Willie Dixon

Willie Dixon

Dixon in Cary, Illinois at Harry Hopes, 1979
Background information
Birth name William James Dixon
Born July 1, 1915
Vicksburg, Mississippi, United States
Died January 29, 1992 (aged 76)
Burbank, California
Genres Blues, rock and roll, Chicago blues, jump blues, rhythm and blues, gospel
Occupation(s) Musician, songwriter, arranger, record producer, boxer
Instruments Vocals, double bass, guitar
Years active 1939–92
Labels Chess, Cobra, Columbia, Bluesville, Checker, Verve, MCA, Legacy, Columbia, Yambo
Associated acts Big Three Trio, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, Lowell Fulson, Sonny Boy Williamson, Chuck Berry, Otis Rush, Buddy Guy, Magic Sam, Junior Wells, Otis Spann
Website http://www.willie-dixon.com/

William James "Willie" Dixon (July 1, 1915 – January 29, 1992) was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer.[1] A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the upright bass and the guitar and as a vocalist, Dixon is perhaps best known as one of the most prolific songwriters of his time. Next to Muddy Waters, Dixon is recognized as the most influential person in shaping the post-World War II sound of the Chicago blues.[2]

Dixon's songs have been recorded by countless musicians in many genres as well as by various ensembles in which he participated. A short list of his most famous compositions includes "Hoochie Coochie Man", "I Just Want to Make Love to You", "Little Red Rooster", "My Babe", "Spoonful", and "You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover". These tunes were written during the peak of Chess Records, 1950–1965, and performed by Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, and Bo Diddley; they influenced a worldwide generation of musicians.[3]

Dixon also was an important link between the blues and rock and roll, working with Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley in the late 1950s. His songs were covered by some of the biggest artists of more recent times, such as Bob Dylan, Cream, Jeff Beck, the Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, and the Rolling Stones.

Biography

Willie Dixon at Monterey Jazz Festival, 1981. (photo by Brian McMillen)

Early life

Dixon was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi on July 1, 1915.[1] His mother Daisy often rhymed the things she said, a habit her son imitated. At the age of seven, young Dixon 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 later learned how to sing harmony 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 as songs, and even sold some tunes to local music groups.

Adulthood

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 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.[5] 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.

In 1939, Dixon was a founding member of the Five Breezes, with Caston, Joe Bell, Gene Gilmore and Willie Hawthorne. The group blended blues, jazz, and vocal harmonies, in the mode of the Ink Spots. Dixon's progress on the Upright bass came to an abrupt halt during the advent of World War II when he resisted the draft as a conscientious objector and was imprisoned for ten months.[1] After the war, he formed a group named the Four Jumps of Jive and then reunited with Caston, forming the Big Three Trio, who went on to record for Columbia Records.

Pinnacle of career

Dixon, right, with friend Joe Louis Walker, left

Dixon signed with Chess Records as a recording artist, but began performing less, being more involved with administrative tasks for the label. By 1951, he was a full-time employee at Chess, where he acted as producer, talent scout, session musician and staff songwriter. He was also a producer for Chess subsidiary Checker Records. His relationship with Chess was sometimes strained, although he stayed with the label from 1948 to the early 1960s. During this time Dixon's output and influence were prodigious. From late 1956 to early 1959, he worked in a similar capacity for Cobra Records, where he produced early singles for Otis Rush, Magic Sam, and Buddy Guy.[6] He later recorded on Bluesville Records.[7] From the late 1960s until the middle 1970s, Dixon ran his own record label, Yambo Records, along with two subsidiary labels, Supreme and Spoonful. He released his 1971 album Peace? on Yambo, as well as singles by McKinley Mitchell, Lucky Peterson and others.[8]

Dixon 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, Joe Louis Walker, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Koko Taylor, Little Milton, Eddie Boyd, Jimmy Witherspoon, Lowell Fulson, Willie Mabon, Memphis Slim, Washboard Sam, Jimmy Rogers, Sam Lay and others.

In December 1964, The Rolling Stones reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart with their cover version of Dixon's "Little Red Rooster".[9]

Copyright battles

In his later years, Willie Dixon became a tireless ambassador for the blues and a vocal advocate for its practitioners, founding the Blues Heaven Foundation. The organization works to preserve the blues' legacy and to secure copyrights and royalties for blues musicians who were exploited in the past. Speaking with the simple eloquence that was a hallmark of his songs, Dixon claimed, "The blues are the roots and the other musics are the fruits. It's better keeping the roots alive, because it means better fruits from now on. The blues are the roots of all American music. As long as American music survives, so will the blues." In 1977, unhappy with the royalties rate from ARC Music, he and Muddy Waters sued the Chess-owned publishing company, and with the proceeds from the lawsuit set up Hoochie Coochie Music.[10]

In 1987, Dixon received an out-of-court settlement from Led Zeppelin after suing them for plagiarism, in relation to their use of his music for "Bring It On Home" and his lyrics from his composition "You Need Love" (1962) for their track "Whole Lotta Love".[11]

Dixon's health deteriorated increasingly during the seventies and the eighties, primarily due to long-term diabetes. Eventually one of his legs had to be amputated.[1] Dixon was inducted at the inaugural session of the Blues Foundation's ceremony, and into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980.[12] In 1989 he was also the recipient of a Grammy Award for his album, Hidden Charms.[13]

