Son of Skip James | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | November 6, 2007 | |||
Studio | Sounds Great Production | |||
Genre | Blues [1] | |||
Length | 43:35 | |||
Label | Verve Forecast | |||
Producer | Dion [1] | |||
Dion chronology | ||||
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Son of Skip James is the thirtieth album by American singer/songwriter Dion. It was released on November 6, 2007, on the Verve Forecast Records label. [1] The album stayed on the Billboard Blues Albums chart for twelve weeks, peaking at No. 4 on November 24, 2007. [2]
The album serves as a follow-up to Dion's 2006 Grammy-nominated blues album, Bronx in Blue. [3] The majority of tracks on Son of Skip James are cover versions of well-known blues songs, some of them classics. [1] The album's title references blues legend Skip James, a friend of Dion's. Dion described the use of James's name for the album as "a kind of mission statement for the project". [4]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic [1] | |
PopMatters [3] | |
Standard-Speaker [5] | |
The Philadelphia Inquirer [6] |
The album was generally positively received by critics, who called out its authenticity, [1] simplicity, [7] and emotional depth. [3] The original tracks, particularly "The Thunderer", were considered to stand on equal or even superior footing to the cover tracks. [1] [3] Most critics agreed that Dion had effectively personalized the covers, [1] [8] although Tony Sclafani of PopMatters disagreed, calling the track selection "too familiar", and his recordings "too reverent" to bring the project fully to life. [3] Martin Halo of JamBase highlighted Dion's dedication to researching the origins of the cover songs as part of what made the album distinctive among other blues cover albums. [8]
Joel Selvin of SFgate.com called it "another landmark in a career littered with them". [9] Thom Jurek, writing for AllMusic, called it "one of the best records of the year". [1] Chris Jones of BBC Music called it "every inch the equal of its predecessor". [7] Nick Cristiano of The Philadelphia Inquirer found it "exceptionally warm and intuitive". [6] Despite his criticism of the track selection, Sclafani said the album "does not fall short when it comes to ass-kicking". [3] Halo felt that the album featured "master musicianship and stunning vocals", but called it "nothing we haven’t heard before." [8]
Except where noted, credits are adapted from AllMusic. [1]
No. | Title | Original artist | Length |
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1. | " Nadine" | Chuck Berry | 3:33 |
2. | "My Babe" | Willie Dixon | 3:12 |
3. | "Hoodoo Man Blues" | Junior Wells | 2:45 |
4. | "Drop Down Mama" | Sleepy John Estes [5] | 4:12 |
5. | " Hoochie Coochie Man" | Willie Dixon | 4:00 |
6. | "Baby I'm in the Mood" | Bob Dylan | 3:30 |
7. | "I'm a Guitar King" | Tommy McClennan | 3:19 |
8. | "The Thunderer" | Dion | 4:34 |
9. | "Interlude – Spoken Word" | Dion | 0:38 |
10. | "Son of Skip James" | Dion | 3:29 |
11. | "Preachin' Blues" | Robert Johnson [5] | 3:34 |
12. | "If I Had Possession (Over Judgement Day)" | Robert Johnson [5] | 3:50 |
13. | "Devil Got My Woman" | Skip James | 2:59 |
Adapted from AllMusic. [1]