Dion DiMucci: Honky Tonk Blues (Hank Williams)

Dion & The Belmont's
circa: 1957

      In the mid 50's doo-wop became an international rage as well as one of the biggest influences in rock music history.  Bands like The Cadillacs, The Coasters, and singers like Sam Cooke put out amazing music with close knit harmonies that would influence everyone from Elvis to Lauryn Hill: Doo-Wop (That Thing).  You can hear the influence doo-wop had on The Beatles in All My Loving which took the beat and harmony of the urban phenomenon and updated it for a brand new audience of screaming teenagers.  The Beach Boys had success with several covers of doo-wop hits including an amazing performance of Frankie Lymon And The Teenagers Why Do Fools Fall In Love. Even today, the Mike Love version of the Beach Boys frequently includes Gene Chandlers Duke Of Earl as part of their regular set list.
     One of the defining acts of that era was a young white kid out of the Bronx who was deeply influenced by the great black doo-wop bands that regularly performed at the famous Apollo Theater in Harlem.  The band was called Dion And The Belmont's featuring Dion DiMucci and a crew of backup singers that came together in their neighborhood on Belmont Avenue.  DiMucci had a gift for writing or adapting songs in his unique style to create hits like I Wonder Why, The Wanderer, and Runaround Sue.  He took the sounds of the slick Apollo artist's horn sections and created amazing vocal backgrounds that helped define doo-wop and rock and roll forever.  When you're listening to The Wanderer or Runaround Sue try to imagine the backing vocals as a horn section and Dion's voice as a piano melody line.  That was the approach that made Dion one of the defining acts of his era and greatly affected future generations of musicians.
       As the 50's turned into the 60's and bands like The Four Seasons emerged, doo-wop was supplanted by this fusion of doo-wop and rock as the urban pop music leader.  Despite his enormous talent DiMucci found his music becoming increasingly passe with contemporary audiences.  The emergence of the British invasion bands with their forward looking writing and performance skills proved to be the final nail for bands like Dion And The Belmont's, The Tokens, and  The Flamingo's. They were no longer considered to be the cutting edge of rock and roll and it became increasingly difficult to find audiences. Still, their music lived on as bands all over The US and the UK paid homage to the inspiration they found in their predecessors.  In the 70's Cat Stevens hit with Sam Cooke's Another Saturday Night and in the 80's Billy Joel found an audience for original songs like The Longest Time or the Dion inspired Uptown Girl.

Dion turned down passage on the 1959 flight that took the
lives of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Vallens, and J.P. Richardson

      Sadly, in the 60's, DiMucci  spiraled into drug and alcohol abuse while also sinking ever closer toward musical obscurity.  This may have begun with the death of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. Richardson (aka The Big Bopper) and their infamous plane crash during the fierce Iowa winter of 1959.  Dion was supposed to be on that plane but refused to pay the ticket price.  He later said the cost of the ride was exactly the same amount of money his parents paid in rent for their Bronx apartment.  DiMucci wouldn't pay the equivalent of a months rent to avoid an uncomfortable bus ride because he felt it would be disrespectful to his working class parents.  After the plane crashed he was in shock for months and the incident has seemingly affected him ever since.  In the aftermath of his close call he turned to gospel music for comfort which further alienated his rock and roll audience and eventually he was relegated to the oldies circuit.

Hank Williams has influenced
rock, country, & blues musicians
for more than 70 years

       In 2005 Dion appeared on the NPR Radio Show Fresh Air with Terry Gross.  He brought an acoustic guitar with him and talked about many of his early musical influences as well as playing and singing.  It was immediately apparent to Gross and her listeners that he was still a great singer and a surprisingly talented guitar player.  Intriguingly, DiMucci said that one of his biggest influences was Hank Williams.  It's hard to imagine a 50's doo-wop star idolizing a 30's country music innovator, but his knowledge and insight into music history was fascinating. He played a cover of Williams Honky Tonk Blues (<<Hanks rare solo acoustic version) showing off a little known crazy gift for picking acoustic blues as well as the dynamic singing style that made him famous 40 years earlier.  Not long after the interview he was contacted by record producer Richard Gottehrer who had successfully produced bands like The Go-Go's, and  Blondie.  Gottehrer was born in the Bronx in 1940 and would have been an impressionable high school teenager when Dion and The Belmont's took NYC and the music world by storm.  He heard the interview and was blown away by DiMucci and convinced the singer to do an NYC influenced blues record that resulted in the spectacular Bronx In Blue.

Robert Johnson considered by many
to be the father of modern blues guitar

       Bronx In Blue is one of the best records released in the winter of 2006 and it is a hidden gem that deserves a much wider audience.  His covers of Robert Johnson, Jimmy Reed, and Howlin' Wolf show off a nimble guitar style which almost nobody outside of the record industry knew about.  His voice is fuller than it was in the 50's and he still has the control and verve that made him famous. Featured today is his version of Hank Williams Honky Tonk Blues.  In the Fresh Air interview Dion described Williams infectious passion as one of his chief musical influences. He observed that Hank practically tore the ends off of his words and lines which gave a fullness to the song that accentuated Williams intensity and raised the quality of his songs.  Dion adds his surprisingly elegant blues guitar playing to the song and, like Hank, he practically tears the ends off of the words. Please take a moment and enjoy this Bronx legend and his cover of the Hank Williams classic
                                        Honky Tonk Blues

Dion DiMucci: Bronx In Blue