Music and Misery #4 - 3

Don't say that I never finish anything! I started this series on Forbes 20 most miserable US cities and the music that spawns from these cities back in March. Then life got into the way of my blogging, other things came up, and I didn't finish the list. And now that we are 3/4 of the way through 2010, the list may be irrelevant. But anyway, to refresh your memory, here are the first 16 of Forbes 20 most miserable US cities:

20. Philadelphia, PA
19. Gary, IN
18. Youngstown, OH
17. Sacramento, CA
16. New York, NY
15. Toledo, OH
14. Rockford, IL
13. Kansas City, MO
12. Akron, OH
11. Modesto, CA
10. Chicago, IL
9. Canton, OH
8. Buffalo, NY
7. St. Louis, MO
6. Miami, FL
5. Flint, MI

Numbers 4 and 3 on the Forbes list are epic, not only in their misery, but also in their music!

4. Detroit, Michigan
The Motor City. Population 900,000, with a metro area of roughly 5 million. City population has declined every census since 1950. In 2008, thousands of homes were available for less than $10,000. 14.4% unemployment as of July 28, 2010, largely due to the downturn of the automotive industry. According to a 2008 Forbes study, Detroit has the second worst commute time in the US, and only 11% of the commutes walk, bike, carpool, or take public transit, the worst of any city in the US. My brother lives in the Detroit area and he has a two hour commute round-trip every day. According to a 2008 FBI study (which was released in Sept. '09, the 2009 data will be release in fall of '10. Why is the government so freaking slow?), Detroit ranked fourth nationally in total violet crime, third in murder, second in aggravated assault, second in motor vehicle theft, and fourth in arson. The sports team? Exhibit A: The Detroit Lions, who in 2008 were the first team in NFL history to go 0-16. In 2009 they were 2-14. Although the Red Wings usually make the playoffs and give Detroit its second nickname of "Hockeytown." Both the MLB Tigers and NBA Pistons can be hit or miss. In terms of corruption of public officials, just look up Kwame Kilpatrick and the Kilpatrick and Beatty text-messaging scandal. And the weather in Detroit? Similar to Chicago or Toledo: cold and crappy in the winter, with humid as hell summers.

All of this misery notwithstanding, I have family in the Detroit area, and I have met many friendly, upstanding people in and around the Detroit area. And I have partied my ass of in that city. Great times!

Jeez, where do I start with Detroit music? There's this little thing called Motown (combination of Motor and Town), launching the careers of dozens of artists, while having a pivotal role in integrating popular music. From 1961 to 1971, Motown had 110 Top 10 hits, before relocating to Los Angeles. Aretha Franklin, Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, MC5, Iggy and the Stooges, Ted Nugget, Alice Cooper, Bob Seger, Glen Frey, Madonna, The White Stripes, Kid Rock, Eminem, tons of jazz musicians, and a bunch of others that I am leaving out.

Although Parliament is originally from New Jersey, they got their break via George Clinton's job as a staff songwriter for Motown records.

Parliament - Do That Stuff.mp3
Buy: Clones of Dr. Funkenstein (orig. 1976)

I have to add a White Stripes track, since the White Stripes that we know and love may never be together again.

The White Stripes - Jumble, Jumble.mp3
Buy: De Stijl (2002)

3. Memphis, Tennessee
Named for the ancient capitol of Egypt. Population of around 670,000 with a metro area of 1.3 million. Unemployment rate of 10.4% as of June (US national rate is 9.5%). Memphis ranks just below Detroit in having the third worst violent crime rate in the country (the first being St. Louis, #7 on the Forbes misery list, and second is Oakland, CA, which didn't make the Forbes list. WTF?). Memphis also ranks fifth worst in rape and robbery, third in aggregated assault, second in total property crime, first in burglary, and third in larceny. About 17.2% of families and 20.6% of the population lives below the poverty line, including 30.1% of those under age 18 and 15.4% of those age 65 or over. Memphis only has one professional sports team, the NBA Grizzlies, who are consistently mediocre. And recently the University of Memphis mens basketball team had to default its entire 2007-2008 season, after placing second in the national tournament, due to invalid SAT scores from its star player. In terms of political corruption, just read up on Operation Tennessee Waltz, a sting operation where five Memphis politicians gut busted for bribery. You know its bad when someone made up commemorative t-shirts and mugs.

And where to start with Memphis music? How about Sun records which gave Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, B.B. King, and Roy Orbison their first recording contacts. Satellite/Stax records was a major player in early soul gospel, funk, jazz, and blues recordings, promoting artists such as Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, Booker T. & the MG's, Wilson Pickett, and many, many others. Alex Chilton and his band Big Star are from Memphis, as is pop star Justin Timberlake. Tina Turner is from tiny Nutbush, TN, about 50 miles outside of Memphis.

Here are two examples of Memphis music, one classic, and one soon to be classic. First we have soul and gospel legends Sam and Dave, follow by one of my favorite alt country bands Lucero.

Sam and Dave - I Thank You.mp3 (composed by Isaac Hayes)
Buy: Very Best of Sam & Dave (2009, song orig. 1968)

Lucero - Slow Dancing.mp3
Buy: Tennessee (2002)

Jim Dickinson 1941-2009

As I was finishing yesterday's Replacements post, a blip came over my Twitter feed that Jim Dickinson had passed away. I thought, "no that can't be the same Jim Dickinson that I just wrote about." But unfortunately, it was. Here is the Associated Press article on Dickinson's life via Yahoo news.

