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Dion DiMucci Talks Longevity, Faith and Casting Great Guitarists for an All-Star Blues Record

From '50s teen idol to blues man, Dion keeps the music going on his star-studded new album, 'Blues With Friends.'

The word legend is one of the most overused terms in music journalism, but it’s a fair word to describe Dion DiMucci, one of rock and roll’s original celebrated artists.

He started out as the lead singer for the late-’50s doo-wop group Dion and the Belmonts before breaking off on his own to launch a career in rock and roll and folk. There's perhaps no other artist from that era who has continued to enjoy the sustained artistic and commercial success that Dion has.

From early signature hits like “The Wanderer,” “Runaround Sue” and “Teenager in Love” through to his civil rights–era smash “Abraham, Martin and John,” and continuing through to the present day, Dion has consistently created great records that make good on his lifetime mission statement: “to be able to communicate like Hank Williams and groove like Jimmy Reed.”

I played on all my hit records. Back in the ’50s, every time I did an appearance on TV, the record company would say, 'Put the guitar down. Lead singers don’t play the guitar on TV.' They wanted me to be like a nightclub act or something

Though he's instantly identifiable as the singer on those classic hits, most people aren’t aware that Dion wrote the majority of them. Even fewer know that he actually played guitar on all of his hit records.

A lifetime blues fan, Dion is a gifted fingerstyle blues guitarist and has released a steady stream of essential blues albums over the past 10 years.

His latest, Blues With Friends (Keeping the Blues Alive Records), may be the strongest of his career and features a long list of guitar guests that includes Jeff Beck, Joe Bonamassa, Billy Gibbons, Joe Louis Walker, Brian Setzer, Sonny Landreth, Samantha Fish, John Hammond Jr., Rory Block, Jimmy Vivino, Joe Menza, Bruce Springsteen and Steven Van Zandt, all of whom were eager to show their love for the man and the body of work he's created.

Now 81, Dion sounds as energized, enthusiastic and vital as someone half his age.

How much blues were you exposed to in the 1950s? Was it easy to get ahold of in the Bronx?

No. I discovered it on a night-time radio channel from Virginia, I think. There was a record shop in my neighborhood. I made friends with the owner, and he used to call me up when a new Jimmy Reed or Hank Williams record or whatever came in.

Were you always a guitarist?

I played on all my hit records. Back in the ’50s, every time I did an appearance on TV, the record company would say, “Put the guitar down. Lead singers don’t play the guitar on TV.”

They wanted me to be like a nightclub act or something. The fans didn’t know that I wrote the songs and played guitar. I used to play the songs for the Belmonts. That was how we worked them out: on guitar.

There are fantastic clips of you on YouTube where you demonstrate some fine blues fingerpicking chops. Where did you pick them up?

I picked a lot up from Jimmy Reed. That’s part of my DNA - that and Hank Williams, songs that tell stories and are worth singing. Jimmy had such a groove. I was always into grooving, never the frantic stuff.

This was the early ’60s, and I can bet that I heard Robert Johnson before Eric Clapton heard him. I was at Columbia in ’61 and [famed music producer] John Hammond Sr. played him for me. He had that same groove thing. I just started figuring stuff out myself at home. I never had lessons or anything.

Dion with Joe Bonamassa, who was the catalyst and inspiration behind the all-star format of 'Blues With Friends.'

You’ve made many blues albums, but this is the first you’ve released that features guest guitarists. How did it come together, and how did you decide which songs would be best for each of the performers?

Over the past four years, I had a couple of songs left over from my last album, New York Is My Home . I started writing what I thought were some great songs. I had a couple of months in front of me, so I got together with my friend, Wayne Hood, who produced the album in his studio.

I knocked out 14 songs in three days. I started filling in the details, overdubbing guitar parts, telling him what kind of bass line I was looking for and so on. I played a track for Joe Bonamassa, who is a friend of mine, and he said he’d like to play on it. He did such a fantastic job that it got me thinking.

I’d never really done anything like this before, where I had a great artist come in with their concept and infuse a song with their vision. Joe was the catalyst and inspiration for me to try to bring some of my friends in.

The next person I thought of was John Hammond Jr. to play harp on “My Baby Loves to Boogie.” He played on that, and then I suggested he might like to try another one, “Told You Once in August,” and he did a great job on slide on that one.

I ended up being like a casting director. To get another great artist to come in and infuse the song with something they’re hearing was a very different experience.

Let’s discuss some of the new tracks. Jeff Beck’s playing on “Can’t Start Over” has that old-time Hank Williams feel.

Yeah, I know what you mean. Anything he plays is just mesmerizing. He’s one of the greatest guitarists on the planet. We have a lot of great roots in common, with his Gene Vincent/Cliff Gallup tribute album [1993’s Crazy Legs ].

He loves rock and roll. He’s the only guitarist who can make me cry. I thought about Jeff for this one, and he came back really quickly. I sent him the song, as he was in England, and when I heard what he did, I was so knocked out.

There is some excellent soloing on “My Baby Loves to Boogie.” Which solo is yours, and which is your producer, Wayne Hood’s?

I play the first solo. Wayne, who is a good guitar player, played the country-sounding solo, but the rest is me. I was going for a John Lee Hooker feel on this song. When I was growing up, blues was all shuffles, like John Lee and Jimmy Reed and T-Bone Walker.

The way Sonny Landreth plays slide, the way he plucks the guitar, it’s like a great violinist. I love every sound he produces. He’s like a surgeon. He must have spent hours in the garage woodshedding

We never played straight eights. I have that naturally in my blood. I talked a lot about that to Van Morrison, who appears on “I Got Nothin’.” I always say that a lot of young kids know how to rock, but they don’t know how to roll.

“Bam Bang Boom” is a perfect fit for Billy Gibbons.

I’ve been a fan of his since Tres Hombres , or maybe earlier. He’s always had a very distinctive sound. He’s like Muddy Waters or John Lee Hooker on steroids. I wanted him to do a song kind of like [Bo Diddley’s] “I’m a Man.”

This song seemed ideal for Billy. He is one of a kind - a renaissance man, a real intelligent guy, a thinker. I love the way he communicates, whether it’s writing, playing, visually or even talking. He’s got his own thing.

There are a few tracks featuring great slide playing. Besides John Hammond, who you mentioned earlier, there’s Sonny Landreth on “I Got the Cure.”

We’re talking about a great artist. The way Sonny plays slide, the way he plucks the guitar, it’s like a great violinist. I love every sound he produces. He’s like a surgeon. He must have spent hours in the garage woodshedding. He brings something unique to the song.

Joe Bonamassa’s slide playing on “Blues Coming On” takes a totally different approach.

Joe is an ensemble player. He listens. It seems like any little thing you do, any inflection in a word, he responds to or plays with it. It amazed me. When he played the last three solos, I was thinking of Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk all put together.

I don’t know where the hell he went. Again, you can’t plan this stuff. These guys are really great artists. I think that, maybe because it isn’t their album, they feel a bit more freedom and a bit less pressure, and they really just go for it.

Brian Setzer certainly tears it up on “Uptown No. 7.”

I was trying to put a song together like the old-time gospel groups, like the Golden Gate Quartet. Think of gospel and you get a lot of train metaphors. I thought of Brian ’cause it had a rockabilly feel, but in a minor key. I sent it to him in November of last year, and he loved it.

He’d had to cancel a lot of tour dates because he’d had tinnitus. He said he had some time in a studio and that was his first outing after the tinnitus. I think maybe he was so happy to get out of the house! I never expected that - I mean who plays like that? He takes me on a trip. It’s like rockabilly from another planet.

Do you think that New York is an essential part of what makes you and your music?

I think so. Especially when it comes to the blues. If you’re not crying, you’re usually bragging. In New York, you get that over-the-top, tongue-in-cheek arrogance. Through the years, I’ve had songs like “The Wanderer,” “King of the New York Streets” and “I’m Your Gangster of Love,” and on this album it’s “I Got the Cure” - those songs where you kinda brag.

I love that. I think where you come from or who you’re listening to are the things that shape you. I was in the Bronx, but I didn’t like the Italian singers, who were big there at the time. I liked Hank Williams and blues.

There are so very few artists from the 1950s who are even still with us, let alone making great music. Do you feel like a survivor?

I was at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010, and they were premiering a video that I did for them about the last Buddy Holly tour. [Writer] Dave Marsh was there doing a Q&A with me, and at one point he said to me that I was the only guy that charted records in the ’50s who has been vital and creative all through the decades.

I started to say not really, but when he asked me to name somebody, I couldn’t name anyone who was still writing and putting out albums. When I got home, I told my wife, and she challenged me. She said, “Well, what are you going to do about it?” And that’s when I put out a whole trilogy of blues albums. And I’m still just carrying on, y’know?

What’s the secret to longevity in the music business?

I’ll be honest: Back in 1968, I was a drug addict - a heroin addict. I’d been doing drugs for 15 years. Ever since I was 14, I was screwing with drugs. In February ’68, my friend Frankie Lymon died. [Lymon was famous as the lead singer for the Teenagers, who achieved fame with their 1956 hit “Why Do Fools Fall in Love.”] And it just scared me and brought me to my senses.

I got on my knees one night and I said a prayer. I said, “God, I don’t know what I’m doing. You’ve got to show me something. If you’re real, help me out.” This guy from a 12-step program started talking to me, and I haven’t had a drug or a drink since April 1968. That is one big secret to my longevity - that I haven’t smoked or drank for over 50 years.

I was always interested in music and God. I like to read St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine. They’re big inspirations in my life. I like to stay connected with the one who created the universe. I think I stayed healthy. If you could see inside my head, you’d see it is a very orderly place.“

Are you a no-regrets guy, or do you wish you’d done some things differently?

I’m not one of those no-regrets guys. I don’t know how life works itself out. Maybe there are some things I should’ve done differently, but I’m happy with where life is now. I’m enjoying making music, and I think the new record shows that I’m still committed to trying to be true to my creative spirit.

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Mark is a freelance writer with particular expertise in the fields of ‘70s glam, punk, rockabilly and classic ‘50s rock and roll. He sings and plays guitar in his own musical project, Star Studded Sham, which has been described as sounding like the hits of T. Rex and Slade as played by Johnny Thunders. He had several indie hits with his band, Private Sector and has worked with a host of UK punk luminaries. Mark also presents themed radio shows for Generating Steam Heat. He has just completed his first novel, The Bulletproof Truth, and is currently working on the sequel.

