Friday,
January 05, 2007
Dion: Once at Death's Door.. Was There... The Day the Music Died... Born Again
Bluesman
The
ANNOTICO Report
Dion DiMucci- always known by just his
first name - is rock music's embodiment of the Italian-American urban
experience, a street tough who became a star with his doo-wop group in the
1950s.
In 1959 his
group, the Belmonts, went on tour with Buddy Holly,
Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper, the dominant trio of Super Stars of those days.Dion chose to allow
the other three stars to fly in a charter plane out of
Dion soon after went solo, and
his first two solo singles The
Wanderer and Runaround Sue both
reached No.1. In all, he
earned 12 gold discs.
When
the Beatles arrived in
"1967 was
the bleakest, darkest, most emotional period of my life," he says.
"It was hell on earth and I could see that I was at death's door...it was
pretty grim."
Now 67, Dion is in robust health. His latest album, Bronx in Blue, reflects his
lifelong love of the blues, and has been nominated for a Grammy.
Born-again
Bluesman
The
Sydney Morning Herald
From
Andrew
Purcell
DION
DIMUCCI WILL talk all day, about his lifelong love of the blues, his collection
of gold records and how God has saved his life three times. But first he wants
to stop ants coming into his kitchen. The two middle-aged Italian-Americans
hired for the job are proud to kneel on his floor. "I love your music, Dion," says Bob. "It's an honour
to meet you," adds
The reason for
their reverence is that Dion - always known by just
his first name - is rock music's embodiment of the Italian-American urban
experience, a street tough who became a star with his doo-wop group in the
1950s, then a heroin addict (he started using at 14) and then a protest singer.
Dion grew up in the Bronx,
running with his gang, the Fordham Baldies (who were later immortalised
in Richard Price's novel, "The
Wanderers" and singing on the porch in the tough, sweet
voice that would make him doo-wop's breakout star.
"We used to
fight the Puerto Ricans, the blacks, the other Italians but when I got
interested in music and started stepping outside the neighbourhood
and into another world, it started rubbing. Soon after that I had to move
out," he says.
In 1959 his
group, the Belmonts, went on tour with Buddy Holly,
Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper. The Winter Dance Party was a freezing
three-week trudge through the mid-west on a bus with broken heating and by
February 3 Holly had had enough. A plane was chartered in
The day the music
died is rock'n'roll legend. As Dion
tells it, the plane ticket cost what his parents paid in rent each month, so he
chose to huddle up with Waylon Jennings in the back of the bus instead.
"Buddy Holly said, 'Let's flip a coin.' I said, 'Let Ritchie go ... I'll
save the $US36.' " Astonishingly, the show after
the fatal crash went ahead as planned.
Dion's first two solo singles
meant he would never have to worry about rent money again. The Wanderer
and Runaround Sue
both reached No.1, earning him a contract at Columbia Records worth $US100,000
($135,000) a year and forever defining his image: macho yet vulnerable, the
sensitive soul with fists of iron.
There are 12 gold
discs on the wall in Dion's study, with two
photographs. The first is of the backing singers at his mid-'80s comeback
concert: Lou Reed,
When
the Beatles arrived in
"1967 was
the bleakest, darkest, most emotional period of my life," he says.
"It was hell on earth and I could see that I was at death's door. I used
to get high with Frankie Lymon. We used to share
needles; it was pretty grim."
The next year Lymon died of an overdose in
In 1974 Phil Spector was offered his pick of the Warner Bros roster to
produce and he chose Dion. The artist had been
straight for six years by that point but on the resulting album, Born To Be With
You, he sounds like a junkie talking with God. The record was never
released in
Now 67, Dion is in robust health. His latest album, Bronx in Blue, was recorded in
two days at a small studio near his home. It is a carefully chosen collection
of blues covers, aligning him closer to Bo Diddley
than Bobby Darin.
The sleeve of Bronx in Blue bears a picture
of Dion with his first guitar, a steel-string Gibson
acoustic that his uncle gave him when he was 10. Dion
believes he has been cheated of recognition as a guitarist, so his playing is
high in the mix, with a raw, up-close sound.
The new album has
been nominated for a Grammy, in the best traditional blues category, and given
the cycle of cool it may well win. But to Dion it's
the playing that matters. "I did a show in
Bronx in
Blue
is out now on Dimensional Music Recordings.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/music/
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