Death and legacy

Dixon died of heart failure[14] 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.[15] On April 28, 2013, Dixon's grandson, Alex Dixon, was inducted into the Chicago Blues Hall of Fame along with his grandfather.[16]

Actor and comedian Cedric the Entertainer portrayed Dixon in Cadillac Records, a 2008 film based on the early history of Chess Records.[17][18]

Tributes

Discography

Albums

Year Title Label Number Comments
1959Willie's BluesBluesvilleBVLP-1003with Memphis Slim
1960Blues Every Which WayVerveMGV-3007with Memphis Slim[20]
1960Songs of Memphis Slim and "Wee Willie" DixonFolkwaysFW-2385[21]
1962Memphis Slim and Willie Dixon at the Village GateFolkwaysFA-2386live, with guest Pete Seeger
1963In Paris: Baby Please Come Home!BattleBM-6122with Memphis Slim, 1962
1970I Am The BluesColumbiaPC-9987with the Chicago All Stars; also released in 2003 on a DVD
1971Willie Dixon's Peace?Yambo777-15with the Chicago All Stars
1973CatalystOvationOVQD-1433quadraphonic pressing
1976What Happened to my BluesOvationOV-1705
1983Mighty Earthquake and HurricanePausaPR-7157
1985Willie Dixon: Live (Backstage Access)PausaPR-7183with Sugar Blue and Clifton James, Montreux 1985
1988Hidden CharmsBugC1-90593Grammy-winning album
1989Ginger Ale AfternoonVarèse SarabandeVSD-5234soundtrack for movie of the same name
1990The Big Three TrioLegacyC-46216from 1947–1952
1993Willie Dixon's Blues DixonaryRootsRTS 33046EAN: 8712177013760
1995The Original Wang Dang Doodle: The Chess RecordingsMCA9353compilation (some unreleased) from 1954–1990
1996Crying the Blues: Live in ConcertThunderboltCDTB-166live with Johnny Winter & the Chicago All Stars, Houston 1971
1998Good AdviceWolf120,700live with the Chicago All Stars, Long Beach 1991
1998I Think I Got the BluesPrevue17
2001Big Boss Men – Blues Legends of the SixtiesIndigo (UK)IGOXCD543live, Houston 1971–72 (six tracks)
2008Giant of the BluesBlues Boulevard Records250196EAN: 5413992501960

As sideman

With Sam Lazar

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Eder, Bruce. "Willie Dixon – Music Biography, Credits and Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-03-13.
  2. ↑ Trager, Oliver (2004). Keys to the Rain: The Definitive Bob Dylan Encyclopedia. Billboard Books. pp. 298–299. ISBN 0-8230-7974-0
  3. ↑ Dicaire, David (1999). Blues Singers: Biographies of 50 Legendary Artists of the Early 20th Century. McFarland. p. 87. ISBN 0-7864-0606-2
  4. ↑ Snowden, Don (1997).
  5. ↑ Eder, Bruce (2010). "Leonard Caston". Biography of Leonard Caston. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved May 2, 2010.
  6. ↑ Dixon, Willie; Snowden, Don (1989). I Am the Blues. Da Capo Press. pp. 103–112. ISBN 0-306-80415-8.
  7. ↑ "Prestige Bluesville discography". Wirz.de. Retrieved 2006-11-17.
  8. ↑ Dixon, Willie; Snowden, Don (1989). I Am the Blues. Da Capo Press. p. 244. ISBN 0-306-80415-8.
  9. ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 458. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  10. ↑ Inaba, Mitsutoshi (2010). Willie Dixon: Preacher of the Blues. Scarecrow Press. p. 67. ISBN 0-8108-6993-4
  11. ↑ Inaba, Mitsutoshi (2010). Willie Dixon: Preacher of the Blues. Scarecrow Press. p. 197. ISBN 0-8108-6993-4
  12. ↑ "1980 Hall of Fame Inductees". Blues Foundation. Retrieved February 17, 2008.
  13. ↑ "Willie Dixon Timeline". Chicago: Blues Heaven Foundation. 2007. Retrieved 2009-07-18.
  14. ↑ Doc Rock. "Dead Rock Stars Club entry – accessed February 2008". Thedeadrockstarsclub.com. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  15. ↑ Rule, Sheila (January 20, 1994). "Rock Greats Hail, Hail Their Own At Spirited Hall of Fame Ceremony". The New York Times. Retrieved February 17, 2008.
  16. ↑ "2013 Chicago Blues Hall of Fame". Retrieved June 27, 2014.
  17. ↑ Simmons, Leslie (January 22, 2008). "Brody, Wright join musical Chess club". Reuters. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  18. ↑ Mayberry, Carly (February 12, 2008). "Alessandro Nivola to play blues mogul in "Chess"". Reuters. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  19. ↑ "Bernie Taupin :: Blog". Berniejtaupin.com. Retrieved 2014-07-11.
  20. ↑ "Verve Records Discography: 1960". Jazzdisco.org. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
  21. ↑ "Songs of Memphis Slim and "Wee Willie" Dixon". Smithsonian Folkways. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved January 1, 2010.

Further reading

External links