The Allstars' first release, Shake Hands With Shorty, was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Contemporary Blues Album". Since then, 51 Phantom and Electric Blue Watermelon have received nominations in that same category. The group also won a Blues Music Award for "Best New Artist Debut" in 2001.
The band has been the backing band for John Hiatt, including appearing on the album "Master of Disaster".
All the members of the Allstars have also teamed up with Robert Randolph and John Medeski to form The Word.
In November 2007, Luther Dickinson joined The Black Crowes as lead guitarist, and has appeared on their albums Warpaint (2008), Before the Frost...Until the Freeze (2009) and Croweology (2010). Luther Dickinson currently devotes his time to both the Black Crowes and the North Mississippi Allstars. Cody Dickinson has also started a side project, Hill Country Revue, featuring Daniel Coburn, Kirk Smithhart, Doc Samba and Ed Cleveland. They are sometimes joined by Luther Dickinson and members of the Burnside family. They have released two albums, Make A Move (2009) and Zebra Ranch (2010),
The mid-90s were a special time for modern Mississippi country blues. RL Burnside, Jr. Kimbrough, Otha Turner and their musical families were at their peak; touring the world, making classic records and doing the all-night boogie at Jr's Juke Joint and Otha's BBQ Goat picnics -- the music and the culture rich as the black Mississippi dirt. Brothers Luther and Cody Dickinson soaked up the music of their father, Jim Dickinson, and absorbed the North Mississippi Blues legacy while playing and shaking it down at the juke joints with their blues ancestors. Luther (guitar and vocals) and Cody (drums and vocals) joined up with bassist Chris Chew to form the core of their own band, The North Mississippi Allstars. Through the filter of generations of Mississippi Blues men, the Allstars pioneered their own blues-infused rock and roll and continue to do so.
The band hit the road with the release of their first record, Shake Hands With Shorty, Grammy-nominated for “Best Contemporary Blues Album.” Bringing their hill country blues-infused rock & roll to stages all over the country and the world (including multiple tours in Europe and Asia), the Allstars quickly gained a loyal fan base, and to date have released six full-length albums. The bands’s third record, Phantom Record also received a Grammy nod.
Electric Blue Watermelon, their third album to receive a Grammy nomination, embodies the Allstars’ own sound. It reflects the band’s old times and lives growing up in their musical community in North Mississippi. “The record holds to the folk tradition of oral history,” as Luther Dickinson puts it. “Electric Blue Watermelon celebrates the lives and legends of men who are folk heroes in my community. If the traditions are passed down and kept alive, they can’t help but mutate and change.” Electric Blue Watermelon is certainly a departure from the blues tradition, but it is a record that reaches in the future and back into the past. It’s loud psychedelic southern folk rock blues.
Eaglebird
North Mississippi Allstars Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Swing low and let your daddy ride
Got to get it high before we can swing
So fly on by, take me under your wing
Fly all day, fly all night long
My eaglebird fly all day, fly all night long
Lay my poor heart to rest
Lay me down easy
Beyond the horizon
Came to me staring at the sun
Can you dig what she'd done?
Get me a feather for my cap
And get notch on my gun
Fly all day, fly all night long
Fly all day, fly all night long, my eaglebird
The first verse of "Eaglebird" describes the singer's love for the way his eaglebird flies. He is crazy about it and wants to ride on it. He wants the bird to get high before they start swinging together, implying that he wants to experience something exhilarating with the bird. He asks the bird to take him under its wing, indicating that he wants it to protect him and show him what's in store for him.
The second verse talks about how the eaglebird takes the singer into her nest and lays his heart to rest. The singer wants to be laid down easy and go beyond the horizon. The girl he's with brings something new into his life, and he is amazed and can't believe what she has done for him. He wants to get a feather from the bird to put it on his hat and a notch on his gun, suggesting that he wants to remember this experience forever. The chorus reiterates the singer's joy of riding the eaglebird and describes how the bird flies all day and night. The song's mood is one of wonder and adventure, coupled with a sense of appreciation and respect for nature.
Line by Line Meaning
Crazy 'bout the way my eaglebird fly
I'm in love with how gracefully my eaglebird can fly.
Swing low and let your daddy ride
Descend lower so I can climb on your back and ride you like a father would ride his child.
Got to get it high before we can swing
In order for us to have fun and swing, we need to fly higher first.
So fly on by, take me under your wing
Come close to me and protect me by taking me under your wing.
Fly all day, fly all night long
My eaglebird can fly all day and night without stopping.
She took me into her nest
The eaglebird brought me to her home, her nest.
Lay my poor heart to rest
She comforted me and eased the pain in my heart.
Lay me down easy
She gently laid me down without causing any harm.
Beyond the horizon
She took me to a place where the sky meets the ground, where the sun sets and rises - a beautiful horizon.
Came to me staring at the sun
She approached me while looking straight at the sun, showing her bravery and strength.
Can you dig what she'd done?
Do you understand the incredible feat of strength and skill she just displayed?
Get me a feather for my cap
I want to have a souvenir of my experience with the eaglebird, a feather for my hat perhaps.
And get notch on my gun
I want to have an accomplishment in hunting by shooting a bird and adding a mark to my gun.
Fly all day, fly all night long, my eaglebird
I'm in awe of my eaglebird's ability to fly endlessly, both day and night.
Contributed by Harper J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.