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.
LEAVIN
North Mississippi Allstars Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
? baby, and ramble on
Don't you let my leavin' grieve you
When it comes to rambling, lord, I'm natural born
Don't let my leavin' grieve you
Don't know where I'm headed
Don't remember where I'm from
Don't let my leavin' grieve you
Ten thousand women came from the east and the west
To the burial ground as I got my rest
Lord I'm good for nothing she said in her Sunday dress
But when it comes to ramblin' yonder lies the best
Don't let my leavin' grieve you
When the evening sun goes down
I'm bound to ramble on
The North Mississippi Allstars' song "Leavin" explores the theme of leaving and its impact on loved ones. The song's opening lines, "When the evening sun goes down, baby, and ramble on," suggests the singer is a restless individual who finds peace in traveling. He warns his loved ones not to grieve his departure because he was born to roam. This theme of restlessness is further emphasized in the second verse when the singer admits that he does not know where he is headed or where he's from. The only place he feels at home is in death.
In the final verse, the song takes a different turn as ten thousand women come to say goodbye to the singer. The woman in the Sunday dress suggests that he is a good-for-nothing, but he is the best when it comes to rambling. The singer reiterates that his departure should not be a cause of grief for his loved ones. Instead, they should accept his restless nature and let him go.
Overall, "Leavin" offers a commentary on the human compulsion to move on and seek new experiences. It suggests that some individuals are restless by nature and should be allowed to pursue their dreams, even if it means leaving behind those they love.
Line by Line Meaning
When the evening sun goes down
When the day ends
baby, and ramble on
I'll be moving, likely to keep traveling
Don't you let my leavin' grieve you
My leaving should not bring you sadness
When it comes to rambling, lord, I'm natural born
I have an innate ability to travel
Don't know where I'm headed
I don't have a destination in mind
Don't remember where I'm from
I am not tied to any particular place
Only when they lay me down will I feel at home
I will only be at peace when I am finally laid to rest
Ten thousand women came from the east and the west
Many women were present at my funeral
To the burial ground as I got my rest
I was laid to rest in the cemetery
Lord I'm good for nothing she said in her Sunday dress
A woman in a Sunday dress said that I was no good
But when it comes to ramblin' yonder lies the best
My greatest strength lies in my ability to travel
Don't let my leavin' grieve you
Please don't be upset by my departure
When the evening sun goes down
As the day ends
I'm bound to ramble on
I am destined to keep traveling
Contributed by Adeline L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.