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.
Up Over Yonder
North Mississippi Allstars Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You see me allow me to pass on by
Pass on by, pass on by, headed out walkin'
Head up over yonder, head up over yonder
Biding my time 'til the sweet by and by
We all meet again at the home on high
Home on high, sweet by and by we all meet again
My time along, got to travel on
Don't ask me to stay, I'm goin' home
Goin' home, I'm goin' home, my time along got to move
Head up over yonder, head up over yonder
The lyrics to North Mississippi Allstars' song "Up Over Yonder" tell the tale of a lone traveler, walking without anyone by their side. They simply ask that anyone who sees them passes on by. The traveler seems to be biding their time until they can reach their final destination, a place referred to as "home on high." Despite being alone, the traveler expresses a sense of comfort and reassurance that they will meet those they miss again in this afterlife-like realm. They continue on their journey, acknowledging that their time is limited and they must keep moving forward.
While on the surface, the lyrics of "Up Over Yonder" may seem like a simple tale of a traveler on a journey, the song can also be viewed as a metaphor for life itself. Each of us is on our own individual journey, and while we may cross paths with others along the way, at the end of the day, we are all just travelers hoping to reach our own personal "home on high." The song seems to suggest that even though we may feel alone at times, we can take comfort in the knowledge that we will one day be reunited with loved ones who have passed on.
Overall, "Up Over Yonder" is a poignant and soulful song that speaks to the existential realities that we all face. It reminds us that even though we may feel lost or alone at times, we are all in this life together and are ultimately headed towards the same destination.
Line by Line Meaning
Headed out walkin', nobody by my side
I am leaving, without anyone accompanying me
You see me allow me to pass on by
If you spot me, just let me continue walking
Pass on by, pass on by, headed out walkin'
I am moving forward, and nothing will hold me back
Head up over yonder, head up over yonder
I am looking towards a better future, beyond what I can see
Biding my time 'til the sweet by and by
I am waiting patiently for a better time to come
We all meet again at the home on high
We will reunite in a better place, in the afterlife
Home on high, sweet by and by we all meet again
Our ultimate destination is a heavenly home, where we will see each other again
My time along, got to travel on
I have to move on, as my time here is limited
Don't ask me to stay, I'm goin' home
Please do not try to convince me to stay, as my true home is elsewhere
Goin' home, I'm goin' home, my time along got to move
I am returning to where I belong, and I must keep moving forward with my journey
Head up over yonder, head up over yonder
Once again, I am looking beyond the present, towards what lies ahead
Contributed by Jason M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.