Dion - Bronx In Blue

A mostly Wander-ful return to purported ‘roots’

Before global pop stardom took over, Dion DiMucci, we are told, ‘grew up on blues’. Here, he revisits that past with 14 interpretations of set works, ranging from Robert Johnson’s pre-war rural exorcisms, to the frontiers of rock’n’roll (in a relaxed take on Bo Diddley’s Who Do You Love). In between, there’s Baby What You Want Me To Do, standing nearly as tall as Billy Fury’s spirited reading on the B-side of 1964’s It’s Only Make Believe. All of the selections hinge on the elderly teenager in love’s acoustic guitar chopping, and are delivered in a time-worn baritone that has become attractively rougher and acquired a more personal timbre. Among acknowledgements of this part of Dion’s past is the self-composed I Let My Baby Do That. Owing much to Smiley Lewis, it also vaguely recalls Dion’s 1961 smash, The Wanderer. The latter itself is reworked as the finale for a package that can be recommended almost as much for Harry Shapiro’s liner notes (displaying a keen sense of historical perspective), as for the musical content.

SPV | 95752

Reviewed by Alan Clayson
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