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.
Shake
North Mississippi Allstars Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That's been passed down
Grandma taught baby girl
How to shake 'em down
Gonna shake 'em down, girl
Gonna shake 'em down
Gonna shake 'em down, girl
Shake what your mama gave you
Shake what your mama gave you
The barnyard pimp
Crazy about that thing
Lord, she shake it
Like she cut the pigeon wing
Cut the pigeon wing, Lord
Cut the pigeon wing
Cut the pigeon wing, Lord
Shake what your mama gave you
Shake what your mama gave you
Shake what your mama gave you
Shake what your mama gave you
At the pearly gates
Begging for to pass
Girl, you better shake it like
It's gonna save your ass
Gonna save your ass, girl
Gonna save your ass
Gonna save your ass, girl
Shake what your mama gave you
Shake what your mama gave you
Shake what your mama gave you
Shake what your mama gave you
Hate's in the graveyard
Angels on high
Well, we gonna keep 'em shaking
In the by and by
In the by and by, Lord
In the by and by
In the by and by, Lord
Shake what your mama gave you
Shake what your mama gave you
Shake what your mama gave you
Shake what your mama gave you
The lyrics to "Shake" by North Mississippi Allstars are a sensual and rhythmic description of a dance that has been passed down from generation to generation. The song is about a woman who has been taught by her grandmother how to "shake 'em down", which seems to be a traditional dance that is both provocative and energizing. The singer of the song is encouraging this woman to let go and shake her body in order to get the most out of life. The lyrics are both suggestive and empowering, as the singer is urging the woman to use her body to achieve her goals, whether it's to attract a mate or to get into heaven.
Throughout the song, the singer uses vivid and evocative language to describe the dance, comparing it to cutting a pigeon wing and suggesting that it's something that can save one's soul. The image of the "barnyard pimp" who is "crazy about that thing" adds to the sensuality of the song and suggests that this is a dance that is appreciated by both men and women. The final verse of the song suggests that shaking one's body is a way to keep hate and negativity at bay, and that it has spiritual as well as physical benefits. Overall, the lyrics to "Shake" are a celebration of the power of dance and the ability of the human body to express itself in joyful and transformative ways.
Line by Line Meaning
Tell you about a thing
The singer wants to share something with the listener
That's been passed down
This thing has been taught and shared for generations
Grandma taught baby girl
The thing was passed down by a grandmother to a younger female family member
How to shake 'em down
The thing being passed down is the ability to seduce or attract someone
Gonna shake 'em down, girl
The singer is encouraging someone to use this seductive ability
Shake what your mama gave you
The seductive ability is closely related to physical attributes inherited from one's mother
The barnyard pimp
Refers to someone who is very successful at seducing others
Crazy about that thing
The seduction ability is very desirable and sought after
Lord, she shake it
The woman with the seductive ability is flaunting it and making use of it
Like she cut the pigeon wing
The way she moves is compared to a dance move called 'cutting the pigeon wing'
At the pearly gates
Refers to the entrance of heaven
Begging for to pass
The woman is trying to enter heaven
Girl, you better shake it like
The singer is advising the woman to use her seductive ability to get into heaven
It's gonna save your ass
The seductive ability will help the woman pass through the pearly gates
Hate's in the graveyard
Hate is something that should be buried
Angels on high
Angels are in heaven
Well, we gonna keep 'em shaking
The singer and others will keep using their seductive ability to keep the angels excited and active in heaven
In the by and by
In the future or afterlife
Contributed by Joshua L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.