Overview

I’m Just Dead, I’m Not Gone chronicles Jim Dickinson’s extraordinary life in the Memphis music scene of the fifties and sixties and how he went on to play with and produce a rich array of artists, including Aretha Franklin, the Rolling Stones, Ry Cooder, Duane Allman, Arlo Guthrie, and Albert King. With verve and wit, Dickinson(1941–2009) describes how his trip to Blind Lemon’s grave on the Texas flatlands as a college student and how that encounter inspired his return to Memphis. Back home, he looked up Gus Cannon and Furry Lewis, began staging plays, cofounded what would become the annual Memphis Blues Festival, and started recording. The blues, Elvis, and early rock ’n’ roll compelled Dickinson to reject racial barriers and spurred his contributions to the Memphis music and experimental art scene. He explains how thefamily yardman, WDIA, Dewey Philips, Furry Lewis, Will Shade, and Howlin’ Wolf shaped him and recounts how he went on to learn his craft at Sun, Ardent, American, Muscle Shoals, and Criteria studios from master producers Sam Phillips, John Fry, Chips Moman, and Jerry Wexler. Dickinson is a member of the Mississippi Music Hall of Fame and an inaugural inductee of the Memphis Music Hall of Fame. He has received the Lifetime Achievement Award for Engineering and Production from the Americana Music Association, a Brass Note on the Beale Street Walk of Fame in Memphis, and a Heritage Marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail. This memoir recounts a love affairwith Memphis, the blues, and rock ’n’ roll through Dickinson’s captivating blend of intelligence, humor, and candor.

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9781496810540

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Reviews

"Jim Dickinson communicated in parables. Stories were his tools and weapons--for teaching, entertaining, inspiring, for offending and defending. He drew not just from his musical experiences but all experiences, and his lessons, ideas, and suggestions, even if they were about a song, were about much more than music. Jim may be dead, but he ain't gone--and this collection of his life's stories ensures that those who never knew him can yet experience him. Insightful, hilarious, emotional, Jim writes the way he played: from his heart, through his soul, to the gut.--Robert Gordon Jim Dickinson was both student and creator of the finest in American music. As a musician and singer, he brought out the best in the songs he served. As a producer, he brought out the best in his artists. From his early work singing and playing at Sun Records, to producing brilliant and influential rock bands like Big Star and the Replacements, Jim left an undeniable mark on rock 'n' roll and roots music in a time when the two weren't so easily separated. A lot of the music I love simply wouldn't exist without Jim's legendary work.--Jason Isbell, two-time Grammy winner A memoir of sorts by the late Memphis musical legend, Dickinson (1941-2009) may not be a household name, but in those households where he is, he is revered: session pianist for the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, and other luminaries; producer for Ry Cooder, the Replacements, and Alex Chilton; patriarch of the North Mississippi Allstars. He's also a world-class storyteller, from the evidence here, a mix of homespun philosophy, hipster poetry, ribald anecdotes, and humanizing reminiscences about pretty much everyone who was anyone in southern musical circles.-- ""Kirkus Reviews"" Despite the ups and downs, in I'm Just Dead, I'm Not Gone, Dickinson humorously reveals the secrets to finesse and savor a satisfying life following musical passions.--Dematt Harkins ""Clarion-Ledger"" Jim Dickinson's stories are healing.--Jana Hoops ""Clarion-Ledger"" The information and insights that Dickinson's story covey make for fascinating reading about a marvelous period in American music, but what really brings the book to life is the narrative voice that he constructs.--Robert H. Cataliotti ""Living Blues, Aug. 2017"" Though fundamentally a memoir of Dickinson's life, the book is also one of the more essential, and certainly most entertaining, works of history documenting the Memphis music scene's glory years from the 1950s through the 1970s. A musical philosopher and cultural historian, Dickinson was a natural raconteur in person, and his storytelling gifts translate remarkably well across the book's nearly 250 pages documenting his life.--Bob Mehr ""The Commercial Appeal"" An endlessly fascinating ride with one of the greatest artists the South ever produced. Jim Dickinson drew upon everyone from Faulkner to Furry Lewis to make his own unique sound and then share it with the world. These pages you hold in your hands are the very personal tale of that incredible journey. Above all else, Dickinson was a master storyteller. I'm Just Dead, I'm Not Gone is a trip into the depths and soul of Americana. I was mesmerized and inspired by Dickinson's final gift.--Ace Atkins Jim Dickinson was the great instigator of rock 'n' roll. From the Rolling Stones to the Replacements, from Alex Chilton to Aretha, his fingerprints are on some of the twentieth century's most singular recordings. But who knew that Dickinson, one of music's most mind-blowing raconteurs, was also an extraordinary writer. In his memoir, I'm Just Dead, I'm Not Gone, Dickinson's prose leaps from the page, packing as much emotional punch as his piano licks on 'Wild Horses.' His eye for detail and his acute observations on his Chicago childhood, his coming of age in Memphis and Waco (as a Baylor student), and his early music career in Tennessee, Miami, and L.A., provide a stunning portrait of a seeker's odyssey in 1950s and '60s America.--Holly George-Warren, author of A Man Called Destruction: The Life and Music of Alex Chilton, From Box Tops to Big Star to Backdoor Man I'm Dead, I'm Not Gone is a deeply personal chronicle of the genesis and development of the Dickinson Family's embrace of 'primitive modernism, ' Jim's term for 'a modernized history of American Roots music painted in broad strokes and basic colors.--Robert H. Cataliotti ""Living Blues, Aug. 2017"" Get ready to move again, because your road map is Jim Dickinson's long-awaited memoir I'm Just Dead, I'm Not Gone (University Press of Mississippi; with Ernest Suarez), and it is a Benzedrine-fueled romp with one hell of a soundtrack. . . . Dickinson's book is history of white-boy blues, folk, and rock-and roll in Memphis.--Richard Alley ""Memphis Flyer"" Named for his self-generated epitaph and detailing his life up to 1972 in the literary equivalent of his grinning trickster drawl, I'm Just Dead, I'm Not Gone details an essential chapter of rock and roll history.--Tim Stegall ""Austin Chronicle"""

