Luther Dickinson And The Sons Of Mudboy Onward And Upward on Vinyl LP! 

Just three days after the death of his father, Memphis (and Muscle Shoals and Miami) music legend Jim Dickinson, Luther opened the doors to the family's Zebra Ranch studio in Independence, Mississippi and recorded an album of gospel songs and hymns over the course of a few hours. Luther, one third of North Mississippi All-Stars and now a member of The Black Crowes, was joined by an ad hoc group dubbed The Sons of Mudboy (a homage to his late father's influential rock band Mudboy and the Neutrons) who were all close to Dickinson the elder and wished to address his loss in a musical way. The Sons of Mudboy include two veterans of the original Mudboy: Sid Selvidge (guitar, vocals) and Jimmy Crostwait (washboard, vocals). Also on the session were Jimbo Mathus (guitar, mandolin, banjo, vocals) formerly of the Sqirrel Nut Zippers and of the South Memphis String Band, Steve Selvidge (guitar, dobro, vocals) and Paul Taylor on washtub bass, and Shannon McNally.

Luther and company duplicated the sound of mid-Century era reel-to-reel field recordings, using only two microphones plugged directly into a two-track 1/2 inch tape recorder: no mixing after the fact. Ardent's John Fry mastered the tracks directly from the two track to the mother stamper from which vinyl pressings were sourced. Most of the songs were nailed in just one take with just a few exceptions and those were completed in no more than three takes.

The songs are part of Luther's musical heritage. He grew up hearing "Softly and Tenderly" and "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms" at the Second Avenue Baptist Church in Memphis where his paternal grandmother played piano. He learned "His Eye Is On The Sparrow" from a hymnal that his father shared with him. Mississippi Fred McDowell's album Amazing Grace is the source of both "Back Back Train" and "Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning" and Luther had been known to perform them with the late Otha Turner who closed every show with "Glory Glory," also included on Onward and Upward. "Let It Roll" is an original that sprang to Luther's mind at the moment he was loading in the analog tape machine on the day of the recordings. Another original "Up Over Yonder" was written the day Luther's grandmother passed away.

Luther Dickinson And The Sons Of Mudboy Onward And Upward Track Listing

1.  Let It Roll
2.  His Eye Is On The Sparrow
3.  Learning ON The Everlasting Arms
4.  Up Over Yonder
5.  Softly and Tenderly
6.  Back Back Train
7.  Angel Band
8.  Where the Soul of A Man Never Dies
9.  You Got to Walk That Lonesome Valley
10. In The Garden
11. Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning
12. Glory Glory