Girl Friends Dion

• 1 Soul Force 04:18
• 2 I Aim To Please 04:23
• 3 Stop Drop And Roll 04:47
• 4 Do Ladies Get The Blues 04:32
• 5 An American Hero 04:40
• 6 Don't You Want A Man Like Me 04:56
• 7 Sugar Daddy 03:59
• 8 Endless Highway 04:44
• 9 I Got Wise 03:52
• 10 Hey Suzy 04:45
• 11 Mama Said 03:17
• 12 Just Like That 04:09
• Total Runtime 52:22

Info zu Girl Friends

Legendary Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Dion delivers a new album that transcends generations: Girl Friends. His latest from KTBA Records sees him collaborating with a stellar lineup of female artists including the soulful Susan Tedeschi, powerhouse Shemekia Copeland, icon Carlene Carter, virtuoso Joanne Shaw Taylor, and the versatile Maggie Rose, among others. Dion's timeless voice, and the distinct styles of these acclaimed artists, create a fusion celebrating the rich tapestry of American music.

Dion explains, “I’ve noticed that men play a different tune when there are women in the room — and it’s a different kind of jam when women are in the mix. I don’t know why this is so, but it is. Maybe we men, at some primitive level, are competing for their attention. As I said, I don’t know why or how. I do know it makes better music and we’re all better for it.” He concludes with an encapsulation of vision for Girl Friends,

“I wanted the best music possible. So, I wrote up a batch of duets for me and my ‘girl friends,’ the women who inhabit my headphones — the women who make me turn up the volume when they drop into my radio. I invited them to join me, one by one, and here they are, wailing on the guitar and into the microphone. You’ll hear the feminine genius in every groove of this record, and you won’t forget any of it”.

Girl Friends finds Dion keeping musical company with a line-up of stellar female artists who are heard on the album’s 12 original tracks, 11 of which were composed by Dion and Mike Aquilina with one written by Dion and the late Scott Kempner (The Dictators, The Del Lords).

Joining Tedeschi and Carter are Rory Block, Shemekia Copeland, Debbie Davis, Randi Fishenfeld, Sue Foley, Danielle Nicole, Christine Ohlman, Maggie Rose, Joanne Shaw Taylor and Valerie Tyson. The album was produced by Wayne Hood and Dion, who were also producing partners on Blues With Friends and Stomping Ground.

Girl Friends includes liner notes by Darlene Love who commented, “I’ve been a huge fan since I was a young girl. In fact, when I sang ‘He’s a Rebel’ I was singing about outsiders like Dion. I’m a bigger fan today. I’m still trying to emulate his unique bluesy overtones. Now I’m thrilled again with these new collaborations — not just friends, but all girl friends — great women vocalist and musicians. This is just what the world needs now. These duets are riveting.”

Dion explains the album’s raison d’être in a commentary titled “The Feminine Genius” that is included in the Girl Friends packaging. “I write about my preoccupations, and I know no better preoccupation than the female of the species. A friend of mine is a philosopher, and he talks often about ‘the feminine genius’ — the undeniable difference that’s in women and the difference that they make in the world. I’m grateful to my friend for giving it a name, because the fact has always been plain to me, but I could never put it into words.” He goes on to explain his mother was his family’s breadwinner, and that he had two sisters. He’s been married for 60 years to the former Susan Butterfield, who is name checked in the album’s “Hey Suzy,” and they are the parents of three daughters who, in turn, produced four more girls. He writes, “I’ve always been surrounded by the feminine genius — always living off it. Even my music has kept a tight focus on the ladies: ‘Runaround Sue,’ ‘Donna the Prima Donna,’ ‘Little Diane,’ ‘Ruby Baby.’ All those women, real and imagined, have made all the difference in my life.” He chronicles his female musical collaborators including those who joined him on his previous two albums as well as Darlene Love, Ronnie Spector, Cher and Patty Smyth.