Reader Beware! Fasten your seatbelt because you are about to travel down the highway with hipster, beat poet, and rock-and-roller Jim Dickinson. Those who seek the crossroads where black and white music intersect should drink deeply from the chalice of I'm Just Dead, I'm Not Gone. Dickinson's musical brilliance and prose style sizzle on each page as he unleashes an avalanche of music and language that will sweep you through blues, rock-and-roll, and drugs and leave you breathless. Jim Dickinson is truly The Dixie Limited of Memphis music. --William Ferris, author of The South in Color: A Visual Journey Jim Dickinson has left a trail of crumbs that tell part of his remarkable story as a developing musician in the city that birthed rock-and-roll. From his earliest days learning piano from a musical mother to a secret recording session with The Rolling Stones, Dickinson takes his readers inside the creative process. It's part Kerouac and part DC comics and like most southerners, he is at his best as a storyteller. His story is one of triumphs and disappointments, good luck and bad, and above all else an undying devotion to his craft. His self-penned epitaph I'm Just Dead, I'm Not Gone tells the truth. --David Less, co-founder of Memphis International Records; co-producer of five records with Jim Dickinson, including three of his albums as an artist; and writer I'm Just Dead, I'm Not Gone is the autobiography of a Renaissance man who witnessed, took part in, and celebrated some of the greatest music to come out of America in the twentieth century. His is a truly unique and epic tale, told in the voice of musicologist, musician, producer, poet, and revolutionary. I still cannot believe that all of the stories are true and that one man lived such a full and impactful life. --David Katznelson, music producer and president of Birdman Recording Group, Inc. Like deep blues, this book was in Jim Dickinson and it had to come out. Like his music, Jim's prose is inspiring, a tad weird and evermore true. For rocker and rollers, this makes a great read. For readers, it's a rocker. We won't see Jim's likes again but that's okay because, as he assures us, he's just dead, he's not gone. This eloquent and haunting book, conjured by a true original, is living proof of that. --Jim Dees, host, The Thacker Mountain Radio Hour, and author of The Statue and the Fury: A Memoir Jim Dickinson was the keeper of the crazy flame. The mad genius of Memphis music. A real rock 'n' roll raconteur. A truth speaker and bullshit detector. John the Conqueror root in human form. The Conjure Man from another land. --Mojo Nixon Jim Dickinson stood at the intersection of many contradictions: a modern visionary steeped in old-time music, an intellectual who valued instinct. It all made sense because Dickinson was so thoroughly rooted in the music he loved and was so thoughtful in his assessments thereof. This book is a treat that engages on all levels: head, heart and guts. --Alan Paul, musician, journalist, and author of One Way Out: The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band Jim Dickinson was both student and creator of the finest in American music. As a musician and singer, he brought out the best in the songs he served. As a producer, he brought out the best in his artists. From his early work singing and playing at Sun Records, to producing brilliant and influential rock bands like Big Star and the Replacements, Jim left an undeniable mark on rock 'n' roll and roots music in a time when the two weren't so easily separated. A lot of the music I love simply wouldn't exist without Jim's legendary work. --Jason Isbell, two-time Grammy winner Jim Dickinson communicated in parables. Stories were his tools and weapons--for teaching, entertaining, inspiring, for offending and defending. He drew not just from his musical experiences but all experiences, and his lessons, ideas, and suggestions, even if they were about a song, were about much more than music. Jim may be dead, but he ain't gone--and this collection of his life's stories ensures that those who never knew him can yet experience him. Insightful, hilarious, emotional, Jim writes the way he played: from his heart, through his soul, to the gut. --Robert Gordon An endlessly fascinating ride with one of the greatest artists the South ever produced. Jim Dickinson drew upon everyone from Faulkner to Furry Lewis to make his