Willie Dixon

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Willie Dixon
Willie Dixon's style of blues was one of the inspirations for a new generation of music, rock and roll.
Willie Dixon's style of blues was one of the inspirations for a new generation of music, rock and roll.
Background information
Birth name William James Dixon
Born July 1, 1915(1915-07-01)
Vicksburg, Mississippi, U.S.
Origin Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died January 29, 1992 (aged 76)
Burbank, California, U.S.
Genre(s) Blues
Instrument(s) Double bass, guitar
Label(s) Chess

William James "Willie" Dixon (July 1, 1915 – January 29, 1992) was a well-known American blues bassist, singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer.[1] His songs, including "Little Red Rooster", "Hoochie Coochie Man", "Evil", "Spoonful", "Back Door Man", "I Just Want to Make Love to You", "I Ain't Superstitious", "My Babe", "Wang Dang Doodle", and "Bring It on Home", written during the peak of Chess Records, 1950-1965, and performed by Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and Little Walter, influenced a worldwide generation of musicians.[2] Next to Muddy Waters, he was the most influential person in shaping the post-World War II sound of the Chicago blues.[3] He also was an important link between the blues and rock and roll, working with Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley in the late-1950s, and his songs were covered by some of the biggest bands of the 1960s and 1970s, including Cream, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, The Doors, The Allman Brothers Band, and the Grateful Dead.[3]

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Dixon was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi on July 1, 1915.[1] His mother Daisy often rhymed the things she said, a habit Dixon imitated. At the age of 7, he became an admirer of a band that featured pianist Little Brother Montgomery. Dixon was first introduced to blues when he served time on prison farms in Mississippi as an early-teenager. He learned how to sing harmony as a teen as well, from local carpenter Leo Phelps. Dixon sang bass in Phelps' group, The Jubilee Singers, a local gospel quartet that regularly appeared on the Vicksburg radio station WQBC. Dixon began adapting poems he was writing into songs, and even sold some of them to local music groups.

Dixon left Mississippi for Chicago in 1936. A man of considerable stature, at 6 and a half feet and weighing over 250 pounds, he took up boxing; he was so successful that he won the Illinois State Golden Gloves Heavyweight Championship (Novice Division) in 1937.[4] Dixon turned professional as a boxer and worked briefly as Joe Louis' sparring partner. After four fights, Dixon left boxing after getting into a fight with his manager over being cheated out of money.

Dixon met Leonard "Baby Doo" Caston at the boxing gym where they would harmonize at times. Dixon performed in several vocal groups in Chicago but it was Caston that got him to pursue music seriously. Caston built him his first bass, made of a tin can and one string. Dixon's experience singing bass made the instrument familiar. He also learned the guitar.

[edit] Career

Dixon began performing around Chicago and with Baby Doo, helped to form the Five Breezes, a group that blended blues, jazz, and vocal harmonies. Dixon's progress in learning to play the bass was halted when he resisted the draft during World War II as a conscientious objector and was imprisoned for ten months.[1] After the war, he formed the group Four Jumps of Jive and then reunited with Caston, forming the Big Three Trio, who went on to record for Columbia Records.

Dixon signed to Chess Records as a recording artist, but began performing less and became more involved with the label. By 1951, he was a full time employee at Chess where acted as producer, A&R talent scout, session musician, and staff songwriter. His relationship with the label was sometimes strained, although his spell there covered the years from 1948 to the early 1960s. During this time his output, and influence was prodigious.

Indeed, he once claimed "I am the blues." This may seem a little arrogant, but there is no doubt that he was one of the major influences on the genre, through his original and varied songwriting, live performances, recording, and copious production work. He later recorded on Bluesville Records.[5]

He was also a producer for Checker Records in Chicago and is considered one of the key figures in the creation of Chicago blues. He worked with Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Otis Rush, Bo Diddley, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Koko Taylor, Little Milton, Eddie Boyd, Jimmy Witherspoon, Lowell Fulson, Willie Mabon, Memphis Slim, Washboard Sam, Jimmy Rogers, and others. His double bass playing was of a high standard. He appears on many of Chuck Berry's early recordings, further proving his linkage between the blues and the birth of rock and roll.

Dixon is remembered mainly as a songwriter; his most enduring gift to the blues, lay in refurbishing archaic Southern motifs, often of magic and country folkways and often derived from earlier records such as those by Charlie Patton, in contemporary arrangements, to produce songs with both the sinew of the blues, and the agility of pop.[6] British R&B bands of the 1960s constantly drew on the Dixon songbook for inspiration.[6] In December 1964, The Rolling Stones reached #1 in the UK Singles Chart with their cover version of Dixon's, "Little Red Rooster".[7]

In addition, as his songwriting and production work started to take a backseat, his organisational ability was utilised, putting together all-star, Chicago based blues ensembles for work in Europe.[6]

In New York Dolls: All Dolled Up, David Johansen tells a story about how Dixon used to offer meals to songwriters newly in Chicago from the Delta in exchange for the rights to their songs. Johansen claims Hoochie Coochie Man was one such song and called Dixon "The Vampire of the Blues."

His health deteriorated in the 1970s and 1980s, due to long-term diabetes, and eventually his leg had to be amputated.[1] Dixon was inducted at the inaugral session of the Blues Foundation's ceremony, into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980.[8] He was also granted a Grammy Award in 1989 for his album, Hidden Charms.

[edit] Death and afterward

Dixon died of heart failure[9] in Burbank, California on January 29, 1992[1] and was buried in the Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois.

Dixon was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the "early influences" (pre-rock) category in 1994.[10] As the songlist below demonstrates, his work was covered by a varied range of artists, from the blues, to modern day rock music practitioners.

Actor and comedian Cedric the Entertainer will portray Dixon in Cadillac Records, a film based on the life of Leonard Chess, played by Adrien Brody. The film, set in 1950s Chicago, will also feature Beyoncé as Etta James, and Jeffrey Wright as Muddy Waters.[11][12]

[edit] Songs

He wrote many famous blues songs, usually producing and playing double bass when they were first recorded. Some of these, and the extensive subsequent covers, include:

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

[edit] Tributes

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e All Music Guide biography - accessed February 2008
  2. ^ Dicaire, David (1999). Blues Singers: Biographies of 50 Legendary Artists of the Early 20th Century. McFarland. p. 87. ISBN 0786406062
  3. ^ a b Trager, Oliver (2004). Keys to the Rain: The Definitive Bob Dylan Encyclopedia. Billboard Books. pp. 298-299. ISBN 0823079740
  4. ^ Snowden, Don (1997).
  5. ^ Prestiage Bluesville discography. Retrieved on 2006-11-17.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Russell, Tony (1997). The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray. Dubai: Carlton Books Limited, p. 107. ISBN 1-85868-255-X. 
  7. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums, 19th, London: Guinness World Records Limited, p. 458. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. 
  8. ^ "1980 Hall of Fame Inductees". Blues Foundation. Retrieved on February 17, 2008.
  9. ^ a b c Dead Rock Stars Club entry - accessed February 2008
  10. ^ Rule Sheila (January 20, 1994). "Rock Greats Hail, Hail Their Own At Spirited Hall of Fame Ceremony". The New York Times. Retrieved on February 17, 2008.
  11. ^ Brody, Wright join musical Chess club
  12. ^ Alessandro Nivola to play blues mogul in "Chess"
  • Snowden, Don (1997). "Willie Dixon". In The Chess Box [CD booklet]. MCA Records, Inc.

[edit] Further reading and listening

[edit] External links

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