New Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers

By Kevin Wildman about 25 by 25 feet. The building looks like an The time is a little over 12 years ago and old biker’s repair shop… nothing fancy… but Squirrel Nut Zippers’ guitarist and vocalist definitely full of inspiration on this day. It’s Jimbo Mathus is sitting in a nondescript somewhat out of the way in a rural section of building in Coldwater, Mississiippi. The room Mississippi. Outside the building is a chain he is in is about 400 square feet or more, maybe link fence with concertina wire along the top of 18 Rock and Blues International • August 2020 Rock and Blues International • September 2020

it to fend off any unwelcome guests. Jimbo is sitting inside the Zebra Ranch Recording Studio. Over in one corner is the late Jim Dickinson, sitting at his cherry red baby grand Baldwin piano that Baldwin had given him, which he was so proud of. North Mississippi

Jimbo Mathus

Allstars guitarist, Luther Dickinson is sitting not far from him. To the right of Luther is the legendary harmonica virtuoso Charlie Musselwhite with a small amp near him. Sitting in the only isolation room at the drums is North Mississippi Allstars drummer Cody Dickinson. Also in attendance is Grammy® award winning musician Alvin Youngblood Hart. Everybody is assembled in one room, complete with their recording engineer. The session for the unofficial “roots supergroup” New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers is in full swing. For the most part, this is an afternoon recording session and things have to be wrapped up soon because Jim will be heading to the house by 5:00 p.m. in time to catch one of his favorite afternoon shows, Mid-South Wrestling along with some dinner. Every time this show came on, you could expect Jim to be there, cheering on his favorite wrestlers. Yes folks, in this nondescript building in the sticks, one of the most impressive recording sessions ever is taking place. This is the recording session for the newly released New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers, Volumes I and II. Volume I is out this month on September 4 th , and Volume II will be out in the spring of 2021, The ten great classics on Volume I are very inspirational. This is Blues the way it’s supposed to be played… stripped down, bare, and full of emotion. There’s no high tech machinery in play here. It’s strictly lo-fi and performed traditionally the old school way. For more than twelve years, the recordings from those session were hidden away, sometimes almost referred to in a way where they might have been classified as being just a legend. Did they happen really? Well folks, they really did happen and have now come to light twelve years later. Sometimes you just have to wait for something good to happen… and it finally did with this new release. The album has sat in the studio archives for years, but finally Luther Dickinson and his partner and engineer, Kevin Houston took it out, dusted it off, and finished the production on the album. Listening to the album, you can literally visualize the recording of the project. It really comes out in the mix. Here’s this group of some of the finest Blues performers that the Blues has to offer, sitting virtually in a circle just passing the mic to one another and each one taking the lead on a song. Strictly unbelievable… When Stoney Plain Records founder, Holger Peterson heard about this legendary session, he knew he had to release it and he contacted Luther and lit the fire. In some respects, we have him to thank for finally Jim Dickinson unearthing this long forgotten project. Thank Jimbo Mathus recently and gain a little more god it happened. insight to this legendary recording session and “The New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom he revealed quite a bit about it. Rockers album was conceived in the back of a tour bus,” Luther Dickinson recalls. “Mavis Rock And Blues International: For me Staples and Charlie Musselwhite had hit the this sounded like an authentic traditional Blues road together, with the North Mississippi session. When you look back at the recording Allstars as the house band. The tour forged sessions for this project, what’s the first thing lifelong friendships and collaborations; it that comes to mind? changed our lives in so many ways. Jimbo Mathus: Well I think of Zebra “The package tour was classic showbiz. Ranch Recording Studio. I’ve worked there so We’d all been snookered; the tour bus wasn’t long with Luther, Jim, and Cody. I started what we’d imagined. Instead of rock ‘n’ roll working there just as soon as they opened the luxury, we found ourselves in hard-cushioned, place up, so I think immediately of Jim. And of straight-back retirement home mass transport. Luther being the great idea man, and pulling The stationary armrests made sleeping futile— ideas like that together and getting us all so Charlie and I passed the miles shooting the together. Anything in Zebra Ranch was going in breeze. Charlie made a list of great recordings I the same sort of technique, the same style, and should check out, which became a catalyst for same spirit, which is we would gather around our recording session. the microphones with some small amps and just “The name of our recording project was play properly. We would do one or two takes, born in the back of that ramshackle bus. We had maybe just one take and that was usually what a concept before we had a record. As I explained you got, so it was a very fun, spirited and Alvin Youngblood Hart’s mission to live life as relaxed session. It was all a lot of fun as we a ‘Freedom Rocker,’ Charlie pointed out the were all singing and passing the baton around in window: there was a new moon that evening. the room there eager to hear what the next idea