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Dion DiMucci: "Blues is a tradition. But it’s a living tradition. It’s not dead. It’s a handing-down and passing-on"

The blues survivor talks touring with Buddy Holly, meeting Howlin' Wolf, and his star-studded new album, Blues With Friends

Coming up on the Bronx’s mean streets as the poster boy of '50s doo-wop was just the start for Dion DiMucci.

Spared from the 1959 plane crash that killed tour-mate Buddy Holly, then seduced by the blues, his six-decade path has led through treacherous Southern juke joints, crippling addiction, rebirth and his late-period status as a rock ’n’ roll founding father.

Now, with the release of new solo album, Blues With Friends – its all-star tracklisting featuring guitar luminaries from Jeff Beck to Joe Bonamassa – the 81-year-old New Yorker’s influence and legacy are beyond doubt.

Here, he delves into the many stories that forged a career unlike any other...

Love at first strum

“My uncle got me a Gibson L-1, that’s what I learned on. I have a picture of myself holding that guitar at 12 years old. My God, I wish I still had it today. Once I’d learned that first song – Hank Williams’ Honky Tonk Blues – you couldn’t get me away from it.

"My mother tried to get me out of the house, but I just wanted to learn another Hank Williams or Jimmy Reed song. Then, when I started getting a little better, I saw the J-200 and saved up the $350 for that. Man, that was the guitar. I just had to have one.

"So I was a pretty weird kid. I was reading Saint Thomas Aquinas, listening to Jimmy Reed. How freakin’ weird could you get for a Bronx Italian neighborhood kid, y’know?”

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Wrong side of the tracks

"The Bronx was a tough neighborhood. You learned to defend yourself real early on. I wouldn’t consider myself a tough guy. I’m a poet, I’m a singer, I’m an artist. But I had an attitude. You had to. I belonged to a gang. But inside me, I wasn’t that guy.

"I grew up across the street from George’s Bar and Grill, and in summer they had all these gangster guys hanging out, with tank tops, tattoos and gold chains. So those characters deserved a song written about them, which ended up being The Wanderer [1961].

“Did I have any run-ins? Well, once they heard the kind of music I was making, they left me alone, because they didn’t think anything of it. They wanted to hear Italian music, like Jimmy Roselli or Al Martino. They thought I sounded like a wet dishrag."

Have guitar, will travel

“Somebody was asking me recently about the great '50s doo-wop singers, and how come I went on and they didn’t? It’s because I played guitar. I think that’s why I’m still relevant.

"In 1957, I got the Belmonts together from the best doo-wop singers in my neighborhood. And when we got a hit record, they would tell me, ‘Lead singers don’t play guitar.’ But I played on all my records. The Wanderer , Ruby Baby , Drip Drop , Abraham , Martin And John , Runaround Sue , Teenager In Love – everything.

"So when guitars came to the fore in the '60s, and doo-wop kinda took a back seat, it was an easy thing for me. It didn’t even feel like a transition."

On the road

"Touring with Buddy Holly in 1959 was the best experience for a 19-year-old kid like me. It was amazing to be sat at the back of the bus with guitar players like Ritchie Valens, who was honing his skills as a lead player.

For a 19-year-old kid like me, it was amazing to be sat on a bus with players like Ritchie Valens

"There’s a song I wrote about that tour called Hug My Radiator , because the bus was so cold, I was thinking, ‘When I get to my hotel, I’m gonna hug my radiator.’

"Offstage, Buddy was reserved: a stately, refined Texan, almost like an accountant. But when he put that Strat around him, walked out on stage, took the stance and hit the first chord, it was like, ‘Hold on to your ass.’ He let it all out.

"I was on the tour for two weeks with these guys, enjoying myself like crazy. Then, all of a sudden, the rug is ripped out from under my feet. I was relieved I didn’t take the flight that killed Buddy and the others.

"Like, ‘Wow, I could have just been wiped off the planet.’ But there were mixed emotions. You missed them. You had questions. Why am I here? I was puzzled for a long time."

First time I met the blues

"I was the first rock ’n’ roll singer signed to Columbia. John Hammond Sr [label exec] always told me, ‘You have a flair for the blues,’ ever since he heard me singing Drip Drop , sitting on the piano bench with Aretha Franklin.

"To me, blues was like connecting the dots of what I’d already heard, from T-Bone Walker to Chuck Berry.

"So the British Invasion didn’t feel like a takeover and it wasn’t frustrating to me. It was more like the British Infusion. They were recognizing stuff that was hiding in plain sight, like American roots music – and I was into that.

"I remember, Pete Townshend once came bursting into the studio to say he liked my version of Spoonful . It just goes to show, you never know who’s listening.

Howlin’ Wolf was enormous. He was like, 'Where d’you learn to play like that?' I thought, 'If I have the wrong answer here, he’s gonna kill me'

"He said, 'Roger and I think that’s one of the greatest records ever made. How did you do it?’ And I told him, 'I had this Gibson Byrdland and I threw some of that Bo Diddley tremolo on there...'"

Who's afraid of the Howlin' Wolf

"When I was 17, my parents had a TV and I would watch Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and Little Richard while dancing across my living room floor, y’know? And then, within six months, I was working the Brooklyn Fox with them and in their dressing room.

"Bo Diddley was comfortable to be with. Little Richard, I knew a side of him that was very calm and thoughtful. Chuck Berry was a little more combative. He had a definite edge because of the way he was treated. I guess those bluesmen had to be tough to survive like they did.

"I remember meeting Howlin’ Wolf, too. He was intimidating. The guy was enormous. He was like, 'Where d’you learn to play like that?' I thought, 'If I have the wrong answer here, he’s gonna kill me.' But when you told him you listened to Lightnin’ Hopkins, he’d say, 'Oh, good. I listen to him, too.'"

Black and white

"There’s a song on the new album – Song For Sam Cooke (Here In America) – but I wrote it a long time ago. It’s about travelling around the South with Sam Cooke. He’d take me around the clubs, to see James Brown when nobody knew who he was. He protected me.

"I saw Sam in a lot of situations, but he never got angry in the face of racism, never blew up, never got edgy. Me, I got angry. I’d be thinking, 'Oh, he’s gonna punch this fucking guy out.' But no. He’d just mirror something back to them, to show them how stupid they were. Looking back, I realize he was the smartest guy in the room."

In Bob we trust

"When Dylan came to Columbia in the mid-'60s and I went to the first session, I thought somebody had let him out of a cage. It was like he’d just got loose, y’know? He was on fire. He stepped up to the mic and he was off and running, man. You had to catch up to him.

"Our friendship wasn’t like I went out to lunch with him every day, but it’s stayed as an appreciation for each other along the way. It was crazy how he came to write the sleeve notes for Blues With Friends.

"There’s a lot of people who believe Dylan is the greatest songwriter of the 20th century and beyond. When I think of him, I think of those things, too – but he’s also a great blues singer.

"So I thought, 'I’m gonna send this album to him. He knows what the hell he’s talking about...'"

The drugs don't work

"I love life but it’s not without challenges. The worst time was when I was on drugs in the mid-'60s. Y’know, I was using heroin and it wasn’t good. My friend, Frankie Lymon, we used to do drugs together and he died of an overdose in February 1968.

"Man, it just made me reevaluate where I was. I said a few prayers and I changed. I haven’t had a drug or a drink since. I’m a better musician without it. I don’t think any creativity comes out of drugs or drinking.

"It can seem like that because it kind of frees you up a little. You think, ‘Oh, this is making me creative.’ But no, I don’t think so, personally. I think it comes from the well of creativity. You gotta get under the spout where the glory comes out – not in the sewer with the bullshit."

Larking with you

When Lou came along, I guess everything was already rebelled against, so he had to push it out of the envelope. He liked to stir people up. But it was for a good reason

"Lou Reed inducted me into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 1989. I loved him. When Lou came along, I guess everything was already rebelled against, so he had to push it out of the envelope. He liked to stir people up. But it was for a good reason.

"He’d poke around, see what was real and what was bullshit. I’ll tell you, Lou was really into his guitar sound. I think, three-quarters of the time I spent with him, that’s what he talked about.

"He had a big, metallic pedalboard made for him – about 3ft long – and it had about five buttons. One was ‘Distortion’, one was ‘More Distortion’, one was ‘Mega Distortion’, one was ‘EpicDistortion’..."

With a little help from my friends

“I couldn’t have planned my new album if I’d tried. Joe Bonamassa’s manager lives five houses from me, and one day Joe comes over to mine, hears Blues Comin’ On and says, ‘Man, I want to play on that.’

"Be my guest, y’know? He was the catalyst for the whole thing. After that, I thought it’d be great if I could get Billy Gibbons to play on Bam Bang Boom . It was like casting for a movie. I thought, 'Who could play on this ballad, Can’t Start Over Again?' Jeff Beck is the only guitar player who can make me cry, and when he said yes I just started going for it.

You haven’t lived until you’ve sang with Van Morrison. I’m just glad I experienced it before I leave the planet

"The fun part was, all the guitar players, they’re so distinctive. Like Brian Setzer, I wouldn’t even know how to ask him for what he played on Uptown Number 7 . Or Sonny Landreth on I Got The Cure – he’s just stunning, like a violin virtuoso.

"I’m a good player. But I’m not an ensemble guitar player, like some of these guys. Take Bonamassa. If you moan, holler or yell somewhere – he responds, he’s right there with you.

"I don’t know how the hell his mind works. And I’ll tell ya this – you haven’t lived until you’ve sang with Van Morrison. I’m just glad I experienced it before I leave the planet."

They don't make 'em like they used to

"I would say that old guitars play better, from experience. That gold guitar on the album sleeve, I used on a lot of the songs. Homer Haynes – from the duo Homer and Jethro – originally had it made by Fender. It’s a ’57 Strat, with gold hardware, gold pickguard, just standard pickups. It’s really wild to play it. You can always find songs in a guitar like that.

"When I pick up some of the guitars that my producer, Wayne Hood, has in his studio, I feel like double the guitar player I am. He has, like, a ’62 and a ’56 Strat. I don’t know what the hell it is about those guitars.

