Willie Dixon | |
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 Dixon at Monterey Jazz Festival 1981 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | William James Dixon (1915-07-01)July 1, 1915 Vicksburg, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Died | January 29, 1992(1992-01-29) (aged 76) |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1939–1992 |
| Labels | |
| Formerly of | Big Three Trio |
| Website | www |
William James Dixon (July 1, 1915 – January 29, 1992) was an Americanblues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer.[1] He was proficient in playing both theupright bass and the guitar, and sang with a distinctive voice, but he is perhaps best known as one of the most prolific songwriters of his time. Next toMuddy Waters, Dixon is recognized as the most influential person in shaping the post–World War II sound of theChicago 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 songs were written during the peak years ofChess Records, from 1950 to 1965, and were performed byMuddy Waters,Howlin' Wolf,Little Walter, andBo Diddley; they influenced a generation of musicians worldwide.[3]
Dixon was an important link between the blues androck and roll, working withLittle Walter,Chuck Berry, andBo Diddley in the late 1950s.[4] In the 1960s, his songs were adapted by numerous rock artists. He received aGrammy Award and was inducted into theBlues Hall of Fame, theRock and Roll Hall of Fame, and theSongwriters Hall of Fame.
Dixon was born inVicksburg, Mississippi, on July 1, 1915.[1] He was one of 14 children.[5] His mother, Daisy, often rhymed things she said, a habit her son imitated. At the age of seven, young Dixon became an admirer of a band that featured pianistLittle Brother Montgomery. He sang his first song at Springfield Baptist Church at the age of four.[6] Dixon was introduced toblues when he served time onprison farms in Mississippi as a young teenager. Later in his teens, he learned to sing harmony from a local carpenter, Theo Phelps, who led agospel quintet, the Union Jubilee Singers, in which Dixon sang bass; the group regularly performed on the Vicksburg radio stationWQBC.[7] He began adapting his poems into songs and even sold some to local music groups.
Dixon left Mississippi for Chicago in 1936.[5] A man of considerable stature, standing 6 feet 6 inches tall and weighing over 250 pounds, he took up boxing, at which he was successful, winning the Illinois StateGolden GlovesHeavyweight Championship (Novice Division) in 1937.[8] Around 1939, he became a professional boxer and worked briefly asJoe Louis's sparring partner, but after four fights he left boxing in a dispute with his manager over money.
Dixon metLeonard Caston at a boxing gym, where they would harmonize at times. Dixon performed in several vocal groups in Chicago, but it was Caston that persuaded him to pursue music seriously.[9] Caston built him his first bass, made of a tin-can and one string. Dixon's experience singing bass made the instrument familiar.[6] He also learned to play the guitar.
In 1939, Dixon was a founding member of the Five Breezes, with Caston, Joe Bell, Gene Gilmore and Willie Hawthorne.[4] The group blended blues,jazz, and vocal harmonies, in the mode of theInk Spots.[4] Dixon's progress on theupright bass came to an abrupt halt with the advent of World War II, when he refused induction into military service as aconscientious objector and was imprisoned for ten months.[1] He refused to go to war because he would not fight for a nation in which institutionalized racism and racist laws were prevalent.[10] After the war, he formed a group named the Four Jumps of Jive.[4] He then reunited with Caston, forming the Big Three Trio,[5] which went on to record forColumbia Records.[4]
Dixon signed withChess Records as a recording artist, but he began performing less, being more involved with administrative tasks for the label.[4] By 1951, he was a full-time employee at Chess, where he acted as producer,talent scout,session musician and staff songwriter.[4] He was also a producer for the Chess subsidiaryChecker Records.[4] His relationship with Chess was sometimes strained, but 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 forCobra Records, for which he produced early singles forOtis Rush,Magic Sam, andBuddy Guy.[11] In 1956, Dixon wrote "Fishin' in My Pond", which was recorded byLee Jackson, and released on Cobra in February 1957.[12][13] Dixon later recorded forBluesville Records. From the late 1960s until the mid-1970s, Dixon ran his own record label,Yambo Records, and two subsidiary labels, Supreme and Spoonful. He released his 1971 album,Peace?, on Yambo and also singles byMcKinley Mitchell,Lucky Peterson and others.[14]
Dixon is considered one of the key figures in the creation ofChicago blues. He worked withChuck Berry,Muddy Waters,Howlin' Wolf,Otis Rush,Bo Diddley,Little Walter,Sonny Boy Williamson II,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, theRolling Stones reached number one on the UK Singles Chart with their cover of Dixon's "Little Red Rooster".[15] In the same year, the group also covered "I Just Want To Make Love To You" on their debut album,The Rolling Stones.