Suddenly, ‘New Moon Freedom Rockers’ was going to be. Then you just run it down and materialized. (Dad added ‘Jelly Roll’ after push play. You talk about authentic Blues the recording session.).” records, that’s how they were made. The result of that tour was the RABI: When you are selecting the songs catalyst for this great new/old recording for this album back then, was there any that is finally being released now. Songs discussion about the songs first or did you just on New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers pass the mic around and each person just say

Volume 1 and their featuring members ‘this is the song we’re doing now’? include: “Blues Why You Worry Me” Jimbo Mathus: Yep. That’s exactly right. (featuring Charlie Musselwhite), “Pony ‘Here’s how it goes.’ And if there’s any special

Blues” (featuring Alvin Youngblood Hart), tricks in there, we talk them out and then within

“Night Time” (featuring Jimbo Mathus), two or three or four minutes we would be

“Come on Down to My House” (featuring recording. There was no pre-production on it

Jim Dickinson), “K.C. Moan” (featuring other than just, we’re all like-minded cats that

Charlie Musselwhite), “Let’s Work are used to working in the same way, so there

Together” (featuring Jim Dickinson), was no problems.

“Shake It and Break It” (featuring Jimbo RABI: Had you all worked together

Mathus), “Stone Free” (featuring Alvin before, or was it was this a first time for some of

Youngblood Hart), “Stop and Listen you to interact with the others?

Blues” (featuring Alvin Youngblood Hart), Jimbo Mathus: You know, the only and “Strange Land” (featuring Charlie person that I hadn’t really worked a lot with was

Musselwhite). Charlie Musselwhite. I had hung out with him a I had a chance to sit down with contined on next page September 2020 • Rock and Blues International 19