Susan Tedeschi, guitar, vocals (track 1)
Danielle Nicole, vocals (track 2)
Valerie Tyson, vocals (track 3)
Christine Ohlman & Debbie Davies, vocals (track 4)
Carlene Carter, vocals (track 5)
Rory Block, vocals (track 6)
Christine Ohlman, vocals (track 7)
Randy Fishenfeld, vocals (track 8), violin
Maggie Rose, vocals (track 9)
Sue Foley, guitar, vocals (track 10)
Shemekia Copeland, vocals (track 11)
Joanne Shaw Taylor, guitar, vocals (track 11)
Wayne Hood, bass, guitar, keyboards, drums
Dion, guitar, vocals

Dion DiMucci
Singer Dion DiMucci, better known simply as Dion, epitomized the indigenous music of the Bronx streets where he was raised. Dion was born on July 18, 1939, and was raised in the Little Italy section of the Bronx. He started singing at a young age, and he had a variety of musical influences. As he wrote in his autobiography: "I was picking up influences from all over the place, mixing in early R&B with doo-wop. Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bo Diddley and, of course, Elvis. In other words, like every other teenager in America, I was discovering rock & roll."In 1957, he teamed up with three neighborhood pals – Fred Milano, Angelo D'Aleo and Carlo Mastrangelo – to form a vocal group that earned a reputation as the best street-corner singers for miles. Dion and the Belmonts (named for Belmont Avenue, in the Bronx) perfected four-part harmonies while falling under the spell of rock and roll. Dion, a tenor, became the group's lead vocalist. His father was eager to help Dion break into the big time and arranged a meeting for him with the head of Mohawk Records, a small New York label. Dion auditioned by singing the Five Satins' "Wonderful Girl." He became the second artist signed to the label. However, the Belmonts were not part of the deal.Dion's first single, "The Chosen Few," created a stir in the Boston area, prompting Dion to quit school and pursue his career full time. He then convinced Mohawk – which had changed its name to Laurie Records -- to bring the Belmonts on board, and in 1958, Dion and the Belmonts recorded their first Top 40 hit, "I Wonder Why." They followed that with "No One Knows" and "Don't Pity Me." A year later, they cracked the Top 10 with "A Teenager in Love," written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman. That winter, as the single moved up the charts, Dion and the Belmonts joined the Winter Dance Party, a package tour. Because he balked at paying the $35 it would have cost him, Dion, who was 19, declined an invitation to fly on the chartered plane that went down on February 3, 1959, killing fellow musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J. P. "the Big Bopper" Richardson. Dion and the Belmonts scored their biggest hit, "Where or When," in 1960, but the group found itself being steered in a polished, adult-pop direction, so Dion left to reclaim his rock and roll roots. His first solo hit was "Lonely Teenager," which reached the Top 20. Then, in 1961, he hit upon a loose, swaggering style that he could call his own with the songs "Runaround Sue" and "The Wanderer." At this time, Dion was nearly alone among all the "teen idols" in attempting to equal the sultry charge that Elvis Presley had brought to rock and roll. Other hits in the same swinging, spontaneous vein followed: "Lovers Who Wander," "Little Diane," "Ruby Baby" and "Donna the Prima Donna."Dion's star subsequently dimmed in the wake of the British Invasion and some personal setbacks that included a struggle with drug addiction. However, he re-emerged in 1968 with a more introspective, folk-based style that earned him his 11th Top 10 song, a thoughtful ode to slain martyrs entitled "Abraham, Martin and John." He then released a folkish version of Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" and recorded an album that included covers of Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan songs. By 1969, he had signed with Warner Bros. Records and released Sit Down, Old Friend, You're Not Alone and Sanctuary.In 1973, Dion reunited with the Belmonts for a concert at Madison Square Garden that resulted in a well-received live album, Reunion. In 1979, Dion became a born-again Christian and began adding Christian music to a stylistic canon that includes folk, doo-wop, rhythm & blues and rock and roll. In 1987, he performed at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, and the show was released as a two-CD live album. The following year, his autobiography, The Wanderer: Dion's Story, was published.In 2002, Dion's "Runaround Sue" was voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and in 2009, Dion performed "The Wanderer" with Paul Simon at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 25th anniversary concert at Madison Square Garden. He has continued to perform and release albums, including Tank Full of Blues, which came out in 2012.

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