“Fair’s where you go to see the pigs race…”

Jim Dickinson (1941-2009), RIP

I’d just like to add my thoughts to those so eloquently expressed by my RBP colleague, Kandia Crazy Horse…

Sitting here in my dressing gown, having imbibed a quad espresso and a roll-up, put the washing on and slapped another coat of paint on a kitchen shelf, the gently undulating hills of North Mississippi, where James Luther Dickinson made a nest for some 40-odd (v. odd) years, seem a loooong ways a-way…

But blasting out Mud Boy & The Neutrons’ unhinged “Known Felons In Drag” LP, Dickinson’s gloriously wayward “Dixie Fried” opus, and such oddball 45s as The Jesters and Jerry Lawler versions of “Cadillac Man” on this fine, sunny morning, it all seems to make some kinda weird sense – like, after Dickinson had his mind blown by Memphis street musicians and exposure to the universe of sounds proglumated by Dewey Phillips, what else was he gonna do with his life?

I only saw him play twice (with sons, Luther & Cody, and a reunion by his high school band, the Regents) and interviewed him once, but it seems like Dickinson was chock-full of the playful but fiercely penetrating, localised yet universal, wilful and commercial spirit of Memphis and Mississippi music. How strange but predictable that he’ll doubtlessly be remembered mostly for his tangential relationship to the ‘Stones and siring the North Mississippi Allstars.

But as with many things in life, disappearing down the rabbit hole of Dickinson’s career brings a greater understanding of his passions; Memphis wrasslin’ and biker culture (the Lawler and Memphis Hoods 45s on Barbarian), homegrown electronica and spoken word (Delta Experimental Projects, releases with Jason Pierce), the Sam Phillips-learned art of true artist production (Big Star, the Replacements), and what exactly makes a performance work (see all of the above, and more)…

Now that’s what I call a life well-spent. Goodbye, Jim.

Much love to Lindsay Mary, Luther and Cody Dickinson.

One of the things I’m most proud of is that Jim let us put his version of “Down In Mississippi” out on the Bucketfull of Brains 50th issue CD, and JMM‘s video is just great, too.