"I think it’s maybe that the fretboard is flat and he has the back of the neck sanded down, so it plays like butter.

"I was using different amps, because I went into different studios. But they were mostly Twins and Deluxes, whatever the engineer had that was real primo."

The future's bright

"Blues is a tradition. But it’s a living tradition. It’s not dead. It’s a handing-down and a passing-on. Just listen to what Samantha Fish played on What If I Told You . Forget about it.

"She’s a great example of the fire and the passion – if I ever put that much emotion into anything then I wouldn’t be able to walk for three weeks. I felt like she was ripping my heart out without anesthesia, and I liked it.

"It just shows you how a young person – she’s about 30 years old – can play this music. Y’know, blues don’t get tired. It’s the person that gets tired, the musician that gets tired. The song never gets tired.”

Dion’s Blues With Friends is available now via Keeping The Blues Alive Records.

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Henry Yates is a freelance journalist who has written about music for titles including The Guardian , Telegraph , NME , Classic Rock , Guitarist , Total Guitar and Metal Hammer . He is the author of Walter Trout's official biography, Rescued From Reality , a talking head on Times Radio and an interviewer who has spoken to Brian May, Jimmy Page, Ozzy Osbourne, Ronnie Wood, Dave Grohl and many more. As a guitarist with three decades' experience, he mostly plays a Fender Telecaster and Gibson Les Paul.

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‘I’m in!’ … Dion DiMucci in New York for new album Blues With Friends.

Dion: 'When I heard my album sober, I thought "Wow – heroin didn't touch it"'

He was a street-tough doo-wopper, then a wayward cult legend. Now at 80, Dion is embracing the blues – and his status as one of the last rock’n’rollers standing

D ion DiMucci was 13, maybe 14, when he first sang in a club for money, roughly the same time as he picked up a heroin habit that lasted 15 years. He got on the stage and belted out three Hank Williams songs – Cold, Cold Heart, Jambalaya and Hey Good Lookin’ and when he was done “the owners, Yodi and Bart, they gave me $20 apiece, which was more than my parents’ rent that they argued about every day. It was a whole month’s rent and I just sang a couple of songs.”

Yes, says Dion (no one ever uses his surname – he’s been Dion since he became a doo-wop star in the 1950s, and that’s not changing now), the money made music attractive, but it was the chance to say something that made him stick with it, although his career has had highs and lows. Even some of the high points have been lows: Born to Be With You – his dazed, brilliant 1975 album with Phil Spector, which cast teen pop as a spiritual experience – was not released in the US at the time, and was ignored elsewhere, only gaining its reputation two decades later. The dazzling Kickin’ Child , recorded in 1965 and offering a version of “that thin, wild, mercury sound” at exactly the same time as Bob Dylan was inventing it, was shelved by Columbia, only getting released in 2017.

But Dion has never stopped. As well as the doo-wop, he’s sung rock’n’roll, folk rock, Christian music, MOR music and everything in between. And for the past 15 years, he’s been a bluesman, singing in a voice that has barely weathered. Now 80, he’s releasing Blues With Friends , in which an array of superstars (Bruce Springsteen, Billy Gibbons, Joe Bonamassa, Paul Simon, Van Morrison and more, with sleevenotes by Bob Dylan) help him out on 14 originals, including a revival of Kickin’ Child. The presence of Morrison, he says, was the first thing to really impress his wife, Susan, in 57 years of marriage. “I am so in with my wife because I sang with Van Morrison. She’s got 12 Van Morrison CDs in her car. So now I’m in!”

It’s startling that his voice seems almost unaffected by the years, although he can hear differences. “I was talking to Paul Simon yesterday. I was telling him, ‘Paul, I’ve been listening to this record, and I can still sing great. I sing my original songs, in the same key, but I lost that 17-year-old innocence. But you still have that sweetness, that beauty, that powerful purity. I don’t know how you did it.’ And he said basically the same thing I would say. ‘I do well and I take care of myself, but I haven’t focussed on keeping my voice.’ We both don’t smoke or drink. That can make your voice husky.”

Blues With Friends doesn’t sound a bit like his rock’n’roll hits, nor Born to Be With You, nor his folk-rock era. It continues in the direction he began in 2006 on his Grammy-nominated album Bronx in Blue, playing the music that was once the spring from which rock’n’roll began, which saw one writer describe him as a “Catholic blues singer”. That makes Dion laugh. “To be honest with you, if you had to retitle the psalms, the songs King David wrote in the Bible, you’d call them the blues. It’s like the naked cry of the human heart longing to be in union with God. Those guys are crying out in pain. They feel isolated, they feel separated, they just don’t feel good. And they got the blues. Everybody in the Bible got the blues, probably including God, from the travails of overseeing us. God is love, he’s not loving, he is love.”

Van Morrison, Patti Scialfa and Bruce Springsteen, and Billy Gibbons.

It’s all basically the same music to Dion, though. “To me, it’s all a slight adjustment. If I sing songs from any decade on my guitar, it all sounds the same. It all sounds like Dion music. People think I change from this to that, but I don’t know how much I change. They put a label on it, you know? But it all comes from inside me.”

Dion and the Belmonts – four Italian-American kids who grew up around Belmont Avenue in the Bronx’s Little Italy – were like any of the groups of street-corner toughs who sang sweetly to the girls during Dwight D Eisenhower’s second term as president. Music was how they would all say the things they couldn’t put into conversation, for fear of being kicked around the block.

“I had this song, one of my first records, called No One Knows . I sat on the stoop of the tenement building, and the gang was there. Then we’d go to cellar parties, and I would sing this song that goes, ‘No one knows what I go through / And the tears I cried for you / And when I smile it’s just a pose / My heart is breaking, but no one knows.’ But a lot of that stuff, you couldn’t say. That’s why people go to the bar and put money in the jukebox and put on Only the Lonely, because they can’t tell you they’re lonely. They can just play the song 20 times.

“I realised early on you could bypass somebody’s brain. You don’t threaten anybody by singing, but if you were in a bar and turned to your friend and said, ‘You know, I’m lonely’, you’d get a punch right in the head. It just don’t ring right, you know? But you could relate to a record and identify with the song, and no one feels threatened, and no fights break out. It was kind of like a secret. I could sing about what people were thinking without them feeling threatened.”

But Dion had something else. Listen to some of those early hits – The Wanderer or Runaround Sue – and you hear a personality, someone crackling with life, amused, lustful and with a hint of threat. He sounds like a tough guy who wants to be liked, but who can’t bring himself to entirely conceal his switchblade. The Dion of the late 1950s and early 60s was such an archetype of Italian-American masculinity that Martin Scorsese probably has a shrine to him somewhere.

The heroin, he says, was nothing too unusual around Belmont Avenue, even 60 years ago. “With the guys I was hanging out with, it was the normal thing. There were some that never got involved. I don’t know if I had a propensity for it, or a disposition. But I knew the first time I took it, man, I loved it, so off I went. I was using drugs for about 15 years, from 14 to about 28. In 1968 my friend Frankie Lymon died of an overdose and I got on my knees, said a prayer, and I haven’t been the same since. I haven’t had a drug or a drink for 52 years.”

After splitting from the Belmonts, he became the first rock’n’roller signed to Columbia – “They were paying me 100 grand a year whether I made a record or not” – and began a solo career. It’s possible some of Dion’s memories of that era have been burnished by the years – he says he and the producer Tom Wilson were the ones who first had the idea of putting an electric band behind Dylan – or by the fact he was then at the height of his heroin addiction. Either way, he quit Columbia when they refused to release Kickin’ Child. “I have no idea why they did it. I’m thinking, ‘What the hell do you want?’ So I just left. I couldn’t care less. I called it integrity; my wife called it insanity.”

It was only a few years ago, hearing the album for the first time since he was an addict, that he was able to separate Kickin’ Child from the time of its creation. “When I heard it clean and sober I thought, ‘Wow. Whatever I was doing, heroin didn’t touch it.’ The art bypassed the drug.”

When Little Richard died in May, Dion was among the first to pay tribute. Recalling all those heroes of 1955 and 1956, he says: “Then I heard Little Richard. That’s got to change your life.” Now, he and Jerry Lee Lewis are the only major figures of the great teenage explosion left standing – and Dion wouldn’t be, had he not refused to pay the $36 it would have cost to board the flight that killed Buddy Holly. Still, he says, he’s not dwelling on mortality. He feels like he did when he was a teenager.

“When I was a kid and I got up in front of a high-school dance with my band and I sang a song, I was taking people on a trip. And I don’t think I’ve changed. I’m still the same. I still like that feeling.”

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Dion is still a New York guy at heart

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Dion DiMucci’s image of America does not include fruited plains or amber waves of grain. “For me God’s country is sirens and subways and all kinds of ethnic groups trying to cross the street all at once,” said the Bronx native and legendary singer known by his first name. “There’s something about the city that gets in your bones.”

Dion’s aptly titled new disc, “New York Is My Home,” was released in February. He will perform new songs as well as all-time hits like “Runaround Sue” and “The Wanderer” on Thursday in Morristown.

He said the title track of his latest album, which features Paul Simon, was inspired by “Remember,” a documentary about the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. “I cried uncontrollably after watching that,” Dion said. “That’s how deep my love of the city goes.

“I started this song and when I finished I called [fellow New Yorker] Paul Simon,” said Dion, 77. “We’ve been friends for a long time. He really liked it and put his touches on it and did some harmony.”

In addition to the folk-rock title song, “New York Is My Home” is also home to the blues, which might come as a surprise to those who know him only for his doo-wop and rhythm-and-blues hits with Dion and the Belmonts and as a solo artist.

“I cut my teeth on Jimmy Reid and John Lee Hooker, Chuck Berry and Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis,” Dion said. Album highlights include the rollicking “Ride With You” and “The Apollo King,” a tribute to the famed Harlem venue.

The song “Visionary Heart” takes a different tack. It’s an imagined conversation between Dion and Buddy Holly. The two became friends while performing together on the ill-fated Winter Dance Party tour in 1959.

After a show in Iowa, Dion had a chance to travel on a small plane to the next concert, but opted to take a tour bus and gave Holly his seat.

The plane crashed, killing Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson. “Buddy Holly was a visionary and had great dreams for the future,” Dion said. “He was fearless and just gave it his all. I still miss all of those guys. They were wonderful, top-shelf human beings.”

