Dion Francis DiMucci is a legendary American
singer-songwriter whose work has incorporated elements of doo-wop, rock and
R&B styles and, most recently, straight blues. He was one of the most
popular American rock and roll performers of the pre-British Invasion era, with
more than a dozen Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 60s.
In 1959 Dion gave away his seat on the plane that ended the
lives of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper.
Throughout his life, Dion has never stopped making music and
experimenting with styles, producing bodies of work in later years ranging from
an album recorded with Phil Spector to the blues in more recent years. Fast forward
to 2016, and Dion is back with a new album, 'New York Is My Home.
After nearly six decades, Dimucci's voice has lost nothing.
Working with producer/multi-instrumentalist Jimmy Vivino on 10 new tracks, all
but two of them co-written by Dion, the album is strong, although nostalgia
makes me want to hear it on a transistor radio.
For those of you too young to know what a transistor radio
is…you missed out on the days when music had a soul!
The title track is a love letter to New York City, recorded as
a duet with Paul Simon, and it’s the one that's gotten most of the buzz, filled
not so much with nostalgic pining as eternal love: for the place, the attitude
and and the sense of belonging the city offers.
Other standout tracks nclude the Chuck Berry-esque ''The
Apollo King'' (Dion's homage to first hearing saxophonist Big Al Sears), ''Visionary
Heart'' (could've been a lost Doc Pomus composition) and his nod to the blues,
a take on Lightnin' Hopkins' ''Katie Mae.'
This is fabulous! I had no idea Dion was still active in music. Great tune and may I say, he has certainly aged gracefully.
ReplyDeleteThere's a lot of music out there if you go looking...
DeleteLC ~
ReplyDeleteIt's well known that Waylon Jennings who was one of Buddy Holly's backing group The Crickets (Waylon played bass) gave up his plane seat to The Big Bopper. He even alluded to it in a song titled 'A LONG TIME AGO'.
But Dion gave up a seat to someone else also? I'd never heard that before.
I wonder if somewhere out there somebody confused Dion with Waylon and inadvertently started a myth. It seems quite a coincidence that two musical stars survived that plane crash by giving away their seats. Although it's certainly possible.
~ D-FensDogG
'Loyal American Underground'
I'd never heard it before reading up on his back story for this post-but it was cited in a few places.
DeleteDion has put out some great music in the past 30 decades that has gone most unnoticed. I have some of those releases on cassette and DVD. The songs you've put up on this post are outstanding.
ReplyDeleteOf his past albums, one of my favorites was one from his phase of contemporary Christian music called Seasons--that was where I essentially rediscovered Dion. I wore that cassette out.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
Lee-brings ya back, huh? Dion's heyday was a little before my time, but his signature songs are part of the American canon and he's still got the stuff today.
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