Dion DiMucci, one of rock’s most deservedly celebrated singers, regularly occupied high positions on the pop charts from 1957 to 1963, first with his group the Belmonts, and then on his own. Dion hasn’t had a hit since 1968’s “Abraham, Martin, and John,” but that’s not because his abilities have diminished. Rather, it’s because—aside from occasional exceptions like 2000’s great “Shu Bop” doo-wop excursion—he has over the last half-century mostly eschewed music with the greatest commercial potential in favor of blues-rock, which reaches a smaller audience.
In recent years, he has treated that audience to a series of excellent albums, including 2020’s Blues with Friends, which features such guests as Jeff Beck, Van Morrison, Paul Simon and Bruce Springsteen; and 2021’s Stomping Ground, where his accompanists include Mark Knopfler, Eric Clapton and Rickie Lee Jones.
If you’re familiar with either of those CDs, you won’t be surprised by the new Girl Friends. Like those earlier releases, this one is dominated by new material co-written by the singer and Mike Aquilina, who has been collaborating with Dion since 2011. And like the earlier albums, Girl Friends finds him sharing center stage with other artists—in this case, as the title suggests, with female performers. They’re mostly not as well-known as the guests on the other records, but they’re all supremely talented.
The album, released March 8, 2024, went immediately to #1 on the Billboard blues chart, Dion’s third consecutive blues chart-topper. It’s available for order in the U.S. here and in the U.K. here.)
Highlights include “Don’t You Want a Man Like Me,” which incorporates vocals and slide guitar by the inimitable Rory Block; the infectious, rock-inflected “Hey Suzy,” a song that Dion previously featured on 2000’s Deja Nu and that offers lead guitar and vocals by Sue Foley; and “Mama Said,” where Dion trades verses with the soulful Shemekia Copeland.
But the best cut may be the one that’s least typical of the program: the anthemic, strings-spiced “An American Hero,” which finds Dion duetting with Carlene Carter. This number, which Dion describes as a “love song to the American people,” sounds like a followup to Blues with Friends’ terrific “Song for Sam Cooke (Here in America).” It’s moody and moving and more proof, if anyone needs it, that the now 84-year-old Dion still has what it takes to make great music.
Related: Dion’s moving tribute to “Abraham, Martin and John”
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