Tag: Dion

“Hello Christmas” from Dion and Amy Grant

Dion has released two new Christmas singles where he sings “Hello Christmas” with Amy Grant and gets help from guitarist Joe Bonamassa on “You Know It’s Christmas.”

Dion Amy Grant Christmas

Dion’s Christmas album Rock ‘n Roll Christmas is a mainstay of my holiday playlist. So, I’m happy to hear that the rock-and-roll legend is still creating new Christmas music after all these years as he recently released “Hello Christmas,” a duet with singer Amy Grant.

Dion explained that traumas of 2020 led him to record the song singing to the holiday, “Need you more than I did last year.” Dion explained, “I was talking with a friend about how the world this year can use a little life-giving love and harmony. I told him that Christmas was the grace that changed my life and that I was looking forward to a shot of that this year.”

Dion asked Grant to help out and found that her counter-melody made the song “sublime.” Check out their recording of “Hello Christmas.”

Additionally, Dion released “You Know It’s Christmas,” featuring lead guitar by Joe Bonamassa. The inspiration for the song was considering what a bluesman would brag about Christmas: buying the perfect gift for his girlfriend.

Christian author Mike Aquillina co-wrote both “Hello Christmas” and “You Know It’s Christmas” with Dion. Check out Dion performing the latter song below.

What do you think of Dion’s new holiday songs? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Lou Reed Inducting Dion Into Rock Hall

    In early 1989, Lou Reed inducted Dion into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with a short poetic introduction, followed by Dion’s short funny recollections.

    Dion Rock Hall

    On January 18, 1989, one great singer-songwriter associated with New York inducted another great singer-songwriter also associated with the city into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  Lou Reed, injecting poetic words as only he could do, inducted Dion DiMucci into the Rock Hall.

    In the video below, listen to Reed describing the influence of Dion and his music, “Bronx Soul.”  Reed does it with language only he would use, all while reading from a sheet of paper that those of us who were around in 1989 recognize as continuous computer paper with holes on the side, printed from a dot matrix printer.

    Then, a happy Dion takes the stage to accept with a short funny speech.

    The “Phil” that Dion mentions is legendary producer Phil Spector, including a reference to Spector’s production of Dion’s 1975 album Born to Be with You and the producer’s notorious reclusiveness.  Subsequently, Spector’s strange behavior would lead to him being convicted of murder in 2009 and going to prison where he died from complications due to Covid in January 2020. The “Bruce” he mentions is, of course, Bruce Springsteen. Check it out.

    The 1989 induction ceremony was one for the ages. Other performers inducted in addition to Dion included The Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder, and Otis Redding.

    Leave your two cents in the comments.

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  • Dion’s Lost “Kickin’ Child” (Album Review)
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    Song of the Day: Dion’s “Sanctuary”

    Dion Bitter End Among many hits, many know Dion for is his 1968 recording of Dick Holler’s “Abraham, Martin and John.” Still, much of the folk music recorded in the 1970s by the rock and roll pioneer remains overlooked. Thus, it was a nice discovery to hear Dion’s recording of another song by Holler called “Sanctuary.” Holler co-wrote that song with Don Burnham.

    Dion’s album Live at the Bitter End, August 1971, which was only recently released in 2015, is full of gems. But “Sanctuary” is one of those songs that grabbed me right way.

    “Sanctuary” is more personal than “Abraham, Martin and John,” where the singer recalls arriving in San Francisco, where he has apparently arrived too late for the hopeful 1967 Summer of Love.  He contemplates the despair of events going on around the country. Despite the unrest, the singer finds some solace in his friends, having “John and Mary/And Sanctuary/ And Telegraph Avenue.”

    There might be war in the core of Baltimore,
    Or breakdown in L.A.;
    They bring you down in the heart of Memphis town,
    People look the other way;
    Well, if the lights burn cold in New York City,
    It’s sad, but God it’s true,
    I got John and Mary,
    And Sanctuary,
    Telegraph Avenue.

    “Sanctuary” is a beautiful song about finding some personal peace amidst the turmoil of the world. And it remains timely now more than forty years later.  AllMusic concludes that the song is “an utterly poignant, melancholic masterpiece that you can’t believe you haven’t heard more often.”

    There currently is not a separate version of Holler’s “Sanctuary” on YouTube, but you may hear it on Dion’s Live At The Bitter End, 1971 album as well as from the album Sanctuary.

    Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Buy from Amazon

    Dion’s Lost “Kickin’ Child” (Album Review)

    Kickin' Child

    Dion DiMucci remains one of the most underappreciated great early rock and rollers.  Yes, everyone knows his work with the Belmonts and later on classic songs like “Runaround Sue.”  But fans and critics often unjustly overlook other phases of Dion’s career.

    Such is the case with his folk-rock work from the 1960s (as well as his blues music).  Fortunately, Dion – Kickin’ Child 1965 Columbia Recordings — an album that would have been at the forefront of the folk-rock movement had it been released in 1965 when it was recorded in the Spring and Fall of that year — has finally been released.

    The 15 songs on the album produced by Tom Wilson include ten written or co-written by Dion, as well as three Bob Dylan songs. One of the Dylan covers is a wonderful bluesy version of “Baby I’m in the Mood For You.”

    Some of the songs would later appear on compilations, but the album never saw the light of day until now because Columbia refused to release it.  Listening to the album now, it is impossible to understand that decision.  But I am glad we can enjoy it now.

    For example, one may easily imagine an alternate universe where the album was released in 1965.  In that universe, “My Child” became a hit that forms the soundtrack of our memories of the 1960s.

    Dion recently explained to Billboard how he left the record label after they refused to release Kickin’ Child. For decades, the experience gave Dion bad memories.

    But when Dion recently listened to the remastered album, “The cloud lifted like vapor. It just lifted right out of my head. And I heard the music loud and clear like it was present to me. It wasn’t a novelty. It was rich. It was artistic, it was heartfelt. It was live. It was the real deal. And I said, ‘Man, this stuff is good.’ And I was proud of it.’”

    One of my favorite tracks on the album is Dion’s cover of Tom Paxton’s “I Can’t Help But Wonder Where I’m Bound.”

    The liner notes explain how Dion’s work at this time influenced others, even without the release of Kickin’ Child.  For example, he suggested to Wilson to add an electric band to Bob Dylan’s “House of the Rising Sun” (Dylan loved it).

    Critics are now giving the album some of the attention it should have received more than fifty years ago.  For example, Allmusic understandably calls Kickin’ Child “absolutely one of the greatest folk-rock records ever.” American Songwriter gives the album four out of five stars.

    Dion’s voice is in fine form. And the band from the Fall 1965 recording sessions — The Wanderers — has a great sound. The group included included The Belmonts’ Carlo Mastrangelo on drums.

    Another standout track is “Knowing I Won’t Go Back There.”  The song, written by Dion, previously appeared on the compilation album Road I’m On (another Dion album worth seeking out).

    Kickin Child is a wonderful album, and anyone who loves music from the 1960s folk and folk-rock scene should definitely check it out.

    Dion has mentioned that there exists other unreleased music from this era.  So, hopefully there will be more coming as we continue to reassess the great career of Dion.

    Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • Lou Reed Inducting Dion Into Rock Hall
  • Song of the Day: Dion’s “Sanctuary”
  • Valentine’s Day and Two Love Lessons
  • Dion: “New York Is My Home”
  • Anybody Here Seen My Old Friend John?
  • Dion’s Impromptu Lunchtime “Ruby Baby”
    • (Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)