Today, North Mississippi Allstars frontman Luther Dickinson releases Dead Blues Vol. 1 (Strolling Bones). The nine-track LP, featuring Appalachian soul vocalist Datrian Johnson, reimagines blues songs (mostly) covered by the Grateful Dead. We asked Dickinson to fill us in on the origins of this intriguing project and take us through the album, track by track.
Dickinson: While playing for Phil Lesh, I became friends with his son, Grahame, and we started booking shows called Dead Blues. The Phil Lesh And Friends offshoot used traditional blues and folk songs from the Dead catalog as a vehicle to bring new musicians into Phil’s orbit. We brought him together with the Blind Boys Of Alabama, Charlie Musselwhite, G. Love, J.D. Simo and many others.
Dead Blues was a great concept for live shows, but I never considered making an album until I met Datrian Johnson, one of the most moving singers I’ve ever worked with. When John Medeski brought Datrian into the community, we instantly became friends and collaborators and began recording the songs on Dead Blues Vol. 1, reinterpreting the American classics. The tracks feature North Mississippi Allstars alumni Cody Dickinson and Rayfield “Ray Ray” Hollowman, as well as old friends from Memphis: Paul Taylor (New Memphis Colorways) on drums, bass and guitars, and Steve Selvidge on guitar. Writing the music on bass before adding keys and guitar led the music down a funky, jazzy avenue. Datrian worked his magic, reinterpreting the classic blues lyrics and melodies with his soulful vocals.
1) “One Kind Of Favor”
“This song was built on bass lines I’d been working on for years. And my newfound love of synthesizers. I never knew synths were capable of being as expressive as a slide guitar—and they can be approached in a similar fashion.”
2) “Who Do You Love”
“This Bo Diddley classic is built on a track I wrote on bass and keyboards and finished with Steve Selvidge and Paul Taylor. The song showcases some of my closest friends and scratches an aesthetic and stylistic itch of mine.”
3) “Sitting On Top Of The World”
“This began during a lost weekend of mine in 2021 where I recorded a lot of music—that I don’t remember. Paul took the scraps and sculpted them into a great track. Grahame Lesh plays lead guitar.”
4) “King Bee”
“While doing Dead Blues shows, Phil Lesh always got excited by this song and told Pigpen stories. It features Cody on bass and Rayfield on steel guitar.”
5) “Mystery Train”
“The Grateful Dead never played ‘Mystery Train,’ but Phil told us he always wanted to—and Dead Blues played it at most shows. This track features Paul on bass and Rayfield on lead and steel guitar.”
6) “Minglewood Blues”
“Our reworking of this jug-band classic features Datrian with myself, Cody and Paul. The bridge/middle eight is one of my favorite sections of the album, and the instrumental outro features Paul and Cody totally digging in and buggin’ out.”
7) “I Just Want To Make Love To You”
“This Muddy Waters standard features Cody, Paul and myself. The three of us were in a band from 1990 to 1997 called D.D.T. This was tricky to sing because the keys modulate. Datrian navigated it like a champ. I love the outro—and I may make it a whole new song one day.
8) “Little Red Rooster”
“The song features Cody on drums and myself on Telecaster guitar, slide, synth and Hofner bass. Steve sprinkled on some space funk. The totally haywire arrangement abandons traditional structures and sports another outro I love.”
9) “High Heeled Sneakers”
“This Jimmy Reed classic is another example of building a track from a bass line with guitars and synth. I played all the guitars, keys and bass. Paul played drums and the cool chord solo at the end of the instrumental.”