that I had actually been writing. Jim had asked me to write some songs. He was going to do another solo album. I actually went out to Zebra Ranch and worked on a couple of songs with him. “Night Time” was one that I had kind of pidgin-holed in my mind for Jim, but when I had got out there, he didn’t know the words. So I just said, I’ll just sing it. That’s where “Night Time” came from. I had been writing it with him in mind and Cody Dickinson the boys in mind. RABI: When some of the bunch in Clarksdale, Mississippi where he goes to visit all the time and it was my hometown, so I hung out with Charlie. Luther had played with him. They were backing Charlie up for a while. So that was where the lightning bolt went off and Luther said, ‘hey, let’s get Charlie up to the Zebra Ranch with the family band.’ And so just about everyone else had worked extensively together. Charlie not so much, but I hung out with him enough to know what kind of cat he was and so it was really good. It was a broad age group of cats in there from Jim, Charlie, and the older guys, Alvin and myself with Cody and Luther being a little younger. Even 12 years ago we had a lot of experience under our belts. RABI: What made you select the songs “Night Time” and “Shake It and Break It. Jimbo Mathus: Well, “Shake It and Break It” is something that I had been doing with Jim and Luther and Cody for quite a while. It’s based on an old Charlie Patton thing. We were all really into the Charlie Patton Groove and riffs and influence of Blues, you know, which tends to make something sound older and cooler, anyway. That’s more of a Ragtime thing and a great showcase for Jim’s piano and it’s something we all already knew and so I popped him out the “Night Time” thing. It’s something other songs came up, was there anything like, ‘Oh Great, I’ve always wanted to do that song”? Jimbo Mathus: Oh sure man, several absolutely. Several jump out at me, “K.C. Moan”, that’s something on the old Harry Smith collection of songs that he put out back in the 60s, that turned on so many people to blues and folk music and stuff. And that K.C. Moan was one of those on there that I’ve always really dug and so was I was excited when they pulled that out. “Let’s Work Together”, the Canned Heat song was killer. I just always loved Canned Heat. I mean, there’s a blues band, a real blues rock band that did it good, you know. Oh, if any blues rock band did it really good, I’d say Canned Heat would be at the top of my list. I was playing with Larry Taylor and worked with him a bunch on some Buddy Guy tours. I love Canned Heat. So I was super excited when he pulled that one out and those two strike me right off the bat. RABI: Are there any others that jump out at you as well? Jimbo Mathus: Oh yeah, “Stop And Listen Blues” and “Come On Down To My House.” I love that good old Memphis Jug Band Sound, that down in the alley Jug Band sound. I’m always keen on it. Just throw a mandolin on it and hoop and holler. They were super. I was excited about every one of them. Of course to hear Alvin play “Stone Free” was like a dream come true. There’s another song by a Blues Icon. Jimi Hendrix did it right. So yeah, it was like those two sessions and both of those albums came together in like two afternoons. That’s it. RABI: So they came together fairly easy then. Jimbo Mathus: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Like I said, we’re all like minded and already sort of have the same mythology and philosophy of the Blues, the same steeped-in tradition history. I mean, literal history. The people like Charlie and Jim involved, you know. I mean, you’re looking at literal Blues history right there. It was a bunch of likeminded cats. RABI: Looking back, since it took so long to get this out, did you ever Luther Dickinson think it would materialize? 20 Rock and Blues International • September 2020 Charlie Musselwhite Jimbo Mathus: You know, knowing Luther, I knew that he would find a place for it when the time was right, that was a very important session. That was Jim’s last session and some of his best work that he did in his studio. It was sounding really good then and he had his piano and they had really tweaked the sound on it, so we knew it was important, and we knew it was great. I trusted that Luther would find a home for it someday when the opportunity arose because he doesn’t forget stuff like that. He’s got a great process, so that sometimes takes a while to see the results of this. It took 10 years or more for fruition, you know, so it’s a long game for us anyway. RABI: And what are your thoughts about it coming out as a two volume set” Jimbo Mathus: I was happy that it was a double volume set. I think that it’s great that somebody would take the energy, the resources and the time to actually put it in the two volume set. I think it was very cool of them. I think in a way it is very smart and what needed to be done. Rather than just pick twelve songs and leave the other ones alone, they kind of go together. I think my favorite part is just the fact that it’s were being released in its entirety in two volumes. I think it’ time for the blues world too, because it’s a breath of fresh air… the way it’s recorded with the people and personnel involved and the song selection. I think it’s going to be very refreshing for the blues world and maybe even get some new people interested in the Blues. There’s not a lot more I can say about it at this point. I know it’s a cliché, but I think the music will speak for itself. I really think it will. I think it’s really going to inspire a lot of people. I hope so, and that would be a great goal and the ultimate goal.

Well there you go folks, Jimbo certainly has a lot of pride wrapped up in this album, and it really comes as no surprise. In this age of over produced music and lightning fast BluesRock, it’s kind of refreshing to hear something a bit more traditional and down to earth. I think that this album will definitely turn a few heads. When you get a chance and if you’re into the Blues, then give this album a try. I really think it will help broaden your horizons a bit. Check out a bit of the old-school blues, done the right way.

Congratulations goes out to Stony Plain Records, Jim Dickinson, Charlie Musselwhite, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Luther and Cody Dickinson, Jimbo Mathus and all the folks involved in this project… Job well done.