Dion’s modest New York upbringing directly influenced his life-saving decision. “The flight was $36,” he recalled. “My parents paid $36 in rent and always argued about it. My mind couldn’t see spending on one plane ride what my parents spent for a month’s rent.”

Dion was a teenager in the 1950s when he began singing a cappella with friends on neighborhood corners and under streetlamps. Each teenager tried to emulate a different rhythmic or percussive sound, creating a cappella riffs, he recalled. Dion and the Belmonts formed in 1957.

“We invented things as we went. I sang lead and tried to sing like a saxophone,” Dion said. “Then you had another guy doing the ‘ooh wah ooh.’ ”

The group’s early hits included “I Wonder Why” and the doo-wop classic “A Teenager in Love.” In 1960, Dion left the group to pursue a solo career that yielded the No. 1 and No. 2 hits “Runaround Sue” and “The Wanderer,” respectively.

He showed his versatility by moving toward blues in the mid to late 1960s. In 1968 he released the folk-rock hit “Abraham, Martin & John,” in memory of Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy.

He later embraced his religion in song, releasing a number of contemporary Christian albums. His 2006 effort, “Bronx in Blue,” a collection of blues and country standards, was nominated for a Grammy award.

Today, Dion splits his time between Manhattan and Florida. He also has a New Jersey connection: He once lived in Bergenfield and bought his parents a house in Maywood.

He described his life as having a “Sopranos” beginning and a Rocky Balboa ending. “I grew up with the gangs and at a time was with the Fordham Baldies,” Dion said. “You learn things and you change. I started with music, I got a hit record, and it changed my whole direction.

“I’m a totally grateful human being and I thank God I have this gift to express myself. Life is full of awe and grace and truth, mystery and wonder. I live in that atmosphere.”

CHASING DOWN THE WANDERER: THIRTY MINUTES WITH DION

Dion DiMucci is rock ‘n’ roll’s ageless wonder. In his 80s now, he continues to amaze and inspire us with new material and new takes on old material. Norton Records released his Kickin’ Child “lost” album in 2017, KTBA released Blues With Friends (with an all-star cast) and is now releasing the followup, Stomping Ground (backing by G.E. Smith, Clapton, Knopfler, Frampton, Rickie Lee Jones, among others). And, oh yes, a play based on Dion’s life and music , The Wanderer , will premiere next March in N.J. and will, hopefully, hit Broadway soon thereafter. PKM’s Benito Vila caught up with the speeding Dion and conducted this ‘crazy good’ interview.

In April 2019, PKM’s editor asked if I would be interested in interviewing Dion. Yes. Absolutely. Easy. Except, Dion doesn’t do interviews. After reaching out more than a few times to his management and some mutual friends, a polite response came back by email that December, reading, “It’s not possible to speak to Dion at this time.”

By then, however, the research I had done on Dion had me hooked: how he didn’t get on the flight with Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper and Richie Valens (the $36 cost was as much as his parents were paying in rent and too much to dole out); how he discovered the blues through Columbia Records producer John Hammond, Sr.; how he had a spiritual awakening in 1968 that led him to drop heroin and embrace sobriety and Catholicism; how Lou Reed described Dion’s “Bronx Soul” in inducting him to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; how Dion was posting on YouTube and Facebook about making blues recordings, mostly original songs, backed by the likes of Jeff Beck, Billy Gibbons, Brian Setzer, Bruce Springsteen, Van Morrison and Paul Simon; and how he recently released a “lost” album, originally recorded at Columbia in 1965, on Norton Records.

That 2017 release, Kickin’ Child: The Lost Album , was accompanied by a two-hour podcast, part of Norton Records’ Crashing The Party series, that starts with co-host Marc Miller asking Dion if he considers his voice “the midpoint between Johnny Ray and Howlin’ Wolf.” Dion responds with a laugh, calling that a compliment and saying, “Johnnie Ray was crazy good and Howlin’ Wolf was just, to me, so special, one-of-kind. Both of them, like, I would say, are very distinctive voices. I never even thought of that.” Miller and his co-host (The Cramps drummer and Norton Records founder) Miriam Linna draw out Dion’s stories of growing up in the Bronx, mimicking jazz beats in singing doo-wop, doing studio work in the ‘50s and ‘60s with a who’s who of musicians and producers, and being on hand for Bob Dylan’s early recording sessions. A late-in-the-podcast tale reveals Dion’s 1968 song “Daddy Rollin’ (In Your Arms)”––the overlooked, rowdy, blues-infused B-side of his mellow, on-every-radio-station megahit “Abraham, Martin and John”––was recorded using storeroom boxes for percussion, at a time Dion was kicking his drug habit and missing his wife, Susan. Dion says, “To me, it was a love song. Now, I listen to it and I’m thinking there was something else going on in my head.”

That Dion song and many others, like, “Lovers Who Wander”, “I Wonder Why”, “Ruby Baby”, “Drip Drop”, and the lost album’s title track, “Kickin’ Child”, make the Crashing The Party interview the best Dion must-listen for any fan or for anyone interested in his music.

Dion & the Belmonts (Dion DiMucci, Fred Milano, Carlo Mastrangelo, Angelo D’Aleo) “I Wonder Why” on Saturday Night Beech Nut Show , 1958:

So does Dion finishing the session with toe-tapping solo takes on Bob Diddley’s “Who Do You Love” and Howlin’ Wolf’s “How Many More Years”.

Of course, Dion is best known for his hits, “The Wanderer” and “Runaround Sue”, songs written by Ernie Maresca, a Bronx doo-wop pal, featuring tight and fast rock ‘n’ roll lines, like, “There’s Flo on my left, and there’s Mary on my right/And Janie is the girl that I’ll be with tonight/And when she asks me which one I love the best/I tear open my shirt, I got Rosie on my chest” and “Here’s the moral and the story from the guy who knows/I fell in love and my love still grows/Ask any fool that she ever knew, they’ll say/Keep away from a Runaround Sue”.

Before that “not now” email arrived, I wanted to ask Dion whether he had any tattoos, how he dealt with girls, as a kid and then as a star. I wanted to ask him if he, Buddy Holly and Richie Valens really backed each other on drums on their tour, and who was the better drummer. I wanted to know what he remembers of the young Waylon Jennings, who was in Buddy Holly’s band, and how the coin flip for the last seat on the flight really played out. I wanted to know the albums John Hammond gave him and if he’d ever recorded anything with Bob Dylan. I wanted to know more about his sobriety, his life in the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s, how he’s stayed married for almost 60 years, and how he came he came to get in touch with all these great guitarists for his blues project.

That in-box note took away any chance to get those answers. My response was to send three questions back into the Dion management universe, to see if I might get a nibble. I got nothing. But I kept after Dion. I stayed in touch as best I could, corresponding with Dion’s publicist Bob Merlis, from time to time, asking about Dion and other potential PKM projects [one on Sam Cooke clicked].

About a month ago, I came across two pieces of Dion “news”: that Stomping Ground , the follow-up to his 2020 Blues With Friends album, was set to be released Nov. 19, and that The Wanderer , a play based on Dion’s life and music, is set to debut at The Paper Mill Playhouse [Millburn, New Jersey] on March 24, 2022, for a month-long run, with its producers looking to a Broadway booking.

I wrote to Bob Merlis and this time there was a bite. Yes, I could interview Dion, but there was a caveat. The last time Dion was interviewed, for the release of Blues With Friends , the interviewer was more interested in the old Dion than the new album. I promised to make Stomping Ground and The Wanderer the focus of our time together. That led me to receive a link to Stomping Ground and its liner notes, which feature Dion’s take on working with his latest collaborators, who include G.E. Smith, Mark Knopfler, Eric Clapton, Peter Frampton, Patti Scialfa, Marcia Ball and Rickie Lee Jones, among others. On Blues With Friends Bob Dylan’s introduction reads, “Dion knows how to sing, and he knows just the right way to craft these songs, these Blues songs. He’s got some friends here to help him out, some true luminaries. But in the end, it’s Dion by himself alone, and that masterful voice of his that will keep you returning to share these Blues songs with him.” For Stomping Ground , Peter Townshend offers, “Dion is a star who knows well how to start again, how to keep shining. He looks at his watch every few years. Damn! Let’s make a record. Take care. This one will blow those little white things in your ears right into your brain.”

There was one more thing for me to consider before Dion and I talked on the phone––the interview was to be 30 minutes. And that’s it. If Dion wanted to stay on longer, he might. Wow. Okay. Since it was to be mostly questions about The Wanderer and Stomping Ground that made my work easy. But how to start? I went back to the three questions from two years ago and decided those would work, realizing, if they didn’t, I could be dragging Dion around for 30 minutes. When I heard him say, “That’s crazy good” after asking the second question, I knew I was in for a fast ride.

PKM: Can you describe the song, the musician or the moment that hooked you, that connected you to music in a way that wouldn’t let you go?

Dion DiMucci: Yeah, I remember. I was a young kid. I had to be close to 10 or 11 years old and I heard Hank Williams on the radio, singing “Honky Tonk Blues”. I just got reeled in. It enthralled me. I ran up to Fordham Road. There was a record store there called Cousin’s. Lou Cicchetti ran it, and I became really good friends with him at a young age, like that. He took me under his wing. He started calling me every time a new 78 came in. He’d call my home and I’d actually run up to Fordham Road. It was about a mile. I’d go up there and purchase the record. Hank Williams got me totally involved. I’ve never been the same since that day. Then I heard Jimmy Reed do “Baby, What You Want Me to Do?” I heard him do, “Take some insurance out on me, baby, because if you ever leave, I’m gonna lay back down and die”. I thought, “Who writes stuff like this?” Not only I was into the communicating a lyric like that, I was also into the groove. I was learning how to live through listening to those records. A lot of this maybe sounds corny today, but listen to Hank Williams’ Luke the Drifter records. It’s just incredible, the recitations on those records. I never heard anything like it. Everybody in The Bronx, as far as I knew, was listening to Jerry Vale, Al Martino, guys like that; Jimmy Roselli was big. Nobody knew what I was doing, what I was into. I was kind of a weird kid. I was listening to Hank Williams and reading Saint Thomas Aquinas. I was looking for God and I wanted to know about the music.

