Bronx In Blue

Product Description

Bronx In Blue is an all-acoustic blues outing highlighting the music that first inspired Dion as a child growing up in the Bronx. With songs by Robert Johnson, Willie Dixon, Jimmy Rogers, Hank Williams, Lightnin’ Hopkins and Jimmy Reed, the collection is a soulful tour de force for Dion, not only in his familiar role as a magnificently interpretive vocalist but, also, as a brilliantly innovative guitarist.
Dion notes, "When I was a kid, there was no Rock & Roll. In the early 50’s – late at night, I’d tune into Wheeling, West Virginia (WWVA), listening to the Blues – Howlin’ Wolf’s ‘How Many More Years,’ Jimmy Reed’s ‘Bright Lights, Big City.’ After school, I’d run home to catch the last half hour of the ‘Don Larkin Country Show’ coming out of Newark. I was a Hank Williams junkie; for me, putting country and blues together – that’s what I call Rock & Roll."
Previewing the album in MOJO, Paul Déchamé writes, "Recalling the back-to-basics approach of Cash’s American recordings – muted drums, acoustic guitars – it’s a little like having Dion in your front room strumming his favourite blues songs." Don McCleese, in No Depression, sums up Bronx In Blue thusly: "It all sounds like Dion. It all sounds great."

Amazon.com

As the voice behind such frothy oldies as "Runaround Sue," "The Wanderer," and "Ruby Baby," Dion doesn't spring to mind when one thinks of great blues interpreters. But this stripped-down session--the singer accompanies himself on acoustic guitar with just a hint of percussion--shows the former teen idol to be a convincing and affecting folk-bluesman. While nobody will confuse Bronx in Blue with Son House, Dion is in exceptional form, as he interprets about a dozen classics and contributes a newly written song. Even attempting to cover such crusty, trusty warhorses as "Crossroads" (one of four Robert Johnson tracks here), Howlin' Wolf's "How Many More Years?," and Jimmy Reed's "Baby What You Want Me to Do" is a daring move, but Dion succeeds due to his sense of integrity, obvious love for the genre, and an enthusiasm that leaps from the speakers.
His voice is clear and emotional, his guitar playing frisky yet surprisingly accomplished--and the sheer joy Dion conveys on tracks like Hank Williams Sr.'s "Honky Tonk Blues" is contagious. The exceptional recording quality brings an immediacy and intensity to the performance, making Bronx in Blue a revelation for both oldies lovers and roots blues fans. --Hal Horowitz

About the Artist

DION and his music represent a special time and place. . . a moment when a song could mean so much and a singer could sum up what it means to be young, in love and on top of the world. Dion, street poet and singer of extraordinary versatility, range and resonance defined Rock 'n' Roll for a generation. That mastery began at a very early age on the mean streets of the Bronx, New York. It was in the bars and on the street corners of his Bronx neighborhood that Dion's musical skill and style really began. R & B, blues, doo-wop and rock 'n' roll all influenced his approach to music, but it was country's great singer songwriter Hank Williams who first sparked Dion's singing ambitions. Whatever the reason, Williams' hard driving lonesome sound attracted the city boy. By age twelve, Dion had collected seventy of Hank's singles and could sing as many by heart. Dion's natural affinities and abilities were further honed on the stoops and on the street corners of Cartona Avenue, where he rounded up other local singers, inventing acapella licks. Then in 1957 he brought the best of the neighborhood rockers together to form Dion & The Belmonts, named after Belmont Avenue, in the heart of the Bronx. "I Wonder Why" was Dion & The Belmonts first hit and over the next two years the group earned a reputation not only for topping the charts but for creating some of the most vital and exciting doo-wop music on the American scene. With songs such as " A Teenager In Love" and "Where or When," Dion and The Belmonts earned their place in the history books, while the group's pioneering role in the development of rock 'n' roll underscored their enduring accomplishments. A national sensation, they toured extensively and were co-headliners on the star-crossed winter Dance Party, the tour that took the lives of Buddy Holly and Richie Valens. Dion was, in fact, scheduled to fly in the fateful plane that went down "the day the music died." But the vitality of the music lived on when Dion, venturing out as a solo artist in 1960, racked up a string of #1 hits that many still consider to be the best of that, or any other era. Dion cut one quintessential rock classis after another, from the rocker "Runaround Sue" to the driving "lovers Who Wander" to the anthemic "The Wanderer" - it was an unparalleled musical feat that elevated him to the top ranks of recording artists. As the first rock and roll artist ever signed to Columbia Records, he continued his streak with such smashes as "Rub, ISBN13:B000CR5ECA ISBN10:B000CR5ECA Material Type:audioCD