DION RELEASES NEW STUDIO ALBUM “GIRL FRIENDS” TODAY
BLUES POWERHOUSE VOCALIST SHEMEKIA COPELAND FEATURED ON NEW SINGLE “MAMA SAID” – AVAILABLE NOW
ORDER THE NEW STUDIO ALBUM “GIRL FRIENDS” HERE
STREAM “MAMA SAID” NOW | WATCH THE OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO
Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Dion follows up the release of his much-lauded recent albums Blues With Friends (2020) and Stomping Ground (2021) with a new full-length album Girl Friends out today. This new album finds Dion in the company of twelve accomplished female musical collaborators on just as many new songs. Tracks featuring Susan Tedeschi, Danielle Nicole and Carlene Carter had been previously released as singles on digital streaming platforms. New single “Mama Said” with blues queen Shemekia Copeland is available now.
Dion noted, “When I wrote this song, I knew she was the one who could turn it into a standard. Girl’s got the blues in her blood.” The latter part of his comment is a reference to the fact that Shemekia is the daughter of the late Johnny “Clyde” Copeland whose playing and singing have long been admired by Dion.
Dion’s new album Girlfriends is available to order HERE. Stream the new single “Mama Said” HERE. Watch the official music video for “Mama Said” HERE.
Shemekia Copeland said, “Dion is so special to me; it’s an honor and thrill to have been asked to collaborate with him. I mean, what woman wouldn’t want to sing with Dion? Name me one! It’s every woman’s dream to sing with Dion and my dream just came true.”
Girl Friends is Dion’s third consecutive album through Joe Bonamassa’s label Keeping The Blues Alive Records. The previous two albums saw Dion collaborate with a range of luminaries including Bonamassa, Brian Setzer, the late Jeff Beck, John Hammond, Van Morrison, Joe Louis Walker, Jimmy Vivino, Billy Gibbons, Sonny Landreth, Paul Simon, Samantha Fish, Rory Block, Patti Scialfa, Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, Boz Scaggs, Eric Clapton, G. E. Smith, Keb’ Mo’, Marcia Ball, Mark Knopfler, Peter Frampton, and Rickie Lee Jones.
Dion explains the album’s raison d’être in a commentary titled “The Feminine Genius” that is included with Girl Friends. “I write about my preoccupations, and I know no better preoccupation than the female of the species. A friend of mine is a philosopher, and he talks often about ‘the feminine genius’ — the undeniable difference that’s in women and the difference that they make in the world. I’m grateful to my friend for giving it a name, because the fact has always been plain to me, but I could never put it into words.” He goes on to explain his mother was his family’s breadwinner, and that he had two sisters. He’s been married for 60 years to the former Susan Butterfield, whose is name-checked in the album’s “Hey Suzy,” and they are the parents of three daughters who, in turn, produced four more girls. He writes, “I’ve always been surrounded by the feminine genius — always living off it. Even my music has kept a tight focus on the ladies: ‘Runaround Sue,’ ‘Donna the Prima Donna,’ ‘Little Diane,’ ‘Ruby Baby.’ All those women, real and imagined, have made all the difference in my life.” He chronicles his female musical collaborators including those who joined him on his previous two albums as well as Darlene Love, Ronnie Spector, Cher, and Patty Smyth.
He observes, “I’ve noticed that men play a different tune when there are women in the room — and it’s a different kind of jam when women are in the mix. I don’t know why this is so, but it is. Maybe we men, at some primitive level, are competing for their attention. As I said, I don’t know why or how. I do know it makes better music and we’re all better for it.” He concludes with an encapsulation of vision for Girl Friends, “I wanted the best music possible. So, I wrote up a batch of duets for me and my ‘girl friends,’ the women who inhabit my headphones — the women who make me turn up the volume when they drop into my radio. I invited them to join me, one by one, and here they are, wailing on the guitar and into the microphone. You’ll hear the feminine genius in every groove of this record, and you won’t forget any of it”.
Girl Friends finds Dion keeping musical company with a line-up of stellar female artists who are heard on the album’s 12 original tracks, 11 of which were composed by Dion and Mike Aquilina, with one written by Dion and the late Scott Kempner (The Dictators, The Del Lords). Joining Copeland, Tedeschi, Nicole and Carter are Rory Block, Debbie Davis, Randi Fishenfeld, Sue Foley, Christine Ohlman, Maggie Rose, Joanne Shaw Taylor and Valerie Tyson. The album was produced by Wayne Hood and Dion, who were also producing partners on Blues With Friends and Stomping Ground. Blues With Friends includes liner notes by Bob Dylan, and Pete Townshend contributed the notes for Stomping Ground. The liner notes for Girl Friends are by Darlene Love, who wrote, “I’ve been a huge fan since I was a young girl. In fact, when I sang ‘He’s a Rebel’ I was singing about outsiders like Dion. I’m a bigger fan today. I’m still trying to emulate his unique bluesy overtones. Now I’m thrilled again with these new collaborations — not just friends, but all girl friends — great women vocalist and musicians. This is just what the world needs now. These duets are riveting.”
There’s more from Dion on the horizon. He will be saluted next month by the Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music at Monmouth University at its second annual American Music Honors event. Dion’s fellow honorees are Mavis Staples, Jackson Browne and John Mellencamp. Last year The Wanderer, a musical based on his life, debuted at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, NJ and is expected to arrive on Broadway next year. Directed by Kenneth Ferrone and based on Charles Messina’s book, the initial run was the subject of critical acclaim with Broadway World calling it “a moving, no-holds-barred new musical about the glow of the spotlight, the shadow of addiction, and the triumph of the human spirit against all odds, set to the iconic sound of an incomparable era in American music.” The New York Times review noted the show “succeeds on sheer sonic strength,” with reviewer Juan A. Ramírez adding, “I was continuously charmed by this throwback-y musical and its angel-voiced ensemble.”
Girl Friends – Track Listing
1. “Soul Force” with Susan Tedeschi
2. “I Aim To Please” with Danielle Nicole
3. “Stop Drop And Roll” with Valerie Tyson
4. “Do Ladies Get The Blues” with Christine Ohlman and Debbie Davis
5. “An American Hero” with Carlene Carter
6. “Don’t You Want A Man Like Me” with Rory Block
7. “Sugar Daddy” with Christine Ohlman
8. “Endless Highway” with Randi Fishenfeld
9. “I Got Wise” with Maggie Rose
10. “Hey Suzy” with Sue Foley
11. “Mama Said” with Shemekia Copeland
12. “Just Like That” with Joanne Shaw Taylor