Hank Williams got me totally involved. I’ve never been the same since that day. Then I heard Jimmy Reed do “Baby, What You Want Me to Do?” I heard him do, “Take some insurance out on me, baby, because if you ever leave, I’m gonna lay back down and die”. I thought, “Who writes stuff like this?”

PKM: If you could describe the last 80 years in American culture by way of a set of songs or group of musicians, who or what would they be?

Dion DiMucci: I’ve never thought about it. That’s crazy good. What do I have to do?

PKM: Pick a lens to look through. Look at the last 80 years through the Rolling Stones, or through the musical Hair . Or, through your own life if you want, or through someone you like to read. Pick any lens.

Dion DiMucci: I can connect the last 80 years through groups of people, songwriters, guitar players. For me, it starts very grassroots, very down-home rural, kind of survival music, like Hank Williams. It goes to Jimmy Reed and then––I’m skipping over people like T-Bone Walker––it goes off to Chuck Berry and then Bob Dylan. He changed the landscape single-handedly, brought thinking in single-handedly. Groups, like The Rolling Stones, songs like “Honky Tonk Women”. To me, it’s all connected. I never looked at it like “the British Invasion”. I looked at it like the British infusion. They were echoing Chicago Blues for me––whether it was Muddy Waters or Howling Wolf or Jimmy Reed––I was always connected to that. And I got to say, Springsteen. Bruce’s singing, to me, goes right back to what I was always searching for. Those guys for me, like Dylan and Springsteen and U2, they’re very biblical. I still haven’t found what I’m looking for. Everybody’s got a hungry heart. Like a rolling stone. How does it feel? It feels good. To have this healthy detachment. To find your individual freedom. I’ve always been attracted to music, to somebody behind the lyric that I wanted to know, who had something to say. It was The Clash coming out in the punk era.

Most of the guys that I’ve reached out to on these last two albums are part of those 80 years. Things changed for me when I heard Van Morrison, Paul Simon, Eric Clapton, who repackaged B.B. King, Alvin King and Freddie King to a new level, and then, Joe Bonamassa, who took that to another level.

I kind of see guitar players connecting the dots. Lyrically, I always felt like Dylan was my go-to guy. To me, he’s a genius. My definition of a genius is always a distance for me. The distance between what somebody’s doing in their particular field and what everybody else is doing. In his lyrics, in his songwriting, Dylan always gives me something to learn, evidence of something I’m not aware of. It’s crazy, his lyrics, the trip they take me on. Springsteen is underrated in that way, in that sense. Like I said, I was always reading Saint Thomas Aquinas and Saint Augustine. To me, Springsteen echoes those guys. Everybody has a hungry heart. Like Saint Augustine said, “Hearts are restless until they come to rest in God alone.” It’s the same thing. He could have written that Bruce Springsteen song.

To me, it’s all connected. I never looked at it like “the British Invasion”. I looked at it like the British infusion. They were echoing Chicago Blues for me––whether it was Muddy Waters or Howling Wolf or Jimmy Reed––I was always connected to that.

PKM: What ideas or concepts are you looking to make sure that you express now and what’s your way of doing that?

Dion DiMucci: I’ve always liked to take people on a trip, especially a good one. I like to take them to a higher ground. I like to write songs that are worth listening to, that spark your imagination and really show you good stuff. I’m not too into bullshit. I’m from The Bronx. There was this wrought iron fence on the north side of my little neighborhood, with Fordham University behind it. I quit school when I was a junior. I never graduated high school. At this point in my life, I’ve had a lot of “life experience”. When I was given a doctorate for humanities by Fordham in 2013, I asked my wife, “How did this happen?” She said, “You have a lot of ‘life experience’. You deserve it. You’ve been working with other people, making music, for 50 years now.” Maybe, now that I look back on it, in my reading all these books about God and the life of the mind, I’ve found a way to talk about it in my own little way.

PKM: On Stomping Ground you have that trip thing happening in “I’ve Got to Get to You”, and on the title track. One of my favorite songs though was “Hey Diddle Diddle”, the one you did with G.E. Smith, the one with the line, “Don’t let the woke cat rock ya.”

Dion DiMucci: I tell you, it’s crazy. You give a song to somebody and you have certain ideas, maybe, of what you want to hear, but I’ve learned that when you ask a great guitar player like G.E. Smith to play something, you don’t want to fool with his head. He’s a real student of music and he’s well known for his knowledge of the Telecaster. He can make the thing sound any way he wants. When I reach out to someone like G.E. Smith, I don’t want to say, “This is what I’m hearing.” Screw what I’m hearing. That’s the whole idea of going to him. I’m limited. I can write a song. I can communicate a song. I can make a great record. But when it comes to that kind of window treatment, playing with these guys, I’ve learned not to say a word. I just say, “Hey, whatever you’re hearing, get into it.” When he sent “Hey Diddle Diddle” back, it was something I wasn’t hearing, and now I cannot hear the song without what he did. It’s just perfect. I don’t know what he’s playing on. It’s like Arabian Blues or something. I don’t know what he’s doing. That’s all him.

PKM: How did you pick your collaborators on this album?

Dion DiMucci: I’ll be honest with you: I don’t really pick them. I kind of listen to the track and I let the track talk to me. I’m thinking, “Wow, I’d like to hear a Telecaster on this” and I come up with a few names. Sometimes not. I hear somebody on it. I hear a certain style. It’s just one guy, and I give him a call. You can hear by the records that everybody I chose, they belong on the record. When they contribute what they have in their head, and in their heart, and they play on it, it seems to be perfect. To me, it’s like, “Oh, that’s what I was hearing.” These guys are something. They’re just gifted, and that’s the fun of making these albums. I’m playing with all my heroes and I’m finding new guys within it––like Jeff Beck. Every guitar player on the planet, when Jeff Beck walks in the room, they come to attention. The guy has such gold in his hands. To work with a guy like Peter Frampton blew me away and to become close to Sonny Landreth, who’s way under the radar, but one of the greatest guitar players on the planet, I’m living a dream. Some of these guys, I’ve never known them close up. I’ve never really hung with them. What I found in making this music is that they’re so accessible and so giving. It’s made me experience the true community of the musical community that I belong to. It sounds drippy, but it makes me feel loved, man. It makes me feel part of something. I’m glad I lived this long. I’m making great music with wonderful friends and we’re making new friends with the music we’re making. This is fun. It’s like full circle. That’s kind of a cool thing.

PKM: The last track on Stomping Ground , “I’ve Been Watching”, blends your voice with Rickie Lee Jones.

Dion DiMucci: Again, I got to be honest: I was a little unsure about that. I love Rickie Lee Jones. I thought, “I got to try this with her. It’s a quirky love song and she has this really mysterious kind of quirkiness.” I tell people now: “You haven’t lived until you’ve sang a quirky love song with Rickie Lee Jones.”

Every guitar player on the planet, when Jeff Beck walks in the room, they come to attention. The guy has such gold in his hands.

PKM: This is your second blues album, is there a tour of any sort that you have in mind?

Dion DiMucci: Some of these guys, like Billy Gibbons, he’s telling me, “Hey, Dion, we got to do something. We got to go on the road.” I would love to do it with a few of these guys. That would be fun. Man, that would be fun. Who knows? You never know. It’s crazy. This lockdown has kind of worked for me. As a writer, you know what I mean. It’s the perfect time to write a book. You have the time. This is your chance to say, “Man, I’m not going anywhere. I might as well get at the typewriter.” That’s what this lockdown has done for me. I’ve recorded two of the best albums I’ve ever done. I had the time, the patience and it’s been really enjoyable to do this.

PKM: On Blues With Friends , I liked your “Song for Sam Cooke”, the one you did with Paul Simon.

Dion DiMucci: Yeah, that came out great. Paul Simon put a lot of time behind that. It’s a song I had in the back of the drawer for a long time and I didn’t even think of doing it until I saw the film Green Book . I saw that and I thought, “Hey, this reminds me of touring with Sam Cooke.” I experienced both sides of it because sometimes Sam had to protect me. I’d go to Black clubs with him. He took me to see James Brown and The Flames. Nobody even knew who James Brown was back then. Sam took me to a club in Mobile, and, man, he had to protect me. He kept saying, “Hey, the boy is with me.” It was the opposite of Green Book . I pulled that song out from the back of the drawer, I dusted it off, and then gave it a whirl.

PKM: Were there bluesmen on the tours that you did in the ‘50s and ‘60s?

Dion DiMucci: On the tour I did with Sam Cooke, Bobby “Blue” Bland was with us and Little Willie John. That stuff got in me. When it comes to me playing the blues, some people say, “Oh, you’ve reinvented yourself.” I don’t think so. I don’t know about reinventing. I didn’t invent myself in the first place. I’m not going to reinvent myself now. I did “The Wanderer” and “Ruby Baby” and “Drip Drop” and all those but I always had a flair for this kind of music. I look at it like I was an acorn. Now, I’m an oak tree. People don’t recognize you by your baby pictures, but it’s the same DNA. I just evolved. I don’t think I reinvented myself. I just developed. I evolved into what I’m doing now. I’m writing better songs. I have more experience and I play better, I sing better. That’s my take on it.

PKM: Do you have a favorite? Coke or Pepsi?

Dion DiMucci: Coke.

PKM: Onion rings or French fries?

Dion DiMucci: French fries and ketchup, man. That’s all day long. That’s dessert to me.

PKM: Cocaine or speed? Tuinal or heroin?

Dion DiMucci: How can I say it? I prefer good friendships and being real. I love life and I’m a grateful guy. I don’t need anything artificial, any synthetic stuff, to make me feel anything. I tried it, been there, done that. I was a heroin addict for 14 years. It was the most unnecessary thing I’ve ever done. It was insanity. I don’t need that. I haven’t had a drug or a drink in 54 years.

PKM: One more: Buddy Holly or Lou Reed?

Dion DiMucci: Oh, my God, I love both those guys. Lou Reed loved me and the feeling was mutual. Buddy Holly, for the short time I knew him, he was something special. I miss him. I could never pick between those two.

PKM: What did Buddy Holly turn you onto?

Dion DiMucci: Buddy Holly turned me onto being courageous. He said, “Dion, I don’t know how to succeed, but I know how to fail: Try to please everybody.” I think if he didn’t tell me that, I probably wouldn’t have done “Runaround Sue” or “The Wanderer”.

