Dion—New York is My Home (Instant Records/The Orchard)
Most music fans see Dion DiMucci falling under the category of oldies act—a guy who toured with early rock & roll greats like Ritchie Valens and Buddy Holly—and wound up with hits like “A Teenager in Love,” “The Wanderer” and “Runaround Sue.” In truth, that’s only scratching the surface of how much more musically complex this son of the Bronx is.
For his first studio album in five years, Dion has continued his ongoing fascination with American roots music that’s not only showed up on recent efforts like Bronx in Blues and Son of Skip James, but dates back to the ’60s. (Do yourself a favor and track down the 1997 2-CD set The Road I’m On: A Retrospective for further proof). For these 10 songs, Dion enlisted longtime friend Jimmy Vivino, guitarist/band leader for the Basic Cable Band on Conan, to produce a collection of mostly originals save for the odd cover of blues greats Lightning Hopkins (a loping “Katie May”) and Tampa Red (the midtempo shuffle “I Ain’t For It”). The title cut duet with Paul Simon is a lead-single that’s been rightfully getting plenty of accolades thanks to its heartfelt harmonizing over lines like “You’ll never hear me say the city streets too loud/I hear a gospel hymn in every passing crowd” that could only be authentically sung by two sons of the city.
But there’s plenty more to sup on within the nearly 40 minutes of music that are here from the Chuck Berry-ish “The Apollo King,” which finds Dion tipping his hat to late Duke Ellington sideman Big Al Sears to the slide guitar-drenched “Can’t Go Back to Memphis” that Dion sings as convincingly as anyone born south of the Mason-Dixon Line. It’s clear the guy who got his start singing on street corners in the Bronx is still in fine fettle and if you insist on calling this a comeback, realize that just means you haven’t been listening.
Dion will be appearing with Ronnie Spector on April 9 at Kings Theatre, 1027 Flatbush Ave., Brooklyn. For more information, visit www.kingstheatre.com or call 929-210-8419.
