Rock and Roll turned 65 sometime this year, depending on what you believe the first R&R song was. And yet many of the original things since this music’s precarious birth have not changed. One of those original items is called Dion DiMucci.
Who else has been recording since the 1950s? He is perhaps the last (do I hear a shout out for Jerry Lee Lewis from somewhere in in the Peanut Gallery?) of the original rockers and doowoppers, the same guy who was with Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper the Day The Music Died, the same guy who played with Sam Cooke in an even more racially charged era than today, the same guy who sang Abraham Martin and John. And it is amazing that he is still recording and being musically meaningful today at age 80.
Dion 80? Yes, “here’s my story it’s sad but true.” Actually he will be 81 on July 18. The same guy from Da Bronx who was the voice behind I Wonder Why, Runaround Sue, The Wanderer, Ruby Baby, the King of the New York Streets, has a new album out. Dion’s first love was always the blues and his new blues album does not disappoint. It is excellent. His voice, always an instrument of versatility, his phrasing, his lyrics and his guitar playing combine with his cool which apparently has never left to create something that few have ever done… an album of songs that will get you humming, toe tapping and singing backup vocals before you know it.
Dion’s new effort, while largely what most would call trad blues, is great because of his still-au courant talent. And to paraphrase a line from one of the songs on the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s album (of which Dion’s headshot is the ONLY American rocker), he gets a lot of help from his friends.And his friends are no slouches! They include:
- Jeff Beck
- Joe Bonamassa
- Rory Block
- Samantha Fish
- Billy Gibbons
- John Hammond Junior
- Sonny Landreth
- Joe Menza
- Van Morrison
- Patty Scialfa
- Brian Setzer
- Paul Simon
- Bruce Springsteen
- Stevie Van Zandt
- Jimmy and Jerry Vivino
- Joe Louis Walker
In so many ways, Dion DiMucci’s career epitomizes the history, the spirit and the experience of rock and roll. Thanks for your new album “Blues With Friends”, Dion. Keep on rocking.
