''Son of Skip James'' is the thirtieth

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American singer/songwriter Dion. It was released on November 6, 2007 on the

Verve Forecast Records Verve Forecast is a record label formed as a division of Verve Records to concentrate on pop, rock, and folk music. Founding Jerry Schoenbaum of Verve and Moe Asch of Folkways created Verve Folkways in 1964 to take advantage of the popularity ...

label. The album stayed on the ''

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'' Blues Albums chart for twelve weeks, peaking at No. 4 on November 24, 2007. The album serves as a follow-up to Dion's 2006

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-nominated blues album, ''

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.'' The majority of tracks on ''Son of Skip James'' are

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s of well-known

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

songs, some of them classics. The album's title references blues legend

Skip James Nehemiah Curtis "Skip" James (June 9, 1902October 3, 1969) was an American Delta blues singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter. AllMusic stated: "This emotional, lyrical performer was a talented blues guitarist and arranger with an impressive ...

, 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".

Critical reception

The album was generally positively received by critics, who called out its authenticity, simplicity, and emotional depth. The original tracks, particularly "The Thunderer", were considered to stand on equal or even superior footing to the cover tracks. Most critics agreed that Dion had effectively personalized the covers, although Tony Sclafani of ''

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'' disagreed, calling the track selection "too familiar", and his recordings "too reverent" to bring the project fully to life. 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. Joel Selvin of ''

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'' called it "another landmark in a career littered with them". Thom Jurek, writing for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, called it "one of the best records of the year". Chris Jones of BBC Music called it "every inch the equal of its predecessor". Nick Cristiano of ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

'' found it "exceptionally warm and intuitive". Despite his criticism of the track selection, Sclafani said the album "does not fall short when it comes to ass-kicking". Halo felt that the album featured "master musicianship and stunning vocals", but called it "nothing we haven’t heard before."

Track listing

Except where noted, credits are adapted from AllMusic.

Personnel

Adapted from AllMusic.

Musicians

* Bob Guertin – audio engineer, organ, percussion * Dion DiMucci – audio production, guitar, harmonica, producer, vocals * Rick Krive – piano

Additional personnel

* Bill Bush – photography * Susan DiMucci – photography * Michael Friedman – photography * Richard Gottehrer – executive producer * Hollis King – art direction * Emily Lazar – mastering * Kazumi Matsumoto – graphic design

References

{{Authority control 2007 albums Blues albums by American artists Covers albums Dion DiMucci albums Verve Records albums