A brand-new album from legendary first-generation rock and roller Dion DiMucci is out now on all digital platforms and CD. The Rock ’n’ Roll Philosopher, a 16-track collection released by KTBA Records, brings together new material, recent favourites, and timeless songs spanning Dion’s extraordinary seven-decade career.
The album serves as a companion to Dion’s recent book of the same name, co-authored with Adam Jablin. Like the book, it offers a deep reflection on a life lived through music, creativity, faith, and redemption. “I thought I would just let it run like a concert,” Dion told Billboard. “That was my vision; if I had to do a set with a band, I’m gonna do these 16 songs in this order. It’s the perfect concert.”
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In the album notes, Dion explains, “I pulled together some of the songs I discussed in the book and some of them I changed.” The result is both a musical memoir and a celebration of resilience, exploring addiction, recovery, friendship, and love with the same poetic honesty that has long defined his songwriting.
Produced mostly by Dion and Wayne Hood, with additional production from Bob Guertin and Jimmy Vivino, the record features appearances by Sonny Landreth, Joe Bonamassa, Mark Knopfler, and Eric Clapton, who also wrote a 600-word foreword calling Dion “one of a kind, unparalleled in his achievement and stature. He is a genius singer, writer, musician and healer.”
The album includes new originals such as I’m Your Gangster of Love and New York Minute, alongside reimagined versions of classics like Runaround Sue, The Wanderer, Ruby Baby, and Abraham, Martin and John. There is also Serenade/Come To The Cross, a moving adaptation of Tom Waits’ San Diego Serenade paired with one of Dion’s own songs of faith.
Dion’s creative partnership with the late Scott Kempner is also honoured on the record through New York Is My Home and In A Heartbeat of Time, while a live cut of King of the New York Streets captures the raw energy of Dion and The Little Kings at New York’s Mercury Lounge.
Now in his mid-eighties, Dion continues to deliver music that speaks to the heart and soul of rock and roll. The Rock ’n’ Roll Philosopher is not just an album title; it is a fitting description of one of the genre’s true originals.ls.