In his later years, Dixon became a tireless ambassador for the blues and a vocal advocate for its practitioners, founding the Blues Heaven Foundation, which works to preserve the legacy of the blues and to secure copyrights and royalties for blues musicians who were exploited in the past.[4] 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 small royalties paid by Chess's publishing company, Arc Music, Dixon and Muddy Waters sued Arc and later Dixon founded his own publishing company, Hoochie Coochie Music.[16]
In 1987, Dixon reached an out-of-court settlement with the rock bandLed Zeppelin after suing for plagiarism in the band's use of his music in "Bring It On Home" and lyrics from his composition "You Need Love" (1962) in the band's recording of "Whole Lotta Love".[17]
Dixon's health increasingly deteriorated during the 1970s and the 1980s, primarily as a result of long-termdiabetes. Eventually one of his legs wasamputated.[1]
Dixon was inducted into theBlues Hall of Fame in 1980, in the inaugural session of theBlues Foundation's ceremony.[18] In 1989 he received aGrammy Award for his albumHidden Charms.[19]
Dixon died of heart failure on January 29, 1992, in Burbank, California.[20][21][1] His body was carried by a horse-drawn hearse through where he grew up.[22][23] He was buried inBurr Oak Cemetery, inAlsip, Illinois.[24]
After his death, his widow, Marie Dixon, took over the Blues Heaven Foundation and moved the headquarters to Chess Records.[25] Dixon was posthumously inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame in the category Early Influences (pre-rock) in 1994.[26][27] On April 28, 2013, both Dixon and his grandsonAlex Dixon were inducted into the Chicago Blues Hall of Fame.[28]
In 2007, Dixon was honored with a marker on theMississippi Blues Trail in Vicksburg.[29]
The actor and comedianCedric the Entertainer portrayed Dixon inCadillac Records, a 2008 film loosely based on the early history of Chess Records.[30][31]
In 2020,Rolling Stone ranked him as the 12th greatest bass player and mentioned him as the history's most influential bluesmen.[32]Rolling Stone also placed him at number 51 on their list of "The 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time".[33]
Dixon wrote or co-wrote more than 500 songs.[34] Several have becomeblues standards, including "Help Me", "Hoochie Coochie Man", "I Can't Quit You Baby", "I Ain't Superstitious" "I'm Ready", "Little Red Rooster", "My Babe", and "Spoonful".[35] Other Dixon compositions that reached the record charts include "Evil" (Howlin' Wolf), "I Just Want to Make Love to You" (Muddy Waters), "Pretty Thing" (Bo Diddley), "The Seventh Son" (Willie Mabon), "Wang Dang Doodle" (Koko Taylor), and "You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover" (Bo Diddley).[36] In the 1960s, Dixon's songs were adapted by numerous rock artists.[37]
| Year | Title | Label | Number | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | Willie's Blues | Bluesville | BVLP-1003 | WithMemphis Slim |
| 1960 | Blues Every Which Way | Verve | MGV-3007 | With Memphis Slim |
| 1960 | Songs of Memphis Slim and "Wee Willie" Dixon[38] | Folkways | FW-2385 | |
| 1962 | Memphis Slim and Willie Dixon at the Village Gate | Folkways | FA-2386 | Live, withPete 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 on DVD, 2003 |
| 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 | WithSugar Blue, Clifton James, Montreux, Switzerland, 1985 |
| 1988 | Hidden Charms | Bug/Capitol | C1-90593 | Grammy-winning album |
| 1988 | The Chess Box–Willie Dixon | Chess/MCA | CHD2-16500 | Mix of Dixon's own with well-known Chess artists' recordings |
| 1989 | Ginger Ale Afternoon | Varèse Sarabande | VSD-5234 | Soundtrack formovie of the same name |
| 1990 | The Big Three Trio | Columbia/Legacy | C-46216 | Recorded 1947–1952 |
| 1993 | Willie Dixon's Blues Dixonary | Roots | RTS 33046 | EAN: 8712177013760 |
| 1995 | The Original Wang Dang Doodle: The Chess Recordings | Chess/MCA | CHD-9353 | Recorded 1954–1990 (some previously unreleased recordings) |
| 1996 | Crying the Blues: Live in Concert | Thunderbolt | CDTB-166 | Live, withJohnny Winter and the Chicago All Stars, Houston, TX, 1971 |
| 1998 | Good Advice | Wolf | 120,700 | Live, with the Chicago All Stars, Long Beach, CA, 1991 |
| 1998 | I Think I Got the Blues | Prevue | 17 | |
| 2001 | Big Boss Men: Blues Legends of the Sixties | Indigo (UK) | IGOXCD543 | Live, Houston, TX, 1971–72 (six tracks) |
| 2008 | Giant of the Blues | Blues Boulevard | 250196 | EAN: 5413992501960 |
| Musical form | |
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| Origins | |
| Regional styles | |
| Subgenres | |
| Fusion genres | |
| Lists | |
