DION DIMUCCI
''NEW YORK IS MY HOME''
FEBRUARY 12 2016
38:46
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01 - Aces Up Your Sleeve 03:07 (Mike Aquilina, Dion DiMucci)
02 - Can't Go Back To Memphis 04:24 (Mike Aquilina, Dion DiMucci)
03 - New York Is My Home 04:31 (Mike Aquilina, Dion DiMucci, Scott Kempner))
04 - The Apollo King 03:49 (Mike Aquilina, Dion DiMucci)
05 - Katie Mae 04:06 (Sam Hopkins)
06 - I'm Your Gangster Of Love 03:27 (Mike Aquilina, Dion DiMucci)
07 - Ride With You 04:18 (Dion DiMucci)
08 - I'm All Rocked Up 03:42 (Mike Aquilina, Dion DiMucci)
09 - Visionary Heart 03:51 (Dion DiMucci, Scott Kempner)
10 - I Ain't For It 03:29 (Hudson Whittaker)
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REVIEW/AMG
Mark Deming
Dion DiMucci scored his first hit record in 1958 with "I Wonder Why" with his vocal group Dion & the Belmonts, which is to say, it's likely he's been making great music longer than you or most of your favorite singers have even been alive. Dion was 76 years old when he recorded the album New York Is My Home, but it doesn't sound like the work of an elderly man or an exercise in nostalgia. At heart, Dion has always been a guy who sang the blues, and for the most part that's what he does on New York Is My Home. The bulk of this material is strongly rooted in blues and R&B, and if Dion's voice doesn't soar as high as it once did, his instrument is in admirably fine condition, smooth and rich, and his sense of phrasing is superb. Dion brings intelligence and real passion to every track here, displaying the wisdom of an artist whose career has spanned seven decades thus far, while possessing the fire of an up-and-coming roots rock performer. One of the few tunes not steeped in the blues is the title cut, a duet with Paul Simon, and this low-key meditation on life in the city where Dion was born is an impressive change of pace. While Simon's contributions bring a lot to the song, the tune is clearly Dion's vehicle, and the strength of his vocals shows he need not take a back seat to anyone. "I'm Your Gangster of Love" is a believable bit of braggadocio with a fierce undertow, "The Apollo King" is a suitably raucous tribute to the legendary R&B sax man Big Al Sears, "Can't Go Back to Memphis" shows that this East Coast man knows the sounds of the South well, and "Visionary Heart" is a thoughtful number that he delivers with subtle conviction. Dion produced New York Is My Home with Jimmy Vivino (best known as Conan O'Brien's bandleader), and the album captures a classic sound that feels fresh and potent even as it references music of the past. New York Is My Home isn't a comeback, since Dion never went away -- it's simply a reminder that one of rock's greatest vocalists is still hard at work and making music you owe it to yourself to hear.
********************
BIOGRAPHY/AMG
Richie Unterberger
Bridging the era between late-'50s rock and the British Invasion, Dion DiMucci (born July 18, 1939) was one of the top white rock singers of his time, blending the best elements of doo wop, teen idol, and R&B styles. Some revisionists have tried to cast him as a sort of early blue-eyed soul figure, although he was probably more aligned with pop/rock, at first as the lead singer of the Belmonts, and then as a solo star. Drug problems slowed him down in the mid-'60s, yet he made some surprisingly interesting progressions into blues-rock and folk-rock as the decade wore on, culminating in a successful comeback in the late '60s, although he was unable to sustain its commercial and artistic momentum for long.
When Dion began recording in the late '50s, it was as the lead singer of a group of friends who sang on Bronx street corners. Billing themselves as Dion & the Belmonts (Dion had released a previous single with the Timberlanes), their first few records were prime Italian-American doo wop; "I Wonder Why" was their biggest hit in this style. His biggest single with the Belmonts was "A Teenager in Love," which pointed the way for the slightly self-pitying, pained odes to adolescence and early adulthood that would characterize much of his solo work.
Dion went solo in 1960 (the Belmonts did some more doo wop recordings on their own), moving from doo wop to more R&B/pop-oriented tunes with great success. He handled himself with a suave, cocky ease on hits like "The Wanderer," "Runaround Sue," "Lovers Who Wander," "Ruby Baby," and "Donna the Prima Donna," which cast him as either the jilted, misunderstood youngster or the macho lover, capable of handling anything that came his way (especially on "The Wanderer").
