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Willie Dixon

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Willie Dixon
Birth nameWilliam James Dixon
Born(1915-07-01)July 1, 1915
Vicksburg, Mississippi, United States
OriginChicago, Illinois, United States
DiedJanuary 29, 1992(1992-01-29) (aged 76)
Burbank, California, United States
GenresBlues, rock and roll, Chicago blues, jump blues, rhythm and blues, gospel
Occupation(s)Musician, Songwriter, Arranger, Producer, Boxer
Instrument(s)Vocals, double bass, guitar
LabelsChess, Cobra, Columbia, Bluesville, Checker, Verve, MCA, Legacy, Columbia, Yambo
Websitewww.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. He is recognized as one of the founders of the Chicago blues sound. 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 the man's most famous compositions includes "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". These tunes were written during the peak of Chess Records, 1950–1965, and performed by Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and Little Walter, influencing 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. His songs were covered by some of the biggest artists of more recent times, including Bob Dylan, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Foghat, The Yardbirds, The Rolling Stones, Queen, Megadeth, The Doors, The Allman Brothers Band, Aerosmith, Grateful Dead,[3] Styx and a posthumous duet with Colin James.

Biography

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. 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.

Dixon, whose initial attempts at his vocation as a boxer were now dubious, began performing around Chicago and with Caston, who convinced him to move towards a musical career.[5] In 1939, 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 as he progressed 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

File:Jlwandwilliedixon.jpg
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. 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.[9] British R&B bands of the 1960s constantly drew on the Dixon songbook for inspiration.[9] In December 1964, The Rolling Stones reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart with their cover version of Dixon's "Little Red Rooster".[10]

By the late sixties, Dixon's songwriting and production work began to take a back seat to his organizational abilities, which were utilised to assemble all-star, Chicago-based blues ensembles for work in Europe.[9]

Dixon in Cary, Illinois at Harry Hopes, 1979

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."

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.[11] In 1989 he was also the recipient of a Grammy Award for his album, Hidden Charms.[12]

Death and legacy

Dixon died of heart failure[13] 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.[14]

Actor and comedian Cedric the Entertainer portrayed Dixon in Cadillac Records, a 2008 film based on the early history of Chess Records.[15][16]

Willie Dixon's grandson Alex Dixon recorded two Willie Dixon songs, ("Spoonful" and "Down in the Bottom"), on his release Rising from the Bushes.[1]

Songs

Main article: List of songs written by Willie Dixon

Tributes

Discography

Year Title Label Number Comments
1959 Willie's Blues Bluesville BVLP-1003 with Memphis Slim
1960 Blues Every Which Way Verve MGV-3007 with Memphis Slim[17]
1960 Songs of Memphis Slim and "Wee Willie" Dixon Folkways FW-2385 [18]
1962 Memphis Slim and Willie Dixon at the Village Gate Folkways FA-2386 live, with guest Pete Seeger
1963 In Paris: Baby Please Come Home! Battle BM-6122 with Memphis Slim, 1962
1970 I Am The Blues Columbia PC-9987 with the Chicago All Stars; also released in 2003 on a DVD
1971 Willie Dixon's Peace? Yambo 777-15 with the Chicago All Stars
1973 Catalyst Ovation OVQD-1433 quadraphonic pressing
1976 What Happened To My Blues Ovation OV-1705
1983 Mighty Earthquake and Hurricane Pausa PR-7157
1985 Willie Dixon: Live (Backstage Access) Pausa PR-7183 with Sugar Blue and Clifton James, Montreux 1985
1988 Hidden Charms Bug C1-90593 Grammy-winning album
1989 Ginger Ale Afternoon Varèse Sarabande VSD-5234 soundtrack for movie of the same name
1990 The Big Three Trio Legacy C-46216 from 1947–1952
1995 The Original Wang Dang Doodle: The Chess Recordings MCA 9353 compilation (some unreleased) from 1954–1990
1996 Crying the Blues: Live in Concert Thunderbolt CDTB-166 live with Johnny Winter & the Chicago All Stars, Houston 1971
1998 Good Advice Wolf 120.700 live with the Chicago All Stars, Long Beach 1991
1998 I Think I Got the Blues Prevue 17
2001 Big Boss Men – Blues Legends of the Sixties Indigo (UK) IGOXCD543 live, Houston 1971–72 (six tracks)

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Allmusic biography – accessed February 2008 Cite error: The named reference "amg" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  2. ^ Dicaire, David (1999). Blues Singers: Biographies of 50 Legendary Artists of the Early 20th Century. McFarland. p. 87. ISBN 0-7864-0606-2
  3. ^ a b Trager, Oliver (2004). Keys to the Rain: The Definitive Bob Dylan Encyclopedia. Billboard Books. pp. 298–299. ISBN 0-8230-7974-0
  4. ^ Snowden, Don (1997).
  5. ^ Eder, Bruce (2010). "Leonard Caston". Biography of Leonard Caston. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
  6. ^ Dixon, Willie (1989). I Am the Blues. Da Capo Press. pp. 103–112. ISBN 0-306-80415-8. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ "Prestiage Bluesville discography". Retrieved 2006-11-17.
  8. ^ Dixon, Willie (1989). I Am the Blues. Da Capo Press. p. 244. ISBN 0-306-80415-8. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ a b c Russell, Tony (1997). The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray. Dubai: Carlton Books Limited. p. 107. ISBN 1-85868-255-X.
  10. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 458. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  11. ^ "1980 Hall of Fame Inductees". Blues Foundation. Retrieved on February 17, 2008.
  12. ^ "Willie Dixon Timeline". Chicago: Blues Heaven Foundation. 2007. Retrieved 2009-07-18.
  13. ^ Doc Rock. "Dead Rock Stars Club entry – accessed February 2008". Thedeadrockstarsclub.com. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  14. ^ 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.
  15. ^ Simmons, Leslie (January 22, 2008). "Brody, Wright join musical Chess club". Reuters.com. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  16. ^ Mayberry, Carly (February 12, 2008). "Alessandro Nivola to play blues mogul in "Chess"". Reuters.com. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  17. ^ "Verve Records Discography: 1960". Jazzdisco.org. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
  18. ^ "Songs of Memphis Slim and "Wee Willie" Dixon". Smithsonian Folkways. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved January 1, 2010.

Further reading

  • Dixon, Willie; & Snowden, Don (1990). I Am the Blues: The Willie Dixon Story. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-7043-0253-5
  • Dixon, Willie (1992). Willie Dixon – Master Blues Composer: With Notes and Tablature. Hal Leonard. ISBN 0-7935-0305-1
  • 1997 The Chess Box Snowden, Don "Willie Dixon" [CD booklet]. MCA Records, Inc.

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