Growing Up With Dion: From "The Wanderer" To Son of Skip James

This weekend was really exciting for me. After several months of building up strength due my recent heart attack, I finally took my Golden Retriever Lucille for a walk. I missed going for walks with my dog as it was an opportunity for some exercise, some bonding time with my canine buddy and a chance to use my MP3 player.

I recently received a copy of Dion’s latest release Son of Skip James. I haven't really paid much attention to Dion’s career lately, so I didn’t know what to expect. I did recall reading that he was focusing more on his early blues influences, so I loaded the album on my MP3 and Lucille and I set out for our short journey.

Now I am not a music reviewer, so I won’t pretend to be. I didn’t feel the need to dig into any profound meanings or dwell on the historic detail of each song. I just wanted to go out for a walk with Lucille and let the music do its thing … Anyway …I started listening and I’ve got to admit, I really got into it . The album opens up with Dion’s rendition of Chuck Berry’s “Nadine.” and from there Willie Dixon’s “My Babe.” A tune made famous by recent Rock n Roll Hall of Fame inductee Little Walter. As I listened to the third song; Junior Well’s “Hoodoo Man Blues” I knew I was going to be entertained by this. I found that each song held my attention and I didn’t feel the necessity of skipping ahead. This release is self produced and accompanied only by Dion's acoustic guitar, great voice and only a few other musicians. The selection of tunes is fantastic.

TRACK LISTING/ORIGINAL ARTIST

1.         Nadine -    Chuck Berry

2.         My Babe-  Willie Dixon

3.         Hoodoo Man Blues - Junior Wells

4.         Drop Down Mama - Sleepy John Estes

5.         Hoochie Coochie Man-  Muddy Waters

6.         Baby I'm In the Mood For You - Bob Dylan

7.         I'm a Guitar King - Tommy McClennan

8.         The Thunderer- Dion

9.         Interlude - Spoken Word- Dion

10.       Son of Skip James - Dion

11.       Preachin' Blues- Robert Johnson           

12.       If I Had Possession (Over Judgement Day)- Robert Johnson

13.       Devil Got My Woman -  Skip James

14.       Dust my Broom- Robert Johnson

15        I Just Wanna Make Love to You- Willie Dixon

As the album continued I got to a couple of Dion originals which can be heard on track’s 8 thru 10. These are excellent tunes that compliment the rest of the selections.... I kept trying to remember the last time I heard a Dion recording?  One thing for sure, he never sounded like this to me before! Then as I normally do I drifted off and reflected on one of the many stories from my early childhood as told by my family and friends… 

Article Author: The Blues Blogger

I love music! It was a memorable part of my life growing up in the sixties and continues to be to this day. I recall hearing different genres from every room in our house. However, it was the soulful blues and improvisational jazz texture that would …

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