PKM: What did Lou Reed turn you onto?

Dion DiMucci: Lou Reed. [Laughs] He liked to push people’s buttons, but it wasn’t just to get a reaction out of them or just to stir them up. He was actually looking for what was real and what would stick, what would stand up. He kind of stirred people. He was a street poet, the best at that. He was so gifted. Out of his own mouth, he said, “Man, I’m not the best-looking guy. I can’t play the guitar the best. I can’t do this the best, I can’t do that the best, but I do what I do.” I was thinking, “Man, it’s enough. That’s enough.”

PKM: I want to ask about the play, The Wanderer . How did you select the songs? How do you describe the story?

Dion DiMucci: Charles Messina, a young writer from Manhattan, he wrote the book and he chose the songs and he placed them. The story he wrote, it’s not chronological, but there’s a lot of rock and roll street history. There’s a lot of action. It’s like the young Sopranos with great music and a Rocky Balboa ending. It has romance. It has betrayal, overcoming, redemption and music, so it has a lot of layers. Charles Messina, he’s real––he writes with a lot of substance, in an entertaining way. If you give me something of substance, you can entertain me all day long. I really like what he did. I think you’ll be surprised. You’ve got to come see this thing. It’s wild. It’s not like The Jersey Boys . People might think it’s like jukebox music. I don’t know what the hell that is, but man, I guess if they want to call it that, they can call it that.

Buddy Holly turned me onto being courageous. He said, “Dion, I don’t know how to succeed, but I know how to fail: Try to please everybody.” I think if he didn’t tell me that, I probably wouldn’t have done “Runaround Sue” or “The Wanderer”.

PKM: Charles has done a few gangster/brotherhood plays, featuring Italian families. How does your Italian heritage play out for you?

Dion DiMucci: I hate to say this, but I was never into that. People would put these statues in their backyard, all this Italian stuff. I don’t know how to say it. But I’ll tell you one thing about being Italian that made sense to me. There are two angles to this. I loved it as a kid because I come from an Italian neighborhood and I loved the food and my aunts and the cooking and the love and the music and the family. As I grew older, I was a little disappointed in what Italian meant to me, the guys on the corner, you get like into The Sopranos shit, and I thought, “These are dumb motherfuckers. These dumbass bastards.” I didn’t like them. Then Columbia Records sent me to Italy and my whole world opened up. I saw the poetry. I saw the love, the history, the architecture, the music, the spirituality, the depth and width and height. Then I went to Israel and that’s when everything changed. I thought, “If people could really embrace their culture at the center, it’s really rich. It’s really beautiful.” So I started doing that. I started really going back, to the beginnings.

I’m glad I lived this long. I’m making great music with wonderful friends and we’re making new friends with the music we’re making. This is fun. It’s like full circle. That’s kind of a cool thing.

I’ll leave you with this and I’ll get a little philosophical here, but it’s important. What that taught me to do is go to the originators, the center. When it came to religion, I’ve learned to look at the founding fathers, the apostolic fathers, the people who gave their lives for what they believed. What did they believe? I went there. I didn’t listen to preachers on TV. When it comes to America, I don’t listen to this and I don’t listen to that. I listen to the founding fathers. I listen to the people that invented liberty. They actually invented it and they were willing to give their lives for it. That’s what I want to know. What did they believe? Then I went to the Blues. And I go to the founding fathers. I go to Skip James. I go to Robert Johnson. I go to those guys and I want to know what their intention was when it comes to the music. In A.A., I want to know what those guys who started the program thought. The degree of sanity I have comes from that.

PKM: Cool. We’re at a half hour. One last question: What makes a blues song?

Dion DiMucci: Honesty, truthfulness, being real.

Crashing The Party (CTP Heroes–Dion)

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/crashingthepartyradioshow/episodes/2019-11-21T04_26_54-08_00

Dion’s website: https://diondimucci.com

Dion’s official Youtube channel:

Amazing interview! I really wanted more 🤙🏻

More From Forbes

Rock icon dion recalls 1959 plane crash that killed buddy holly, ritchie valens and the big bopper.

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When I called rock legend Dion DiMucci for an interview recently, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. When he answered the phone “Yo,” I thought of his tough-guy roots in Bronx gangs singing doo-wop on stoops. What would he be like? A macho guy like in his hit song, "The Wanderer?"

Truth is, Dion is a sensitive, funny person with stories. I mean real stories. Now 79, his memory is sharp and vivid. For an hour and a half, we discussed his seasoned career. Who in real life is Runaround Sue, The Wanderer? What does Dion think about the British rock invasion of the early sixties? What does he remember about Del Shannon? How does he feel as the guy who says he gave his seat to Ritchie Valens when that plane crashed killing Valens, J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson and Buddy Holly en route to their next gig in Fargo, ND, on Feb. 3, 1959?

Following is part one in a series of edited interview excerpts that answer all of those questions and more, including news of a new play about Dion's life set to open in New York soon. Part 1 below focuses on the tragic plane crash.

Dion DiMucci 1960s publicity shot

Jim Clash : Do you think you have played "Runaround Sue" more often than you’ve done media interviews [laughs]?

Dion DiMucci: Definitely [laughs]. I never got into this business to do interviews. It was always about the music.

Clash: Let's start with a life-changing event. In 1959, a plane with The Big Bopper, Ritchie Valens and Buddy Holly crashed while you all were on the Winter Dance Party tour, killing all three stars and the pilot. You were 19 at the time. What are your recollections now?

DiMucci: It did change my life. I got to know Buddy Holly pretty well. I introduced him to Manny’s Music on 48 th Street in New York and a clothing shop on Third Avenue [laughs]. We all went out on that tour in January 1959. We rehearsed in Chicago first. Then we drove up to Milwaukee in a bus. It was not the typical bus you see today, like a Golden Eagle. It was a yellow church school bus out of a parking lot. That was it.

It was a lot of fun in the back of that bus with Ritchie Valens, Buddy and The Big Bopper sharing each other's songs. After two weeks into the tour, the bus had broken down so many times. That night in Clear Lake, IA, Buddy just got fed up. He was a little older, 22 I think. He was very decisive. He impressed me because I was 19 and insecure. He decided to charter a plane so we could get to the next stop, get a shower, get some sleep, get our wash done. It was like 400 miles in blinding snow to Fargo, ND.

So he chartered a Beechcraft Bonanza. That night we were all tired after the show. He took us into this room. And he said, “Listen, there’s only four seats on the plane." The pilot took up one and there was room for only three others. One of the headliners couldn't go. So let’s flip a coin to see who gets to fly and who goes on the bus. Ritchie was sick and wasn't really crazy about flying. Anyway we flipped the coin, and I won the toss.

Then we found out it was going to cost $36 for each of us. It would have been less than a two-hour flight. On the bus, we would have to drive all night to Fargo. But when he said $36, a light went off in my head because my father paid that monthly for rent in the Bronx. So I thought, ‘I’m not going to spend a whole month’s rent just for a flight.’ My primary reason for not going was the $36! So I said to Ritchie, “Please, you go on the plane. Take your coat. Stay warm. I’ll watch your guitars." Buddy then said to me: “Watch my guitar, too. Take care of it like you would take care of your testicles [laughs].” I said okay. Later on, when I saw Peter Townshend [The Who] break a Fender guitar on-stage, I thought it was a sacrilege. Guitars were like gold to us.

Anyway, the four of them left for the airport around midnight. I got on the bus with some of the back-up musicians. The plane took off, and within five minutes crashed in a storm. The next morning, when we showed up and pulled in to the hotel in Fargo, I remember it as a sunny day. We got off the bus and the locals were in the lobby watching this black-and-white TV. It was coming across the screen that these three rock-and-roll artists had died in a plane crash. Jim, it was hard to get my mind around it. I didn’t even know how to grab onto that. It baffled me. I have a good memory before that happened, but after I don’t remember too much.

We stayed out on tour for two more weeks. I was singing some of Ritchie’s songs, some of Buddy’s. We got telegrams from Bobby Darin, Phil Spector, Dick Clark, Paul Anka. Back then it was telegrams, not texts. When I finally came back to the Bronx, there was no grief counseling. My parents didn’t talk about it. Nothing. Years later, I talked to my father. He said that when he heard the news it felt like getting open-heart surgery without the anaesthesia. My sister, Joanie, was making a peanut butter sandwich and just collapsed on her knees. She didn’t even know who it was in the plane crash. The news was just that three rock-and-rollers had died.

The rock icon Dion DiMucci today.

In the lobby of the hotel, we had gotten on the line, making all of these calls. But nobody thought of calling Ritchie’s mother. Or Buddy’s family. We didn’t have their numbers. A lot of people didn’t even get through to their own homes because the lines were so busy. So a lot of these families just heard it on radio, like my family. Radio was big in those days.

Those three guys affected my life on a lot of levels. Buddy told me once, "Dion, I don’t know how to succeed, but I know how to fail. Try to please everybody, and you’ll go nowhere." If he didn’t tell me that, I probably never would have done "Runaround Sue," "The Wanderer," "Abraham, Martin and John." I miss those guys. Thank God that in my faith, relationships never end. I always ask for their prayers, because I feel they are closer to the beatific vision, and are helping me out. I have three angels up there.

Editor's Note: In another popular account of this story, it is said that musician Waylon Jennings is the one who gave up his seat on the plane that fateful night. Jennings died in 2002.

[In the next parts of this interview series, we will discuss the British Invasion, Del Shannon, who Runaround Sue and The Wanderer are in real life, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, how Dion kicked his drug habit and more. Stay tuned to the Forbes channel.]

Part 2: Rocker Dion DiMucci On His Big Hit The Wanderer, Del Shannon

Part 3: Who Was Runaround Sue? Dion In His Own Words

Part 4: What Does Rocker Dion Think About Robert Kennedy, Paul Simon And The Sgt. Pepper’s LP?

Part 5: Rocker Dion Discusses A New Play About His Life, How He Kicked His Heroin Habit

Part 6: Rocker Dion On His Early Years, When He Realized He Could Sing, Is He Wealthy?

Part 7: Rock Icon Dion On The American Dream, God, Fame

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Dion DiMucci

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Meet Dion, one of the last living links to the earliest days of rock ’n’ roll

Doo-wop’s elder statesman on buddy holly, dylan and king david.

