Son of Skip James is the thirtieth album by American singer/songwriter Dion. It was released on November 6, 2007, on the Verve Forecast Records label.[1] The album stayed on the Billboard Blues Albums chart for twelve weeks, peaking at No. 4 on November 24, 2007.[2]
| Son of Skip James | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | November 6, 2007 | |||
| Studio | Sounds Great Production | |||
| Genre | Blues[1] | |||
| Length | 43:35 | |||
| Label | Verve Forecast | |||
| Producer | Dion[1] | |||
| Dion chronology | ||||
| ||||
The album serves as a follow-up to Dion's 2006 Grammy-nominated blues album, Bronx in Blue.[3] The majority of tracks on Son of Skip James are cover versions of well-known blues songs, some of them classics.[1] The album's title references blues legend Skip James, a friend of Dion's. Dion described the use of James's name for the album as "a kind of mission statement for the project".[4]
Critical reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic[1] |   |
| PopMatters[3] |   |
| Standard-Speaker[5] | |
| The Philadelphia Inquirer[6] |  |
The album was generally positively received by critics, who called out its authenticity,[1] simplicity,[7] and emotional depth.[3] The original tracks, particularly "The Thunderer", were considered to stand on equal or even superior footing to the cover tracks.[1][3] Most critics agreed that Dion had effectively personalized the covers,[1][8] although Tony Sclafani of PopMatters disagreed, calling the track selection "too familiar", and his recordings "too reverent" to bring the project fully to life.[3] Martin Halo of JamBase highlighted Dion's dedication to researching the origins of the cover songs as part of what made the album distinctive among other blues cover albums.[8]
Joel Selvin of SFgate.com called it "another landmark in a career littered with them".[9] Thom Jurek, writing for AllMusic, called it "one of the best records of the year".[1] Chris Jones of BBC Music called it "every inch the equal of its predecessor".[7] Nick Cristiano of The Philadelphia Inquirer found it "exceptionally warm and intuitive".[6] Despite his criticism of the track selection, Sclafani said the album "does not fall short when it comes to ass-kicking".[3] Halo felt that the album featured "master musicianship and stunning vocals", but called it "nothing we haven’t heard before."[8]
Track listing
Except where noted, credits are adapted from AllMusic.[1]
| No. | Title | Original artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Nadine" | Chuck Berry | 3:33 |
| 2. | "My Babe" | Willie Dixon | 3:12 |
| 3. | "Hoodoo Man Blues" | Junior Wells | 2:45 |
| 4. | "Drop Down Mama" | Sleepy John Estes[5] | 4:12 |
| 5. | "Hoochie Coochie Man" | Willie Dixon | 4:00 |
| 6. | "Baby I'm in the Mood" | Bob Dylan | 3:30 |
| 7. | "I'm a Guitar King" | Tommy McClennan | 3:19 |
| 8. | "The Thunderer" | Dion | 4:34 |
| 9. | "Interlude – Spoken Word" | Dion | 0:38 |
| 10. | "Son of Skip James" | Dion | 3:29 |
| 11. | "Preachin' Blues" | Robert Johnson[5] | 3:34 |
| 12. | "If I Had Possession (Over Judgement Day)" | Robert Johnson[5] | 3:50 |
| 13. | "Devil Got My Woman" | Skip James | 2:59 |
Personnel
Adapted from AllMusic.[1]
Musicians
- Bob Guertin – audio engineer, organ, percussion
- Dion DiMucci – audio production, guitar, harmonica, producer, vocals
- Rick Krive – piano
Additional personnel
- Bill Bush – photography
- Susan DiMucci – photography
- Michael Friedman – photography
- Richard Gottehrer – executive producer
- Hollis King – art direction
- Emily Lazar – mastering
- Kazumi Matsumoto – graphic design
References
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