own unique sound and then share it with the world. These pages you hold in your hands are the very personal tale of that incredible journey. Above all else, Dickinson was a master storyteller. I'm Just Dead, I'm Not Gone is a trip into the depths and soul of Americana. I was mesmerized and inspired by Dickinson's final gift. --Ace Atkins Jim Dickinson was the great instigator of rock 'n' roll. From the Rolling Stones to the Replacements, from Alex Chilton to Aretha, his fingerprints are on some of the twentieth century's most singular recordings. But who knew that Dickinson, one of music's most mind-blowing raconteurs, was also an extraordinary writer. In his memoir, I'm Just Dead, I'm Not Gone, Dickinson's prose leaps from the page, packing as much emotional punch as his piano licks on 'Wild Horses.' His eye for detail and his acute observations on his Chicago childhood, his coming of age in Memphis and Waco (as a Baylor student), and his early music career in Tennessee, Miami, and L.A., provide a stunning portrait of a seeker's odyssey in 1950s and '60s America. --Holly George-Warren, author of A Man Called Destruction: The Life and Music of Alex Chilton, From Box Tops to Big Star to Backdoor Man The late Jim Dickinson entered the Memphis music scene in the years following Elvis Presley's initial success, helping to extend the spirit and sound of Elvis's music synthesis to the city's expanding middle class and suburban population. Jim's career and style linked raw Memphis blues and rockabilly of the 1950s to the folk and rock movements of the 1960s. He not only lived and worked as an insider in this important and highly creative music scene, but he was a keen observer of it. In later years researchers and journalists were constantly asking him for comments or pithy quotes on this or that Memphis musical event or personality, and he always seemed to have an answer for them. Here he shows that he could also write about the scene at length and with the same wit and insight. --David Evans, professor of music, University of Memphis Jim Dickinson, the maestro of Mud Boy, holds the keys that unlock the mysteries of the blues, Mississippi, Memphis, and the processes of creating and recording music. You want to know how it all got like this? Start reading. --Joe Nick Patoski, author of Willie Nelson: An Epic Life and Stevie Ray Vaughan: Caught in the Crossfire A memoir of sorts by the late Memphis musical legend, Dickinson (1941-2009) may not be a household name, but in those households where he is, he is revered: session pianist for the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, and other luminaries; producer for Ry Cooder, the Replacements, and Alex Chilton; patriarch of the North Mississippi Allstars. He's also a world-class storyteller, from the evidence here, a mix of homespun philosophy, hipster poetry, ribald anecdotes, and humanizing reminiscences about pretty much everyone who was anyone in southern musical circles. --Kirkus Reviews

A world-class storyteller . . . a mix of homespun philosophy, hipster poetry, ribald anecdotes, and humanizing reminiscences about pretty much everyone who was anyone in southern musical circles. --<i>Kirkus Reviews</i></p>

A memoir of sorts by the late Memphis musical legend, Dickinson (1941-2009) may not be a household name, but in those households where he is, he is revered: session pianist for the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, and other luminaries; producer for Ry Cooder, the Replacements, and Alex Chilton; patriarch of the North Mississippi Allstars. He's also a world-class storyteller, from the evidence here, a mix of homespun philosophy, hipster poetry, ribald anecdotes, and humanizing reminiscences about pretty much everyone who was anyone in southern musical circles. --<i>Kirkus Reviews</i></p>

Author Information

Jim Dickinson (1941–2009) worked with the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Alex Chilton, the Replacements, and T-Model Ford, among others. His sons, Luther and Cody, are the founding members of the North Mississippi All Stars. Ernest Suarez, Washington, DC, is David M. O’Connell Professor of English at the Catholic University of America and president of the Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers. He has published widely on southern literature, contemporary poetry, and music.

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