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'" is a song about the singer's restless spirit and love for wandering. The song is a warning to a significant other not to be saddened by their departure and to understand that their traveling nature is just a part of who they are. The line "when it comes to rambling, lord, I'm natural born" shows that the singer has a deep passion for traveling, for he feels it is ingrained into his very being.
The lyric "Don't know where I'm headed, don't remember where I'm from" describes a sense of homelessness or disconnection from roots. However, the line "Only when they lay me down will I feel at home" suggests that his final resting place will be his true home, indicating that his wandering spirit will lead him to an ultimate resting place.
The song goes on to describe a scene at the singer's burial, where women from all over come to pay their respects. While one woman claims he was "good for nothing," many others know that his ramblin' spirit is what made him great. The final lyric repeats the first, stating that when the evening sun goes down, the singer is bound to ramble on.
Overall, "Leavin'" by The North Mississippi Allstars is a song about the desire to wander and the acceptance of that nature. It is a song about not being tied down and understanding that one's true home is their final resting place.
Line by Line Meaning
When the evening sun goes down
As the sun sets at the end of the day
????? baby, and ramble on
Traveling and moving from place to place
Don't you let my leavin' grieve you
Don't be sad at my departure
When it comes to rambling, lord, I'm natural born
I have a natural instinct for travel and adventure
Don't let my leavin' grieve you
Don't be upset when I leave
Don't know where I'm headed
I don't have a set destination
Don't remember where I'm from
I don't have a clear memory of my origins
Only when they lay me down will I feel at home
I won't feel truly settled until I die
Don't let my leavin' grieve you
Please don't be upset by my departure
Ten thousand women came from the east and the west
Many people have come to see me
To the burial ground as I got my rest
As I was laid to rest in death
Lord I'm good for nothing she said in her Sunday dress
Someone said I wasn't worth much
But when it comes to ramblin' yonder lies the best
But I am the best at traveling and moving on
Don't let my leavin' grieve you
Please don't be upset when I leave
When the evening sun goes down
As the sun sets at the end of the day
I'm bound to ramble on
I am compelled to keep moving and traveling
Contributed by Alexander M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.