Deke Dickerson   King of the Whole Wide World Major Label Records MLCD-003 King of the Whole Wide World (introduction) - Deep River - I Can't Wait To See You (Go) - Misshapen Hillbilly Gal - Put Me Down - Boone County Blues - Make Way for a Better Man - Itchin' for My Baby - Do You Think of Me - Fool's Gold - Trumpet - Early for the Bell - Bomb Shelter (for My Heart) - Double-Clutchin'- King of the Whole Wide World (reprise) When you think about it, there are only a couple of things that never deceive you . Deke Dickerson's ability to craft some of the best roots inspired albums is one of these things. But that doesn't mean he's predictable, far from that. Gathering an impressive cast of musicians (as he says himself it could have been called "with a little help from my friends") like Crazy Joe, Jimmy Sutton, Pete Curry and his partner in crime Chris Sugarballs Sprague, Deke (who plays guitar, bass, drums, baritone sax in addition to his fine singing) adds to a discography that is already faultless one of the richest album of his career and probably my favorite (if you're interested). He offers a musical journey into american music proving that the label "rockabilly" is by far too restrictive for such an amount of talent. The title track features just Deke and his guitar in a Jimmie Rodger's mood with 78's crackle for good effect. It then kicks off with "Deep River" (an old bluegrass number turned into a straight ahead rock'n'roll) and Dickerson's "I can't wait to see you go" featuring the great Carl Sonny Leyland on piano in a Jerry Lee's mood. Carl also plays on Lewis' "Put Me Down", "Bomb Shelter (For My Heart)" another fine country-rocker, "Trumpet" a Malcom Yelvington cover and "Early For The Bell" a song that'll make every King Cole Trio or Slim Gaillard afficionados happy. Talking about swing, The Lucky Stars (with Crazy Joe) back up Deke on the hilarious western swing number "Misshapen Hillbilly Gal" which is a reason good enough to buy this album. Mitch Polzak (from the Royal Deuces) guests on banjo for the bluegrass inspired "Boone County Blues", with top class harmony vocals. Man, as I write this, I realize that I'll soon run out of superlative anyway, let's continue. "Make Way For A Better Man" is a Wille Nelson song, but Dickerson adds a heavy dose of soul in it and turns it into a Charlie Rich tune. The basic track of the Honky Tonk "Do You Think Of Me" was recorded in Austin with Dave Biller, Billy Horton and Lisa Pankratz. The always talented Crazy Joe plays a mean 6-string bass solo on this one and to complete this masterpiece Mary Huff from Southern Culture On The Skids adds "ethereal high vocals" (like she did on "Rumors Of Surf"). The album ends with "Double Clutchin'", an instrumental co-written with Crazy Joe (think Les Paul meets Joe Maphis) and a reprise of "King Of the Whole Wide World". Now you've understood that this is an absolute "must have" and your next click will lead you to Deke's website to order it. Fred "Virgil" Turgis         Deke Down Under ! My Baby Don't Love Me Anymore - Cut Loose - Eefin' Rock - Hey Worm Deke is back with this EP with both the cd and the vinyl version. It has been recorded in Australia in 2004, while Deke was on tour there, at the legendary Preston Studios. Preston provided great rockabilly and blues on their label (remember the "Aussiebilly" comp on Nervous or more recently Benny & The Fly-By Niters). Back to the record now. The sound and the variety of songs (even if there are only 4) are not that far from "The Melody". The opening is a Johnny Paycheck tune but is given a rock'n'roll treatment with a good piano drive played by Deke himself. You can easily imagine Jerry Lee playing it like this. "Cut Loose" is a good rockin' song, with frantic piano and savage guitar and probably one of the wildest tune Dickerson recorded under his name. With a name like "Eefin' Rock" you know what to expect from this song. Imagine some Link Wray instrumental with handclaps and right in the middle "eefin". Little Jimmy Dickens's Hey Worm closes the set. His version is more western swing and less rural than the original. Great guitar solos supported by a swingin' rhythm section. This one should be in every collection, but hurry folks it's a limited print of 1000. You'll find it on Deke's website (www.dekedickerson.com). Fred "Virgil" Turgis         The Melody Major Label MLCD-002 Broken Heart - Good Time Gal - Right or Wrong - Looks Like I’m in Trouble Again - As Long as I Live - Safely In Love - Love Is Like a Song - Someone Used to Love Me - Mister Cheater - Waitin’ on My Baby - Give Me All Your Love - Tell Me How - Double Naught Spy - Lookin’ for Money - I Never Cared for You Here’s the new record from this very prolific and multi talented guy. Deke has now a bunch of records behind his belt but this is really the first to give me that feeling : a real album (you see, in the 60’s meaning of the term) more than a collection of singles. It doesn’t mean all the songs sound the same. Deke is too talented to stick on one style. So you’ll find some rockabilly (The moonlighters’s Broken heart, Buddy Holly’s Tell me How), country music with Good Time Gal and Willie Nelson’s I never cared for you (I’ve always thought that Willie Nelson was like the Rolling Stones : far better when they were covered by other artists), a great instrumental that could be the original score for a B-movie. You also find a lot of Roy orbison inspiration behind songs like Mister Cheater and Safely in Love. And this shows what a good singer Deke is. We all know he’s a great guitar player, but now he seems to do what he wants with his voice. Musicians don’t have to be forgotten too : Chris Sprague on drums (The Sprague Brothers) and Jimmy Sutton (Four Charms) on bass (acoustic and electric) with appearances by Carl Leyland (who else?) and Dave Berzansky (Hacienda brothers). In the liner notes you can read «This album is a concept album». Sure, but Deke always makes concept album, and the concept is always the same : quality. Fred "Virgil" Turgis         Live on the Radio Well, this one is a very limited edition as it seems that only 50 copies were made and you only found it on Deke’s website. Too bad that it hasn’t a bigger distrisbution cause it’s really a must have. First the band : the Ecco-fonics here are Chris «Sugarballs» Sprague (from The Sprague Brothers) on drums and some vocals and Wally Hersom (do I need to introduce him?) on bass. Then the songs. Apart those that are almost classics in Deke’s repertoire (Red Headed Woman, I might not come home at all, Mexicalli Rose) you find Dave and Deke Combo songs (Tally Ho, Chrome Dome) and what makes this record valuable : covers not on records (All I can do is cry, flight on the bumble bee twist, Stray Cats Strut played like Louis Armstrong) and songs that will be on Deke next album. And believe me, if the other songs are like the ones you find here, it’s gonna be a killer ! They play all those great tunes in a semi-unplugged sound (it's live on the radio) and the whole show comes with ads between the songs and you have a great interview to end.Try Deke’s website at www.dekedickerson.com, maybe he still have a spare copy, cause if you haven’t heard Sugarball’s campaign song, you haven’t heard nothing. Fred "Virgil" Turgis