(Major Label Records) 34 year-old Deke Dickerson has a penchant for the sounds of nostalgic rock, surf and hillbilly music- the kind that was played decades ago on scratchy vinyl. Over the past decade, that's exactly what he's been doing as part of the groups Untamed Youth, the Dave & Deke Combo, Go Nuts, and on his previous 4 solo discs. Over the course of his career, he's enlisted such forgotten legends as Bill Haley & The Comets' saxophonist Joey d'Ambrosio, R&B pioneer Hadda Brooks, Claude Trenier (of the Treniers), guitarist Larry Collins, and Jerry Scoggins (singer of the original Beverly Hillbillies theme).

Previously on the Hightone label, In 3-Dimensions! is Deke's 5th solo release and his first on his own Major Label Records label. It's something of a concept record, where he breaks things down into three separate sections, "Rock & Rollin' Deke!," "Rockabilly Deke!" and "Hillbilly Deke!" Each section (or EP if you will) was recorded separately with a different group of musicians for each section.

For "Rock & Rollin' Deke!," he landed legendary drummer Earl Palmer who's played with such greats as Little Richard, Fats Domino, Ritchie Valens and Sam Cooke- to name a few. And at the age of 78, Earl still burns down the house. Also on the "Rock" sessions Deke and Earl are joined by Carl Sonny Leyland's barrelhouse/boogie piano, former Ecco-phonic saxman Ron Dziubla and Los Straightjackets bassist Pete Curry. The set consists of three strong Dickerson originals, the sax heavy rave up "I Might Not Come Home At All," the boogie "Top Of The Line," and the mid-tempo syncopated rhythm of "Ain't Got A Reason." Deke follows up his originals with two covers, the first the Four Night's doo-wop "I Get So Lonely" which he kicks up several notches and Charlie Rich's jaunty "Sittin' & Thinkin'."

"Rockabilly Deke!" finds him fronting a three piece combo, Deke on guitar, Jeff Graves on standup bass and Craig Packham on drums. Here he delivers two fine originals, "Wear Out The Soles Of My Shoes" that has a strong Johnny Burnette feel to it and "Let's Go Wild." He gives a Sun era Orbison groove to a cover of Johnny Horton's "Take The Long Way Home," a strong thumping bassline to Hawkshaw Hawkins' "It Would Be A Doggone Lie," and delivers a standout haunting rendition of "Bitter Tears," which was the B-side to an obscure early 60s Rodney Scott song.

"Hillbilly Deke!" employs backing musicians Dave Leroy Biller (electric guitar) and Jeremy Wakefield (Bigsby steel guitar), probably best known for their work with Wayne Hancock, along with Billy Horton (acoustic bass), Fly-Rite Boy Bobby Tremble (drums), and Craig Packham (drums on "Knoxville Boogie). On this portion of the disc Deke contributes one original, the boogie/swing "Knoxville Boogie," and in the same vein, he delivers a terrific cover of  Joe "Cannonball" Lewis' "You've Been Honky-Tonkin'." He puts a fresh spin on Eddie Norack's "Too Hot To Handle," and the western swing "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes." Merle Travis' "Gambler's Guitar" is given a train chugging rhythm with some red hot guitar picking, Red Foley's "Pinball Boogie" is done up as jump/swing and Faron Young's swinging "I'm Gonna Live Some Before I Die" is delivered with a smooth touch of defiance. A hidden track has Dave and Jeremy tearing it up on Bob Wills' "Fat Boy Rag," with Deke providing some tasty bass sax licks. 

Though conceived as three separate sets, when strung together, In 3-Dimension also works as a whole that ties together the shared histories of inter-related genres. That accomplishment has much to do with Deke's talents as a singer, songwriter and producer who gathered together top notch backing musicians and first rate original and cover material. In 3-Dimension is arguably Deke Dickerson's strongest release to date- not to mention it's just plain fun. 

Standout Tracks:  "Top Of The Line," Sittin' & Thinkin'," "Wear Out The Soles Of My Shoes," "Take The Long Way Home," "Bitter Tears," You've Been Honky Tonkin'," "I'm Gonna Live Some Before I Die," "Fat Boy Rag (hidden track)"

The Last Word:  It rocks, it swings, it twangs- it smokes. Deke and In 3-Dimension has it all.

On The Net: www.dekedickerson.com

AnnMarie Harrington TakeCountryBack November 2003