One of the True Greats is Gone - Jim Dickinson R.I.P.

I just found out about this.

James Luther Dickinson. One of the secret, underground heroes of rock'n'roll. Truly great as a producer, sideman, and solo artist.

I guess this fulfills the "rule of three" following the deaths of Rashied Ali and Les Paul, but as huge as those other two were, Dickinson meant the most to me.

I'll have to write more on this later.

Update:
This obit/tribute has been linked to by several people, and with good reason.

Update #2:
Chuck Prophet's reminiscences of his friend. Way worth reading. Even includes a Mantan Moreland reference!

Update #3: A thought on Dickinson's solo work

Dickinson's first, and for many years only, solo album, Dixie Fried, is quite rightly considered an underground classic. One thing his more recent work has going for it, though, is the more mature Dickinson voice. As he aged, his voice grew into a rich, deep, formidable growl. For me, this deepened the impact of his vocals in the fashion of a veteran blues singer (which Dickinson was, among many other things). He even put that voice to good use on a spoken word album, parts of which are as close as most of us could ever come to the experience of sitting around on a porch with the man, listening to his stories.