From magazine issue: 30 May 2020

Graeme Thomson

Only two of the Beatles’ pop contemporaries are depicted on the cover of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band . One is Bob Dylan. The other is Dion DiMucci. In a pleasing third-act twist, Dylan contributes the liner notes to Dion’s new album Blues With Friends — an act of deference that the recipient is still processing. ‘I asked him, I didn’t know if he had the time, but he sent me back those paragraphs and said that I knew how to write a song.’ He whistles. ‘That’s from a Nobel Prize winner. I thought, I’ll take it, I’ll take it!’

So he should. Dion — like Kylie, a single moniker suffices — is one of the last living links to the early days of street-corner rock ’n’ roll. A rough-around-the-edges Italian–American from the Bronx, he headed the first wave of smart-assed tough–talking urban singers. As the front man of vocal quartet Dion and the Belmonts, he enjoyed huge success in the late 1950s with doo-wop perennials ‘Teenager in Love’ and ‘Where or When’. After going solo, he recorded ‘The Wanderer’, ‘Runaround Sue’ and ‘Ruby Baby’. Later, he made the shift to socially conscious singer-songwriter (Dion recorded the original version of ‘Abraham, Martin and John’ in 1968, quickly picked up by Marvin Gaye), negotiated heroin addiction and converted to evangelical Christianity.

Bruce Springsteen, one of numerous A-list guests on Blues With Friends , describes Dion as the link between Frank Sinatra and rock ’n’ roll. Lou Reed inducted him into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. Simon & Garfunkel performed ‘Teenager in Love’ at their farewell concert in 1970. He’s well connected. A made guy.

Dion was offered a seat on the plane that killed Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens

It turns out Dylan and Dion go way back to 1962, but then Dion goes way back with pretty much everyone. Rock ’n’ roll history spirals inside him like the rings in an old oak. The recent death of Little Richard prompts a memory of touring with the great bawler, where he observed the contrast between Richard’s bug-eyed preacher persona and the private man. ‘When I was alone with him, he was very thoughtful, very considerate and just very present. He was not a self-centred crazy guy, the way he would appear on stage or on talk shows. He had another side to him.’

He toured with Sam Cooke, who ‘sheltered me and championed my cause. He took me to see James Brown in the black nightclubs, and looked out for me. He was a very refined guy’. In February 1959, Dion was offered a seat on the tiny single-engine plane that crashed and killed Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens. Travelling together on the Winter Dance Party tour, following a concert in Clear Lake, Iowa, the four men discussed flying to their next booking. Dion felt the $36 ticket price was a stretch and opted instead to slog it out on the tour bus. ‘I was the only guy in the room who was alive the next day,’ he says.

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Before Holly died, he told Dion: ‘I don’t know how to succeed, but I know how to fail: try to please everybody, that’ll make you fail.’ He took the advice to heart. He’s especially proud that Blues With Friends features 14 original new songs. ‘I don’t care about nostalgia,’ he says, and I believe him. ‘I don’t care if you remember the old days.’

At 80, he still has plenty of accentuated Noo Yoik moxie to burn. Calling from his lakeside home, where he is self-isolating with his wife, Susan (they met when he was 17 and she was 15, and have been married for 57 years), he describes himself as a ‘rhythm singer’. He’s a rhythm talker, too. Hard facts are ‘bona fide certified’. He works like ‘a donkey with diamonds on my back’. On a hot writing streak, he ‘steps under the spout where the glory comes out’. His aphorisms aren’t just quirky; they feel useful: ‘A good song never gets tired; only the singer does.’

On Blues With Friends Dion has pulled rank, calling in favours from many of the second-generation rock-and-rollers he influenced over the years. Hence the contributions from Dylan, Springsteen, Paul Simon, Van Morrison — ‘I go back with Van to “Brown Eyed Girl’’ ’ — as well as younger acolytes such as Joe Bonamassa and Samantha Fish. He haggled with Morrison. Dion wanted him to play saxophone; the Irishman insisted on singing — ‘and lemme tell you, you haven’t lived until you sing with Van Morrison’.

He regards his elder statesman status philosophically. He’s clearly proud of it, but seems uncomfortable being reminded of the fact. ‘Paul Simon lived in Queens, and he grew up with my music. They’ve all told me how they listened, but sometimes it’s hard to receive it. They say the last stage of humility is learning how to receive. I don’t think I’ve gotten there. I still push back. But these guys have kept me young over the decades, and inspired me back.’

The swaggering protagonist of Dion’s signature song ‘The Wanderer’ is an archetype, he says, drawn from the tattooed vest–wearing hard cases who prowled his old Bronx neighbourhood — with, I suspect, an element of self-portrait thrown in. ‘I was born knowing everything,’ he laughs. ‘Meanwhile, you don’t know anything. It’s that bullshit thing. “The Wanderer” is a funny song: “I roam from town to town, I go through life without a care / I’m as happy as a clown, with my two fists of iron, but I’m going nowhere.” The guy’s in on it. I thought he was worth a song. It seems like every decade or so, that same theme reappears. On this album it’s “I Got the Cure”. Same guy.’

On ‘I Got the Cure’, a brash, braggadocio blues, Dion sings ‘Don’t need no smack, or crack cocaine’. He cleaned up from heroin in 1968, thereafter devoting himself to the Lord rather than the needle. ‘It does seem like a different lifetime, but it’s something you never forget,’ he says. ‘There was a time when I thought that wealth, pleasure, power, honour would fill me up. I thought that was what I needed. Then I found out different. Fifty-two years ago I got on my knees and said, “Man, I need some help.” ’ The catalyst was the death from an overdose of his friend and fellow doo-wop singer Frankie Lymon. ‘I was devastated. I said, “God, help me.” I didn’t know God from a hole in the wall — but I asked, and I spun around. I haven’t had a drug or a drink since.’

Perhaps he knew God better than he realised. Rock ’n’ roll mythology is, after all, simply a variation of religious fervour. ‘I was always a weird kid anyway,’ he says. ‘I always liked to read Thomas Aquinas, St Augustine, St Francis, Thomas Merton. They were so radical! I heard that St Francis gave up all his money and walked around with no shoes — what the hell was all that about? I wanted to know.’ The blues, for Dion, is a form of sacred communion. ‘I define it as the naked cry of the human heart, longing to be in union with God. Like the Psalms. King David wrote these songs — if you retitle them, you could call them the blues.’

A jukebox musical based on his life and music was due to open Stateside this month, but has been delayed by Covid-19. The Wanderer , with a book by Charles Messina, will premiere next April. Dion watched it develop, saw his four-score years unspooling before his eyes. ‘This kid wrote some story,’ he says. How could he not? It’s been some life.

Blues With Friends is out on 5 June on KTBA Records.

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Main Content

Dion, aka Dion DiMucci, is a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter. Over the course of his nearly 60-year career, Dion has released more than 30 albums and scored seven Top 10 hits on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, including "Runaround Sue," "Ruby Baby," "The Wanderer" and "Lovers Who Wander." He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. Dion's latest album, New York Is My Home, was released in February.

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Dion On The Dancefloor With Dion DiMucci (CD)

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Dion: On The Dancefloor With Dion DiMucci (CD)

Bear Family Records ® welcomes Dion DiMucci - one of the most successful artists of his generation - to our 'Dancefloor' series.
He was the lead singer in Dion and The Belmonts (I Wonder Why, A Teenager In Love , Where Or When) and as a solo artist landed major hits such as Lonely Teenager, Runaround Sue, The Wanderer, Ruby Baby and Donna The Prima Donna.
This album, compiled by Nico Feuerbach with liner notes written by Bill Dahl based on a interview with Dion, describes Dion's career from a '50s rocker to a '60s pop star!
Dion: popular worldwide at the latest since the Warner film success ' The Wanderers ' in 1979.
The American singer and songwriter Dion DiMucci, or Dion for short, was born in 1939 in the Bronx, New York City . With his vocal group Dion & The Belmonts, he landed the first doo-wop and R'n'R hits in the late 1950s. He left the Belmonts around 1960 and they continued to work without him.

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A Teenager In Love

Dion und die Belmonts

Dion and The Belmonts A Teenager In Love (Doc Pomus-Mort Shuman) Laurie 3027 2:36

The pride of the Bronx, Dion and The Belmonts personified the best in Italian-American doo-wop, by now flourishing across the boroughs of New York City. Lead singer Dion DiMucci describes his quartet's brawny sound as "black music filtered through an Italian neighborhood and comes out with an attitude: 'Yo!' It's true. It has all those elements. But the New York Italian-American, there's an element of, 'Yo! You talkin' to me?' There's this kind of idea, like you come across like you're supposed to know everything. I don't know where I got that idea, because it's absurd. But anyway, that's the attitude. I would say it's a confidence."

DiMucci assembled his Belmonts from the mean streets of his home turf, gathering first tenor Angelo D'Aleo, second tenor Fred Milano, and baritone/bass Carlo Mastrangelo. Their infectious I Wonder Why was a pop hit in the spring of 1958 on brothers Bob and Gene Schwartz's freshly minted Laurie Records, and they were just getting started (it's on our previous compilation). For their next Laurie outing, Dion and his cronies gave Fats Domino's I Can't Go On (Rosalie) a rocking reading, but it was the butter-smooth ballad flip No One Knows that made the charts late that summer, actually bettering I Wonder Why at #19 pop. Before year's end, they charted again with another tender ballad, Don't Pity Me.

Brill Building denizens Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman were about to embark on an incredible songwriting roll, having just handed Fabian his first smash. "I wanted to do 'Turn Me Loose,'" notes Dion. "I liked 'Turn Me Loose.'" The prolific duo had something special for Dion and The Belmonts too. "The way 'A Teenager In Love' came in, Ricky Nelson had 'Poor Little Fool.' So I kind of sang it to The Belmonts, and they started doing this thing," says Dion. "Then Mort Shuman and Doc Pomus, they had another song, I forget what it was called. And they kind of changed it to 'Teenager In Love,' and put that together. So it was kind of wonderful to just kind of sit on this blanket, the sound that the group was making. But definitely, if you listen to 'Poor Little Fool,' you can hear what kind of inspired it.' Waxed March 3, 1959 and issued on the same month with the mellow I've Cried Before on the flip, A Teenager In Love was a #5 pop smash that spring. Dion and The Belmonts were now teen idols. DiMucci wisely never underestimated the value of his songwriters.

