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One man towers -- literally and figuratively -- over the West Coast retrobilly scene, and that man is Deke Dickerson, the good-natured guitar god from Burbank. After carving out a name for himself as a teenage axeman in the garage-surf outfit Untamed Youth, the flattopped, 6-foot-2-inch titan achieved legendary status for his Joe Maphis/Jimmy Bryant-derived six-string wizardry in the Dave & Deke Combo, a hillbilly-boogie act that toured worldwide and backed up rockabilly old-timers such as the Collins Kids. When the Combo broke up in the mid-1990s, Dickerson signed up with the local HighTone label, and delved deep into oldies rock and doo-wop on a series of solo albums full of the old nudge-nudge, wink-wink.

Aime Joseph

Details

Friday, Jan. 5, at 9 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door; call 885-0750. Dickerson also performs with the Torpedoes Saturday, Jan. 20, at 9:45 p.m. at the Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck, Berkeley. Tickets are $8; call (510) 841-2082.

Sample of Deke Dickerson and the Ecco-Fonics' "(If I Go to Heaven) Give Me a Brunette," from the CD Rhythm Rhyme and Truth. Click the "play" icon in the control console below.

<p align="center"> If your browser doesn't display a control console, <a href="http://www.sfweekly.com/media/2001-01-03/dickerson.mp3"> download the MP3 file</a> to be played by a separate application. </p>

Find more information, or order the CD, at www.hightone.com/deke.

Great American Music Hall, 859 O'Farrell (at Polk), S.F.

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More About

• Deke Dickerson
• Burbank
• Dave Alvin
• Meat
• Foods

Deke's latest romp, Rhythm, Rhyme and Truth, sidesteps the flashy solos that dominated his last couple of records in favor of solid songwriting. Highlights include "Give Me a Brunette," a chick-watching song written in response to the countless ditties fetishizing redheads and blondes, and the hilariously macabre "Where to Aim," in which Deke ponders whom to shoot -- his ex-girlfriend or himself. As on earlier albums, guest stars abound: The Calvanes, an old-time doo-wop group that shares Dickerson's affinity for the kind of '50s sounds that never made it onto the American Graffiti soundtrack, make a particularly choice appearance.

This Friday, Dickerson shares the stage with local Americana act Red Meat, whose new album explores the outer reaches of the country novelty song. Produced by roots-rock guru Dave Alvin of the Blasters, Alameda County Line is the brightest and sleekest Red Meat album to date, capitalizing on the band's pop sensibilities and considerable chops.