Vintage rock and root pianist James Luther Dickinson may have left our planet for his final judgment, but his music still remains for earthly ears. This collection of songs gathered from gigs ranging from 1983 to 2006, with fellow musicians including sons Luther and Cody Dickinson, Roland James, Cowboy Jack Clement and JM Van Eaton. The music and attitude is timeless, with Dickinson’s earthy voice growling like a bear with a thorn in its claw, driving through a honky Tonkin “Redneck Blue Collar,” snarling to “Lazarus” or wrenching your heart on “ All Out of the Blue.”
The eight beats to the bar are stomping on the joyful “Hadacol Boogie”and tips to Jerry Lee Lewis are taken on a thunderous “Ubangi Stomp.” A read of Gregg Allman’s “ Midnight Rider” and a tear in the beer version of “I Forgot To Remember to Forget” make you feel like it’s Saturday night at the VFW. Home away from home.