City, where he began a career as a session player, eventually forming The Dixie Flyers, a group that became house band for Atlantic Records, and backing artists such as soul queen Aretha Franklin and R&B belter Little Richard.
In 1972, Dickinson released his first solo record, the cult classic Dixie Fried. The LP would prove the apotheosis of a kaleidoscopic musical vision he dubbed
“world boogie.”Significantly, starting in the mid-’70s, Dickinson made an almost seamless transition from working with mainstream major label acts to punk and indie artists. Beginning with his work on the seminal Big Star album Third/Sister Lovers, Dickinson’s “anything goes” aesthetic made him a favorite choice to produce numerous alternative acts in the ’80s and ’90s.
Despite his connections, Dickinson never sought the trappings of fame, instead preferring to live on a sprawling thatch of land in rural Coldwater, Miss., that he dubbed Zebra Ranch, which housed a pair of trailers that served as his home and studio.
A gifted raconteur, musical philosopher and cultural historian, Dickinson was a veritable treasure trove of pop arcana and profound theory, capable of finding the cosmic and literal connections between deejay Dewey Phillips and former Mayor Willie Herenton, wrestler Sputnik Monroe and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
For Dickinson, there was some sense of artistic closure late in life. His final album, Dinosaurs Run in Circles, released in May, brought him back to his earliest love: the pop and jazz-flecked standards from his childhood radio days. Several of the tracks were recorded from his mother’s original sheet music.
Dickinson’s health woes began following an appearance playing with British rocker Elvis Costello at the Beale Street Music Festival in May. Though he’d long suffered from intestinal problems, a physical exam revealed Dickinson also had serious cardiac issues. A procedure to put two stents in his heart, a triple-bypass surgery and a prolonged stay in an intensive-care unit followed.
Last month, Dickinson was relocated to a rehabilitation facility; family and doctors had been hoping for gradual recovery, “but he just never did really get a break physically,” said his wife.
Luther Dickinson said the family has no plans for a public memorial and that the tribute show at The Peabody will stand as the farewell to their father.
“That was the best sendoff he could have ever wanted,”he said.
Although he achieved a modicum of commercial success in his lifetime, ultimately, Dickinson’s legacy won’t be measured in chart placements or platinum albums but in the profound impact his work had on listeners.
“Some of the records I’ve done, really obscure things, will be the ones that somebody will tell you saved their lives,” he once said.
What Dickinson understood was both the impermanence of his own life and the enduring power of the music he made. It’s a sentiment reflected in the epitaph he chose for himself: I’m just dead, I’m not gone.
Career highlights
1966: Cuts the song “Cadillac Man” for Sun Records, attracting the interest of his idol, Sam Phillips.
1969: Plays piano on “Wild Horses” for The Rolling Stones in Muscle Shoals, Ala.
1975: Produces Big Star’s dark masterpiece Third/Sister Lovers. It eventually is named one of Rolling Stone magazine’s “500 Greatest Albums of All Time.”
1986: Rowdy Minneapolis rockers The Replacements come to Memphis to record the critically-acclaimed Pleased to Meet Me with Dickinson producing.
1997: Plays on Bob Dylan’s Grammy-winning “comeback” album Time Out of Mind.
2009: Releases his swan song, Dinosaurs Run in Circles, a collection of old pop standards:
- Friends, family will host benefit for ailing star Jim Dickinson
- Jim Dickinson: A "new man' with new album of old-school songs
--Bob Mehr, 529-2517
Dickinson at work in the late 1970's. As a producer, Dickinson was a studio alchemist in the tradition of such great Memphians as Sam Phillips and Chips Moman, for whom he worked. (Courtesy of Ardent Studios)
Mud Boy & the Neutrons proved a seminal influence on several generations of local acts. From left: Sid Selvidge, Jim Dickinson, Jimmy Crosthwait and Lee Baker.
Photo: Alan Spearman / The Commercial Appeal
Jim Dickinson talks with his son Luther Dickinson at his Zebra Ranch Studio in Coldwater, Mississippi in October, 2003.
Photo: Alan Spearman / The Commercial Appeal
During the course of his colorful half-century career, Dickinson, seen here in 2003 with son Luther, built a worldwide reputation as a session player for the likes of Dylan and The Rolling Stones
Photo: Alan Spearman / The Commercial Appeal
Jim Dickinson with sons Cody and Luther at the Zebra Ranch Studio in Coldwater, Mississippi in October 2003.
Photo: Lance Murphey / The Commercial Appeal
Musician and producer Jim Dickinson listens to the new 5.1 surround sound mixing console at Young Avenue Sound recording studio with engineer Jennifer Lee in May 2006.
Prior to performing Jim Dickinson, left, carries a guitar and his son Luther, center, takes a mandolin onto the stage at the Raoul Wallenberg Shell at Overton Park in July 2001
AlDiaTx.com | Noticias de Dallas Fort Worth
Muere productor y músico de Memphis Jim DickinsonAlDiaTx.com | Noticias de Dallas Fort Worth
08/15/2009
Jim Dickinson, músico y productor que ayudó a dar forma al sonido de Memphis durante una carrera influyente de más de cuatro décadas, murió el sábado. Tenía 67 años.
Su esposa, Mary Lindsay Dickinson, dijo que el productor murió en un hospital de Memphis, Tenesí, luego de tres meses de problemas cardíacos y hemorragia intestinal. La pareja vivía en Hernando, Misisipí.
Dickinson había tenido una operación de desvío coronario hace poco y se estaba recuperando en el Hospital de la Universidad Metodista cuando murió cerca de las 4:30 de la mañana, dijo su mujer.
Aunque quizás era más conocido por ser el padre de Luther y Cody Dickinson, integrantes del trío ganador del Grammy North Mississippi Allstars, Dickinson grabó con astros como Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, Big Star, los Rolling Stones y Sam y Dave, produciendo además varias de sus obras .
Memphis Producer, Musician Jim Dickinson Dies - NYTimes.com
Memphis Producer, Musician Jim Dickinson Dies - NYTimes.comMemphis Producer, Musician Jim Dickinson Dies
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- Jim Dickinson, a musician and producer who helped shape the Memphis sound in an influential career that spanned more than four decades, has died. He was 67.
His wife, Mary Lindsay Dickinson, said he died Saturday in a Memphis, Tenn., hospital after three months of battling heart and intestinal bleeding problems. The couple lived in Hernando, Miss.
Dickinson recently had bypass surgery and was undergoing rehabilitation at Methodist University Hospital when he died around 4:30 a.m., his wife said.
Perhaps best known as the father of Luther and Cody Dickinson, two-thirds of the Grammy-nominated North Mississippi Allstars, Dickinson recorded and produced with greats like Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, Big Star, the Rolling Stones and Sam and Dave.
Posted by memphisheart on August 15, 2009 at 11:12 a.m.
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I'm so sorry to read this - Sorry for his wife and Cody and Luther - and all those who were influenced by him. He was another musical gem that Memphians can always take great pride in.