Talk:Julius Dixson

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[edit] Edited text at 9 September 2007

The following text was placed here by User:Dimdimbaby :-

Julius Dixson was born in Barnwell, South Carolina in 1913. He served in the Army during World War II in England and France. After the war Dixson re-enlisted and was assigned to Special Services and hosted a live weekly radio broadcast – Variety Jive – a variety show featuring new songwriters and musicians - for the forces in Germany and the Middle East. In 1949 he returned to the States and moved to New York City to work as a professional songwriter.

He had greatest success co-writing with Beverly Ross, a rare musical pairing of an African-American male and a white female in the 1950s. Their first major hit was "Dim, Dim The Lights", which Bill Haley recorded in 1954 as the follow-up to "Shake, Rattle and Roll". The song reached # 10 in Variety Magazine [’s ] prestigious Retail Discs Chart in January 1955 and # 11 on the Billboard pop charts. However, Dim, Dim The Lights is of historic importance as it is not only Haley's first crossover hit with the Black R&B audience, reaching # 10 on the R&B chart, but the first song recorded by a white artist to crossover to the R&B charts period. Dim Dim The Lights has been hailed to be the grand daddy song of Rock n’ Roll by Alan Freed and many others.

Also with Ross, he co-wrote "Lollipop" for the duo Ronald and Ruby, who were in fact Ronald Gumps (a Black male teenager) and Ross herself. The recording was originally for the purpose of a demo to shop the song. But RCA got a hold of it and Dixson, who owned the master and produced the demo, agreed to let RCA release it. Their version soared up the chart reaching #20, but when it was learned that Ronald and Ruby were an interracial duo, television appearances that had been previously booked got cancelled and the song’s interest waned. Thanks to the cover version by The Chordettes Lollipop reached # 2 and #3 on the pop and R&B charts, respectively. In the UK the song was successfully covered by The Mudlarks and became a world wide hit reaching #1 in many countries in the free world. Dixson also co-wrote Annie Laurie's hit "It Hurts to Be in Love", among others.

He also established the independent company Alton Records. In late 1959, their instrumental single release "The Clouds" by The Spacemen, also written and produced by Dixson, reached # 1 on the R&B chart. Again, Dixson should be credited more than he is because The Clouds is the first number one on any chart released by an African-American owned independent record label, predating Motown's first # 1 by a year.

Dixson died in a hospital in Manhattan in 2004, at age 90. His family has claimed negligence by the hospital in his death and has filed a wrongful death lawsuit. [1].

I have sought clarification of Dimdimbaby's changes from him by email, and in the meantime re-edited the article on 10 September. In particular :-
  • "Dim, Dim The Lights", although historically important, was not the first song by a white artist to make the R&B chart (it was preceded by Bing Crosby, Ella Mae Morse, Johnnie Ray, among others)
  • The reference to Ronald Gumps (rather than Lee Morris) being "Ronald" may well be true but contradicts other sources and needs verification
  • The reference to Dixson writing "The Clouds" needs verification - Joel Whitburn states it was written and performed by Vinnie Bell. Ghmyrtle 12:24, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

I have now referred to, and corroborated, additional information from Dimdimbaby (Julius Dixson's son) to the effect that :

  • Ronald Gumps was a black teenager, who was shown in publicity photos with a black girl as "Ruby", before word leaked out that the female singer was in fact Beverly Ross.
  • BMI confirms that Julius Dixson, not Vinnie Bell, wrote "Clouds", and his estate receives royalties. One site[2] credits "Clouds" to Sammy Benskin[3] and the Spacemen. Ghmyrtle 10:05, 11 September 2007 (UTC)