Bronx Blues: The Columbia Recordings (1962-1965)
In 1963, Dion moved from Laurie to the larger Columbia label, an association that started promisingly with a couple of big hits right off the bat, "Ruby Baby" and "Donna the Prima Donna." By the mid-'60s, his heroin habit (which he'd developed as a teenager) was getting the best of him, and he did little recording and performing for about five years. When he did make it into the studio, he was moving in some surprisingly bluesy directions; although much of it was overlooked or unissued at the time, it can be heard on the Bronx Blues reissue CD.
Déjà Nu
In 1968, he kicked heroin and re-emerged as a gentle folk-rocker with a number four hit single, "Abraham, Martin and John." Dion would focus upon mature, contemporary material on his late-'60s and early-'70s albums, which were released to positive critical feedback, if only moderate sales. The folk phase didn't last long; in 1972 he reunited with the Belmonts and in the mid-'70s cut a disappointing record with Phil Spector as producer. He recorded and performed fairly often in the years that followed (sometimes singing Christian music), to indifferent commercial results. But his critical rep has risen steadily since the early '60s, with many noted contemporary musicians showering him with praise and citing his influence, such as Dave Edmunds (who produced one of his periodic comeback albums) and Lou Reed (who guested on that record). Dion continued to be active as the 21st century opened, releasing Déjà Nu in 2000, Under the Influence in 2005, and Bronx in Blue in 2006. His first major-label album since 1989's Yo Frankie, titled Son of Skip James, was released by Verve in 2007, while 2008's Heroes: Giants of Early Guitar Rock saw him tackling 15 songs from the classic rock & roll era. Influenced by a conversation with rock critic Dave Marsh about his long and still relevant career, and a dare from his wife Susan to prove it, Dion cut Tank Full of Blues, producing and playing the guitars himself on the recording and writing or co-writing all but one track on the set. Issued on Blue Horizon, it is the final recording in the trilogy that began with Bronx in Blue.
New York Is My Home
Dion signed to Instant Records in 2015 and immediately set to recording a new studio album. Entitled New York Is My Home, its first single and title track a duet with Paul Simon was pre-released in November digitally and as a striking video. The album was issued in the winter of 2016.
********************
WEBSITE
********************
TO THE TOP
********************
''NEW YORK IS MY HOME''
FEBRUARY 12 2016
38:46
********************
01 - Aces Up Your Sleeve 03:07 (Mike Aquilina, Dion DiMucci)
02 - Can't Go Back To Memphis 04:24 (Mike Aquilina, Dion DiMucci)
03 - New York Is My Home 04:31 (Mike Aquilina, Dion DiMucci, Scott Kempner))
04 - The Apollo King 03:49 (Mike Aquilina, Dion DiMucci)
05 - Katie Mae 04:06 (Sam Hopkins)
06 - I'm Your Gangster Of Love 03:27 (Mike Aquilina, Dion DiMucci)
07 - Ride With You 04:18 (Dion DiMucci)
08 - I'm All Rocked Up 03:42 (Mike Aquilina, Dion DiMucci)
09 - Visionary Heart 03:51 (Dion DiMucci, Scott Kempner)
10 - I Ain't For It 03:29 (Hudson Whittaker)
********************
REVIEW/AMG
Mark Deming
Dion DiMucci scored his first hit record in 1958 with "I Wonder Why" with his vocal group Dion & the Belmonts, which is to say, it's likely he's been making great music longer than you or most of your favorite singers have even been alive. Dion was 76 years old when he recorded the album New York Is My Home, but it doesn't sound like the work of an elderly man or an exercise in nostalgia. At heart, Dion has always been a guy who sang the blues, and for the most part that's what he does on New York Is My Home. The bulk of this material is strongly rooted in blues and R&B, and if Dion's voice doesn't soar as high as it once did, his instrument is in admirably fine condition, smooth and rich, and his sense of phrasing is superb. Dion brings intelligence and real passion to every track here, displaying the wisdom of an artist whose career has spanned seven decades thus far, while possessing the fire of an up-and-coming roots rock performer. One of the few tunes not steeped in the blues is the title cut, a duet with Paul Simon, and this low-key meditation on life in the city where Dion was born is an impressive change of pace. While Simon's contributions bring a lot to the song, the tune is clearly Dion's vehicle, and the strength of his vocals shows he need not take a back seat to anyone. "I'm Your Gangster of Love" is a believable bit of braggadocio with a fierce undertow, "The Apollo King" is a suitably raucous tribute to the legendary R&B sax man Big Al Sears, "Can't Go Back to Memphis" shows that this East Coast man knows the sounds of the South well, and "Visionary Heart" is a thoughtful number that he delivers with subtle conviction. Dion produced New York Is My Home with Jimmy Vivino (best known as Conan O'Brien's bandleader), and the album captures a classic sound that feels fresh and potent even as it references music of the past. New York Is My Home isn't a comeback, since Dion never went away -- it's simply a reminder that one of rock's greatest vocalists is still hard at work and making music you owe it to yourself to hear.
