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.
Horseshoe
North Mississippi Allstars Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Where they cause my poor heart to break
Cut the pigeon wing around my neck
Over the river on Horseshoe Lake
The night is so lonesome the day is so long
Since poor old Lee Bailey caught the train and gone
Left us here to sing this song
Lay side by side in Gravel Springs
Did you hear the church bells ring
We were singin and dancin and crying in the rain
Lay side by side in Gravel Springs
The night is so lonesome the day is so long
Berniece and Otha Turner caught the train and gone
Left us here to sing the song
The night is so lonesome the day is so long
You can hear the sound comin' down the highway
All night long they used to play
Down at Junior Kimbrough's every Sunday
You can hear the sound comin' down the highway
Times done been won't be no more
The lyrics of the North Mississippi Allstars' song, "Horseshoe," are simple, yet poignant. The song appears to be an ode to a place called Horseshoe Lake, where the singer's heart was broken. The river that flows through the lake serves as a physical manifestation of the heartbreak that has occurred. However, the lyrics also reflect on the people who have left the town, leaving behind the remaining residents to sing a sad song. There is a palpable sense of nostalgia and longing in the lyrics.
The singer also mentions Gravel Springs, a town where they laid side by side and sang during a rainy day. The presence of the church bells in the lyrics adds to the melancholic nature of the song. The final paragraph is a nod to the passing of time and the inevitability of change. The sound that used to come down the highway all night long may not be heard anymore. The lyrics seem to suggest that there is a mournful acceptance of the passage of time and the loss of things that once brought joy.
The song itself is a blues rock track that features heavy guitar riffs and a driving beat that propels the song forward. The North Mississippi Allstars have been described as purveyors of "grit and groove," and "Horseshoe" is a perfect example of this. The lyrics are personal, but the melody and instrumentation make the song universal.
Line by Line Meaning
Over the river on Horseshoe Lake
The singer is describing their location, on Horseshoe Lake, which is beyond the river.
Where they cause my poor heart to break
Being at Horseshoe Lake brings sadness and heartbreak to the singer.
Cut the pigeon wing around my neck
The singer is referring to a dance move, where they are swinging their arms around their neck as they move.
The night is so lonesome the day is so long
The artist is expressing their loneliness, both during the day and at night.
Since poor old Lee Bailey caught the train and gone
The artist is missing Lee Bailey, who has recently left by train.
Left us here to sing this song
Lee Bailey's absence has left the singer singing this song alone.
Lay side by side in Gravel Springs
The singer is describing their location, in Gravel Springs, where they lay next to one another.
Did you hear the church bells ring
The artist is asking if the listener heard the sound of the church bells.
We were singin and dancin and crying in the rain
The artist and their companions were making music, dancing, and crying in the rain while in Gravel Springs.
Berniece and Otha Turner caught the train and gone
Berniece and Otha Turner have recently left by train, according to the artist.
Left us here to sing the song
The absence of Berniece and Otha Turner has left the singer and their companions singing this song alone.
You can hear the sound comin' down the highway
The artist is describing a sound that can be heard coming down the highway.
All night long they used to play
Music used to be played all night long.
Down at Junior Kimbrough's every Sunday
The singer is referring to a weekly event where music would be played at Junior Kimbrough's place.
Times done been won't be no more
The singer is reflecting on how times have changed and this experience will not happen again.
Contributed by Carson P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.