Memphis producer, musician Jim Dickinson dies
By CHRIS TALBOTT, Associated Press Writer Sat Aug 15, 7:32 pm ET

JACKSON, Miss. – Jim Dickinson, a musician and producer who helped shape the Memphis sound in a career that spanned more than four decades, died Saturday. He was 67.

His wife, Mary Lindsay Dickinson, said he died in a Memphis, Tenn., hospital after three months of heart and intestinal bleeding problems.

The couple lived in Hernando, Miss., but Dickinson recently had bypass surgery and was undergoing rehabilitation at Methodist University Hospital, his wife said.

Jim Dickinson, perhaps best known as the father of Luther and Cody Dickinson, two-thirds of the Grammy-nominated North Mississippi Allstars, managed an outsider's career in an insider's industry. He recorded with and produced greats like Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, Big Star, The Rolling Stones, The Replacements and Sam & Dave.

His work in the 1960s and '70s is still influential as young artists rediscover the classic sound of Memphis from that era — a melting pot of rock, pop, blues, country, and rhythm and blues.

"I think he was an incredibly influential individual," Big Star drummer Jody Stephens said Saturday. "I think he defined independent spirit in music, and I think that touched a lot of people."

Dickinson's music was informed by his eclectic and encyclopedic record collection — sold off and rebuilt a few times over the years, usually around Christmas — and his wide array of friends.

"As a producer, it really is all about taste," Jim Dickinson said in a 2008 interview with The Associated Press. "And I'm not the greatest piano player in the world, but I've got damn good taste. I'll sit down and go taste with anybody."

A dabbler in music while in college and later in shows at the famed Overton Park Shell in Memphis, Dickinson was on his way to becoming "a miserable history teacher." But his wife insisted he focus on his music after watching him play shows with the blues legends of Memphis.

"They were rediscovering Furry Lewis and Sleepy John Estes, Rev. Robert Wilkins, these talents that were like gods," Mary Lindsay Dickinson said in 2008. "They were street sweepers. They were yard men. They had no money, no fame, even though they'd invented this style, this musical style that was changing the world. When I saw what he could do with them — he thought he was gonna be a history teacher — I said, 'No, no, no, no, let's try music and see what happens."

Jim Dickinson moved around, traveling with both his own projects and as a sideman until his sons were born. He gave up the road and the lifestyle, built a home studio and settled in to the hard-scrabble life of the independent producer that he jokingly compared to hustling.

His sense of humor, gift for storytelling and open door kept musicians filing through his studio and kitchen as his sons grew up. He took an interest in the boys' music as another father might his sons' baseball career, even drawing Luther and Cody into his own bands. They last released an album together as Jungle Jim and the Voodoo Tiger in 2006.

"Growing up he would play piano and electric guitar and it just always fascinated me, and I always had a little toy guitar of some sort around," Luther Dickinson said in 2008. "And I've really been blessed because I always knew what I wanted to do and it was totally because of my dad and his friends."

Dickinson's career touched on some of the most important music made in the '60s and '70s. He recorded the Rolling Stones' "Wild Horses" in Muscle Shoals, Ala.; formed the Atlantic Records house band The Dixie Flyers to record with Franklin and other R&B legends in Miami; inspired a legion of indie rock bands through his work with Big Star; collaborated with Ry Cooder on a number of movie scores, including Paris, Texas; and played with Dylan on his Grammy-winning return to prominence, Time Out of Mind.

He credited his work with Big Star on Third/Sister Lovers with keeping his tape reels turning over the years, and Stephens found Dickinson's fingerprints all over the album when he listened to it recently.

"There's so many contributions from people that Jim either brought in or helped steer," Stephens said. "And sometimes a brilliant decision is to do nothing, allow space and that sort of thing. His keyboard part in 'Kizza Me' is this great fractured piano that kind of cascades, like the piano's falling down a flight of steps. I think it was all about the spirit and the emotion."

Dickinson's later work as a producer veered wildly across genres, skipping from Mudhoney to T Model Ford to Lucero and Amy Lavere.

"I'm not really a success-oriented person," Dickinson said. "If you look back at my records that I've made as a producer, they're pretty left-wing. It's some pretty off-the-wall stuff. Especially in the punk rock days. I literally took clients because I thought it would impress my children. I did work in the '70s and '80s where that was definitely my main motive."

Some examples of songs Dickinson produced, recorded, or played on:

Flamin' Groovies - Teenage Head.mp3
Buy: Teenage Head (1971, reissued 2008)
Not mentioned in the above article, Dickinson played piano on this track.

Big Star - Kizza Me.mp3
Buy: Third/Sister Lovers (1978, reissued 1992)

Lucero - Drink Till We're Gone.mp3
From: The Coldwater Sessions (~2000)
Rough mixes of what would become Lucero's first self-titled album, recorded on Dickinson's farm in Coldwater, Mississippi.

Bob Dylan - Not Dark Yet.mp3
Buy: Time Out of Mind (1997)