The Dave & Deke Combo "Hollywood Barndance" 1996

While still with Untamed Youth, Dickerson started a rockabilly side project with the multitalented Dave Stuckey. Officially changing his stage name from Derek to Deke--after Elvis Presley's character in the 1956 film Loving You--they were christened the Dave & Deke Combo. "We started playing in May or June of 1991 and it took off immediately, because L.A. has always had such a good rockabilly scene," Dickerson recalled. "In the beginning, we both wanted to do a mix of rockabilly, rock & roll, and hillbilly stuff, and we both loved the Homer & Jethro type country humor. Our 'schtick' was that I was the idiot, he was the straight man. In the meantime, Stuckey was playing drums for the Untamed Youth as well."…...Dave & Deke's accent on the hillbilly side of rockabilly put them ahead of the roots music curve and they developed solid pockets of fans in America and England. Following the lead of Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys and legendary 1950s rockabilly Ronnie Dawson, they signed a one-shot recording deal with Barney Koumis' No Hit label in England. Their full-length debut, Moonshine Melodies, cost a mere $400 to produce. Dickerson himself considers their second LP for Heydey, the eclectic jumping Hollywood Barndance, to be the duo's most enduring musical achievement.
It was during his stint with Stuckey that Dickerson found his instrumental trademark, the double-necked guitar--which had been popularized by two of his idols from the 1950s, country ace Joe Maphis and Larry Collins of the Collins Kids. "Real early on in the Dave & Deke Combo, we played in Bakersfield. The next day we went to a pawnshop and there was this really funky Mosrite doubleneck that was probably put together with spare parts after they went out of business--it was obviously not a pedigreed doubleneck. But, it was very hip and the guy only wanted three hundred bucks for it. So I got it and about two weeks later I found out I couldn't play any gigs without it! People would get disappointed or even angry if I showed up without this doublenecked guitar."
The Dave & Deke Combo dissolved via a classic example of creative differences. Stuckey wanted to phase rock 'n' roll out of their act in favor of hardcore western swing. Dickerson, who liked mixing up his sounds, did not. "I know the common consensus has been that if I had stayed in the band we would have accomplished a lot more," Dickerson reflects today, "but the truth is that we were not popular when the band was together. We only became popular after the band broke up. If we had stayed together we would have imploded and it would have been much uglier." - by Ken Burketrax:
01 - Let's Flat Get on It 02 - Snatchin' and Grabbin' 03 - Right Behind Me 04 - Let Go of Louie 05 - El Cumbanchero 06 - Cut Out That Boogie 07 - Did Anybody Mention My Name 08 - No Good Woman 09 - Hitch In My Get-A-Long 10 - Two Timin' Mama 11 - Slippin' and Slidin' (and Scootin' Around) 12 - Henpecked Peckerwood 13 - Going Steady with the Blues 14 - Deke's Hot Guitar 15 - Half Shot Boogie 16 - Baby's Hot Rod 17 - Wild Woman 18 - Chrome Dome
…originally served by Licorice Pizza...