"Doc Pomus was like a father to me, very much so. He really encouraged me. I miss him. He was just a great guy. I just used to like talking to Doc. Mort Shuman I loved. Mort Shuman was totally incredible," says Dion. "He was a great guy to hang out with. He was so interesting. I loved being with him."

If you have to own only one CD of Dion then this is definitely the one to get

I know I've posted this cd earlier this week when it was delivered in the mail. Now I have to post it again during my first listen. That's because I'm convinced this is the best release of 2024, it can't be beaten! Sure I already owned every song but hearing all these great songs back to back is something else. No interruption by mediocre tracks. Gem after gem! Dion's swagger is getting across better than ever. So great.

The best compilation I have ever heard!

Delivered today. Wow this is best Dion I’ve ever heard. Best remastered!

Großartig! Dion ist für mich der perfekte Übergang vom Rock & Roll zum Pop! Klasse Zusammenstellung! Wie wäre es mal mit einer Box?

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Dion DiMucci: "Blues is a tradition. But it’s a living tradition. It’s

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Dion Tickets, Tour Dates & Concerts 2025 & 2024
Doo wop legend Dion DiMucci (born July 18th, 1939), helped pave the way for the British Invasion, moving towards blues-folk and rock territory as his career progressed. ... Dion tour dates and tickets 2024-2025 near you. Want to see Dion in concert? Find information on all of Dion's upcoming concerts, tour dates and ticket information for ...
Dion DiMucci
Stay up to date with Dion here. By entering your email, you are signing up for more information from Dion Dimucci as well as Joe Bonamassa, Keeping the Blues Alive & J&R Adventures. Email Subscribe. Facebook-f Youtube Spotify Twitter Instagram.
Dion Tickets, 2024 Concert Tour Dates
About. Dion DiMucci, best known mononymously as Dion, is a world-renowned singer and songwriter with a career spanning decades. Best known for doo-wop jukebox classics like "Runaround Sue," "The Wanderer" and "Ruby Baby," Dion earned 39 Top 40 hits across the 1950s and '60s both as a solo artist and with the Belmonts and the Del-Satins.
Dion Concerts & Live Tour Dates: 2024-2025 Tickets
Dion Francis DiMucci (b July 18, 1939), better known as Dion, is an American singer-songwriter, now widely recognized as one of the top singers of his era, blending the best elements of doo-wop, pop, and R&B styles. ... Following a European tour, Dion returned to the USA and was introduced to classic blues music by Columbia's John Hammond. To ...
DION
DION. 262,039 likes · 579 talking about this. Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame Inductee. Grammy Nominated Singer & Songwriter
Dion
Dion was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, introduced by Lou Reed. In 2015 Dion signed with Instant Records for the 2016 album "New York Is My Home."
Dion DiMucci: Who Were 'Runaround Sue' And 'The Wanderer'?
Buddy told me once, "Dion, I don't know how to succeed, but I know how to fail. Try to please everybody, and you'll go nowhere." If he didn't tell me that, I probably never would have done ...
Dion DiMucci
Early life. Dion was born to an Italian-American family in the Bronx, New York. He accompanied his father, Pasquale DiMucci (a vaudeville entertainer), on tour as a child. He developed a love of country music, particularly the work of Hank Williams.He was also fond of blues and doo-wop musicians he heard performing in local bars and on the radio. His singing was honed on the street corners and ...
Dion DiMucci Talks Longevity, Faith and Casting Great Guitarists for an
Dion DiMucci Talks Longevity, Faith and Casting Great Guitarists for an All-Star Blues Record. By Mark McStea. published 15 September 2020. ... and they were premiering a video that I did for them about the last Buddy Holly tour. [Writer] Dave Marsh was there doing a Q&A with me, and at one point he said to me that I was the only guy that ...
Dion DiMucci: "Blues is a tradition. But it's a living tradition. It's
Coming up on the Bronx's mean streets as the poster boy of '50s doo-wop was just the start for Dion DiMucci. Spared from the 1959 plane crash that killed tour-mate Buddy Holly, then seduced by the blues, his six-decade path has led through treacherous Southern juke joints, crippling addiction, rebirth and his late-period status as a rock 'n ...
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Stay up to date with Dion here. By entering your email, you are signing up for more information from Dion Dimucci as well as Joe Bonamassa, Keeping the Blues Alive & J&R Adventures. Email Subscribe. Facebook-f Youtube Spotify Twitter Instagram.
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Dion DiMucci
Dion DiMucci's impact goes beyond his rock and doo-wop roots, touching the hearts of countless fans and inspiring aspiring artists. As a visionary in the music world, he's left an indelible mark ...
Dion Tickets, 2024 Concert Tour Dates
Buy Dion tickets from the official Ticketmaster.ca site. Find Dion tour schedule, concert details, reviews and photos. ... Dion DiMucci, best known mononymously as Dion, is a world-renowned singer and songwriter with a career spanning decades. Best known for doo-wop jukebox classics like "Runaround Sue," "The Wanderer" and "Ruby Baby," Dion ...
Dion in Concert
Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Dion DiMucci, his band, and his special guest, daughter Lark DiMucci, perform in concert at the Warwick Musical Theatre, Warwick,...
Dion: 'When I heard my album sober, I thought "Wow
Now at 80, Dion is embracing the blues - and his status as one of the last rock'n'rollers standing. D ion DiMucci was 13, maybe 14, when he first sang in a club for money, roughly the same ...
Dion DiMucci Concert & Tour History
The songs that Dion DiMucci performs live vary, but here's the latest setlist that we have from the February 12, 1978 concert at Bottom Line in New York, New York, United States: The Wanderer. Abraham, Martin and John. Ruby Baby. Dion DiMucci tours & concert list along with photos, videos, and setlists of their live performances.
Dion is still a New York guy at heart
Dion is still a New York guy at heart. By Brian Aberback. Published 11:56 PM PDT, July 25, 2016. Dion DiMucci's image of America does not include fruited plains or amber waves of grain. "For me God's country is sirens and subways and all kinds of ethnic groups trying to cross the street all at once," said the Bronx native and legendary ...
CHASING DOWN THE WANDERER: THIRTY MINUTES WITH DION
Dion DiMucci is rock 'n' roll's ageless wonder. In his 80s now, he continues to amaze and inspire us with new material and new takes on old material. Norton Records released his Kickin' Child "lost" ... Dion DiMucci: On the tour I did with Sam Cooke, Bobby "Blue" Bland was with us and Little Willie John. That stuff got in me.
Rock Icon Dion Recalls 1959 Plane Crash That Killed Buddy Holly
In this exclusive interview series with Forbes, rock icon Dion DiMucci discusses his life - the good, the bad and the ugly. ... After two weeks into the tour, the bus had broken down so many times ...
Dion DiMucci
Dion & the Belmonts. 05/09/1979. Center Stage. Canton. Michigan. USA. The Dave Edmunds Rock 'n' Roll Revue. 03/23/1990. Royal Oak Music Theater.
Meet Dion, one of the last living links to the earliest days of rock 'n
The other is Dion DiMucci. ... Travelling together on the Winter Dance Party tour, following a concert in Clear Lake, Iowa, the four men discussed flying to their next booking. Dion felt the $36 ...
Dion Concert Setlists
[traditional] The Ad Libs The Beach Boys The Beatles Chuck Berry The Cadillacs Harry Chapin Eddie Cochran Leonard Cohen Dion & The Belmonts Willie Dixon & Memphis Slim Donovan The Drifters Bob Dylan Mildred J. Hill & Patty Hill Little Steven Little Walter Blind Willie McTell Carl Perkins Bruce Springsteen Big Joe Turner & His Blues Kings The Weavers Sonny West Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra ...
Dion on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Musician. Dion, aka Dion DiMucci, is a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter. Over the course of his nearly 60-year career, Dion has released more than 30 albums and scored seven Top 10 hits on ...
Dion DiMucci Concert Setlists
MBID. 38d6d944-e9e7-4d5f-9daa-7d1b9482a320. Get Dion DiMucci setlists - view them, share them, discuss them with other Dion DiMucci fans for free on setlist.fm!
Dion DiMucci Next Concert Setlist & tour dates
Next time you see Dion DiMucci live (or if you already attented a show), add whatever song you remember from the concert to Setlist.fm. Comments (0) Your comment
Bobby Darin, Dion, and Life After Early Stardom
Dion DiMucci and Bobby Darin had to confront those choices while still in their 20s in the mid-'60s. How they handled that transition contains some lessons for today's young stars. The two men ...
Dion DiMucci (@diondimuccirockmusicpage)
642 Followers, 87 Following, 82 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Dion DiMucci (@diondimuccirockmusicpage)
Dion DiMucci: Blues With Friends
American singer and songwriter Dion DiMucci recalls key relationships during his music career that inspired his new album, "Blues With Friends." Amid current...
Dion CD: On The Dancefloor With Dion DiMucci (CD)
Dion: On The Dancefloor With Dion DiMucci (CD) 1-CD (Digipak) with 36 page booklet, 29 tracks. Total playing time approx. 78 min. Bear Family Records ® welcomes Dion DiMucci - one of the most successful artists of his generation - to our 'Dancefloor' series. He was the lead singer in Dion and The Belmonts (I Wonder Why, A Teenager In Love ...

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Live Photos of Dion

Dion DiMucci Talks Longevity, Faith and Casting Great Guitarists for an All-Star Blues Record

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Dion DiMucci: "Blues is a tradition. But it’s a living tradition. It’s not dead. It’s a handing-down and passing-on"

Love at first strum

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Wrong side of the tracks

Have guitar, will travel

On the road

First time I met the blues

Who's afraid of the Howlin' Wolf

Black and white

In Bob we trust

The drugs don't work

Larking with you

With a little help from my friends

They don't make 'em like they used to

The future's bright

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Dion: 'When I heard my album sober, I thought "Wow – heroin didn't touch it"'

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Dion is still a New York guy at heart

CHASING DOWN THE WANDERER: THIRTY MINUTES WITH DION

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Dion On The Dancefloor With Dion DiMucci (CD)

Dion: On The Dancefloor With Dion DiMucci (CD)

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If you have to own only one CD of Dion then this is definitely the one to get

The best compilation I have ever heard!

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