North Mississippi Allstars & Robert Randolph: Dancing At The Crossroads
originally published October 3, 2001
“And my name is Robert Randolph. And this is a steel guitar. It is not an organ. It is not a keyboard. It is not a turntable. And we are The Word.”
Inviting the crowd into a call-and-response chant of the somewhat ironic name of this instrumental gospel project, the young Randolph continued to bridge the age-old cultural chasm separating Saturday night sensuality from Sunday morning saintliness. Then drawing his left hand up the 13 strings of his custom pedal steel, he launched players and audience alike into another ascent toward heaven.The Word is a collaboration among avant-jazz organist John Medeski (of Medeski, Martin & Wood), blues-rock trio North Mississippi Allstars, and “sacred steel” virtuoso Robert Randolph, whose stunning musical vocabulary and gospel fervor have only recently been witnessed outside of the Word Of God church where they were nurtured. And while there are currently no plans to bring The Word to Athens, music fans do have the opportunity this week to see both the Allstars and Randolph, performing in separate shows at the Georgia Theatre.
The North Mississippi Allstars is a powerful rock trio that combines the trance-boogie blues tradition of the Mississippi hills in a volatile mix with elements of classic heavy Southern rock, and modern dance club breakbeat rhythms. The punk intensity and tasteful virtuosity of brothers Luther and Cody Dickinson (guitars and drums) and the gospel sensibilities of bassist and high school friend Chris Chew, result in an impressively refined cocktail.
This elixir has stunned a diverse, growing audience since the brothers began performing and exploring their regional influences around 1996. Concocted deep in the “dirty South” (to use one of Luther’s recurring phrases) the trio's sound is dubbed “world boogie” by Cody, who adds his own guitar work and jaw-dropping electric washboard acrobatics whenever liberated from his drumming duties.After touring widely in support of the acclaimed 2000 debut album, Shake Hands With Shorty (Tone-Cool), the North Mississippi Allstars return to Athens this week with an album of new material titled 51 Phantom (Tone-Cool), ready for release on October 9.
Whereas Shake Hands… featured many of the traditional songs (however transformed) of the hill country boogie typified by R.L. Burnside, Junior Kimbrough, and Fred McDowell, 51 Phantom primarily features original songs composed in response to that tradition. The feel of the new album is a bit more organic, the diverse elements and influences less juxtaposed than assimilated. The album captures strong, spontaneous performances evocative of the band’s impressive live interplay. It was produced by Luther and Cody's father Jim Dickinson, a studio legend whose credits range from the Rolling Stones and Big Star to the Replacements and Primal Scream.
The backbeat-heavy, anthemic title track "Phantom 51" evokes the very spirit of the blues, attending on a late-night drive down U.S. Highway 51 from Memphis to New Orleans. “Sugartown,” a thumping and reeling groove that dominates the trio's current live set, combines bluesy riffs and washboard atmospherics in a dizzying representation of all-night party bliss. Kimbrough’s mournful wail “Lord Have Mercy” serves as a fitting complement, though the exquisite remorse of the lyrics is sublimated into lilting Eddie Van Halen-meets-Duane Allman exuberance via Luther’s guitar. Luther's and Cody’s older gem “Storm” echoes Brian Jones’ sitar explorations. Pops Staples’ “Freedom Highway” allows Chris and Luther the forum for a groovy call-and-response gospel as Cody subtly builds rhythmic intensity. The track belies its three-minute length by covering more emotional, spiritual, and musical ground than many bands can manage in 15 or more minutes.
Othar Turner’s authentic cane fife tradition is featured on “Circle In The Sky.” A riff partially evocative of Dickey Betts’ “Revival” plays heavily in the gospel original “Ship.” But to fixate on these touchstones is to miss what the Allstars are actually doing with the material, not to mention the transformations they accomplish. The soulful ballad “Leavin’” balances nicely and the concluding, one-chord, stompy romp “Mud” offers a celebratory invitation into the geographic and cultural landscape through which the album had just progressed. Such road signs are always less about where you’ve been than where you’re going, and the Allstars seem to practice out of that deep understanding.
Fittingly, the Dickinson brothers have pursued collaborations that help mark the paths they’ve traversed or would like to explore. Among these are albums documenting Turner’s dying tradition and its African roots. This year’s solo debut from Widespread Panic’s John Hermann featured the brothers alongside Hermann and veteran Athens musician Paul “Crumpy” Edwards (Bloodkin and Barbara Cue).And it was the mutual obsession with gospel traditions that ultimately led both Luther and John Medeski to the recordings that documented the sacred steel tradition practiced in the Word of God Church. When Robert Randolph was coincidentally booked to open for the Allstars in New York – his first gig outside the church environment – it was taken as divine blessing for the then-evolving project. Chew, himself a participant in both the sacred and secular music worlds, came up with the perfect name for the group and the album that resulted: The Word.
Evocative of the beautiful opening of St. John the Evangelist’s gospel, which describes the incarnation of God’s Word in this temporal, material realm, the band moniker signals not only the music's gospel inspiration but the passing between worlds - musically and spiritually - that is responsible for its production. Transcending the distinctions between sacred and secular, the musicians operate in the spiritual truth of the music itself. That truth is powerful, as "The Word" performance at the Mountain Oasis Festival demonstrated.
Randolph’s blistering attack during his signature tune “Without God” and his ecstatic bodily antics during “I’ll Fly Away” will likely never be forgotten by those listening, dancing and watching. A recent "The Word" recording, available on Ropeadope Records, faithfully documents the quintet’s individual talents and daring interactions.
Fortunately, Randolph and his cousins, the “Family Band,” are intent on spreading the gospel beyond the New York club shows that established their following outside the church. The quartet’s appearance in Athens may offer the closest thing to heaven that the Athens nightlife crowd has ever seen.
WHO: North Mississippi Allstars, Jas. Mathus & His Knockdown Society
WHERE: Georgia Theatre
WHEN: Friday, October 5
HOW MUCH: $10
WHO: Robert Randolph, Dominic Gaudious
WHERE: Georgia Theatre
WHEN: Monday, October 8
HOW MUCH: $7
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