********************
BIOGRAPHY/AMG
Richie Unterberger
Bridging the era between late-'50s rock and the British Invasion, Dion DiMucci (born July 18, 1939) was one of the top white rock singers of his time, blending the best elements of doo wop, teen idol, and R&B styles. Some revisionists have tried to cast him as a sort of early blue-eyed soul figure, although he was probably more aligned with pop/rock, at first as the lead singer of the Belmonts, and then as a solo star. Drug problems slowed him down in the mid-'60s, yet he made some surprisingly interesting progressions into blues-rock and folk-rock as the decade wore on, culminating in a successful comeback in the late '60s, although he was unable to sustain its commercial and artistic momentum for long.
When Dion began recording in the late '50s, it was as the lead singer of a group of friends who sang on Bronx street corners. Billing themselves as Dion & the Belmonts (Dion had released a previous single with the Timberlanes), their first few records were prime Italian-American doo wop; "I Wonder Why" was their biggest hit in this style. His biggest single with the Belmonts was "A Teenager in Love," which pointed the way for the slightly self-pitying, pained odes to adolescence and early adulthood that would characterize much of his solo work.
Dion went solo in 1960 (the Belmonts did some more doo wop recordings on their own), moving from doo wop to more R&B/pop-oriented tunes with great success. He handled himself with a suave, cocky ease on hits like "The Wanderer," "Runaround Sue," "Lovers Who Wander," "Ruby Baby," and "Donna the Prima Donna," which cast him as either the jilted, misunderstood youngster or the macho lover, capable of handling anything that came his way (especially on "The Wanderer").
Bronx Blues: The Columbia Recordings (1962-1965)
In 1963, Dion moved from Laurie to the larger Columbia label, an association that started promisingly with a couple of big hits right off the bat, "Ruby Baby" and "Donna the Prima Donna." By the mid-'60s, his heroin habit (which he'd developed as a teenager) was getting the best of him, and he did little recording and performing for about five years. When he did make it into the studio, he was moving in some surprisingly bluesy directions; although much of it was overlooked or unissued at the time, it can be heard on the Bronx Blues reissue CD.
Déjà Nu
In 1968, he kicked heroin and re-emerged as a gentle folk-rocker with a number four hit single, "Abraham, Martin and John." Dion would focus upon mature, contemporary material on his late-'60s and early-'70s albums, which were released to positive critical feedback, if only moderate sales. The folk phase didn't last long; in 1972 he reunited with the Belmonts and in the mid-'70s cut a disappointing record with Phil Spector as producer. He recorded and performed fairly often in the years that followed (sometimes singing Christian music), to indifferent commercial results. But his critical rep has risen steadily since the early '60s, with many noted contemporary musicians showering him with praise and citing his influence, such as Dave Edmunds (who produced one of his periodic comeback albums) and Lou Reed (who guested on that record). Dion continued to be active as the 21st century opened, releasing Déjà Nu in 2000, Under the Influence in 2005, and Bronx in Blue in 2006. His first major-label album since 1989's Yo Frankie, titled Son of Skip James, was released by Verve in 2007, while 2008's Heroes: Giants of Early Guitar Rock saw him tackling 15 songs from the classic rock & roll era. Influenced by a conversation with rock critic Dave Marsh about his long and still relevant career, and a dare from his wife Susan to prove it, Dion cut Tank Full of Blues, producing and playing the guitars himself on the recording and writing or co-writing all but one track on the set. Issued on Blue Horizon, it is the final recording in the trilogy that began with Bronx in Blue.
New York Is My Home
Dion signed to Instant Records in 2015 and immediately set to recording a new studio album. Entitled New York Is My Home, its first single and title track a duet with Paul Simon was pre-released in November digitally and as a striking video. The album was issued in the winter of 2016.
********************
WEBSITE
********************
TO THE TOP
********************
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