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.
Eyes
North Mississippi Allstars Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But I've been told
In heaven doesn't got no sweet jelly rolls
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes off you
It must've been the devil
Came between you and I
You were a ramblin' woman with a ramblin' mind
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't keep my eyes off you, baby
I can't keep my eyes off you, girl
I can't keep my eyes off you, baby
Waitin' on my wings
We'll be side by side
Riding two white horses where the eagle bird flies
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't keep my eyes off you, baby
I can't keep my eyes off you, girl
I can't keep my eyes off you, baby
The first verse of "Eyes" by North Mississippi Allstars refers to the idea that heaven is a place without earthly pleasures. The line "I've been told / In heaven doesn't got no sweet jelly rolls" may be interpreted as a statement that heaven does not offer the pleasures of the physical world. The idea of a sweet jelly roll, a pastry treat, might symbolize earthly pleasures that are not fulfilled in heaven. The sense of longing for these pleasures is conveyed through the idea that the singer has been told about them, but has never been to heaven to experience them firsthand.
The second verse contains more personal lyrics, suggesting a broken relationship. The singer blames the devil for coming between them and their love interest, who is portrayed as a "ramblin' woman with a ramblin' mind." This line suggests that the love interest may have been a free spirit, who was not content with the singer's company, hence the devil comes to play. The chorus, "I can't take my eyes off you," might therefore refer to the continued attraction the singer has for this person, despite their separation.
The final verse continues the theme of the afterlife, but with a more positive outlook. "Waitin' on my wings / We'll be side by side / Riding two white horses where the eagle bird flies" suggests a belief in the existence of the soul beyond death, where the singer and their love interest will be reunited in a heavenly place. The repeated line "I can't keep my eyes off you, baby" reinforces the notion that this love is all-consuming and eternal.
Overall, the song is an emotional exploration of love, loss, and the hope of reunion beyond the physical world.
Line by Line Meaning
I ain't never been to heaven
I have never been to heaven.
But I've been told
But I have heard stories about it.
In heaven doesn't got no sweet jelly rolls
There are no delicious foods in heaven.
I can't take my eyes off you
I cannot stop looking at you.
It must've been the devil
The reason for our separation could be attributed to the devil.
Came between you and I
The devil was responsible for driving us apart.
You were a ramblin' woman with a ramblin' mind
You were a woman who loved to travel and had an adventurous spirit.
I can't keep my eyes off you, baby
I am not able to stop looking at you, my love.
Waitin' on my wings
I am waiting for my time to come, to go to heaven.
We'll be side by side
We will be together again.
Riding two white horses where the eagle bird flies
We will ride on two white horses where the eagle bird flies together.
I can't keep my eyes off you, girl
I cannot seem to stop looking at you, my dear.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, THE ROYALTY NETWORK INC., Bucks Music Group
Written by: CARWYN ELLIS, CHRISTOPHER CHEW, DUWAYNE BURNSIDE, JAMES MATHUS, LUTHER DICKINSON, Cody Dickinson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
deadgremblinphish
Great tune!
Mia Savage
Yes