Willie Dixon
Willie Dixon (born July 1, 1915 as William James Dixon in Vicksburg , Mississippi , † January 29, 1992 in Burbank , California ) was one of the most important American blues musicians ( vocals , bass , songwriter and producer ).
life and work
Dixon has the development of Chicago - Blues coined in the 1950s and 1960s critical. As a studio musician and house bass player with Chess Records , he can be heard on numerous recordings. As the bassist for Chuck Berry , he also contributed to the triumph of rock'n'roll. Dixon also worked as a songwriter and producer for the Chicago blues label Chess Records and Checker Records . He wrote many of the most important blues songs such as Hoochie Coochie Man , Evil or Back Door Man , which were best known in the interpretations of Muddy Waters and Howlin 'Wolf . But many other blues legends also picked up his songs.
His compositions became known to a wide audience when, in the 1960s, British rock bands recorded a number of Willie Dixon's tracks, for example the Rolling Stones (Little Red Rooster), Cream and Ten Years After (Spoonful), Led Zeppelin ( I Can't Quit You Baby ). Even Elvis Presley , Grateful Dead , Jimi Hendrix , The Doors and many later bands like the Black Crowes interpreted his songs (the list of these bands is long and significant). Willie Dixon had a certain right to say of himself: "I Am the Blues". At the same time, he is considered one of the most important cornerstones in rock history.
At the end of the 1960s, he returned to his own career and put on various accompanying groups (Chicago Blues Allstars) with whom he went on tour.
In 1989 Dixon published an autobiography called I am the Blues . An impressive highlight of his musical career came out in 1988: Hidden Charms (with the pieces: Blues You Can't Loose, I Don't Trust Myself, Jungle Swing, Don't Mess with the Messer, Study War No More, I Love the Life I Live, I Cry For You, Good Advice, I Do the Job) . In 1980 he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame of the Blues Foundation .
On January 29, 1992, Willie Dixon died of heart failure at the age of 76. In 2010 his song Spoonful , interpreted by Howlin 'Wolf, was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame (Classic of Blues Recording). In 2015, Rolling Stone listed Dixon 51st of the 100 best songwriters of all time .
Discography
year | title | Label | number | comment |
1959 | Willie's blues | Bluesville | BVLP-1003 | with Memphis Slim |
1960 | The Blues Every Which Way | verve | MGV-3007 | with Memphis Slim |
1960 | Songs of Memphis Slim and Willie Dixon | Folkways | FW-2385 | with Memphis Slim |
1962 | Memphis Slim & Willie Dixon at the Village Gate | Folkways | FA-2386 | live, with Pete Seeger |
1963 | In Paris: Baby Please Come Home! | Battle | BM-6122 | with Memphis Slim, 1962 |
1965 | American folk blues | Amiga | 8 50 043 | with Hubert Sumlin, Clifton James, Sunnyland Slim, November 1, 1964 |
1969 | Loaded with the blues | MPS | 15 244 ST | with the Chicago Blues Allstars |
1970 | I am the blues | Columbia | PC-9987 | with the Chicago All-Stars |
1971 | Willie Dixon's Peace? | Yambo | 777-15 | with the Chicago Blues All Stars |
1973 | Catalyst | ovation | OVQD-1433 | quadrophonic long-playing record |
1976 | What Happened to My Blues | ovation | OV-1705 | |
1983 | Mighty Earthquake and Hurricane | Pausa Records | PR-7157 | |
1985 | Willie Dixon: Live (Backstage Access) | Break | PR-7183 | with Sugar Blue and Clifton James, Montreux 1985 |
1988 | The Chess Box | Chess Records | ||
1988 | Hidden charms | Bug | C1-90593 | Grammy 1989 |
1989 | Ginger Ale Afternoon | Varèse Sarabande | VSD-5234 | Soundtrack |
1990 | The Big Three Trio | Legacy | C-46216 | from 1947–1952 |
1995 | The Original Wang Dang Doodle: The Chess Recordings | MCA | 9353 | Compilation 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 | 17th | |
2001 | Big Boss Men - Blues Legends of the Sixties | Indigo (UK) | IGOXCD543 | live, Houston 1971-72 (6 tracks) |
Selection of songs that Willie Dixon played bass on
Willie Dixon also worked as a session musician for Chess Records. He played the double bass on many legendary recordings. It wasn't until the mid-1950s that the electric bass came to Chicago that he stopped working as a studio musician.
- Chuck Berry: Maybellene, Sweet Little Sixteen , Johnny B. Goode
- Bo Diddley: You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover
- Eddie Boyd: Third Degree
- Howlin 'Wolf: Spoonful , Wang Dang Doodle
- JB Lenoir: Mama Talk to Your Daughter
- Little Walter: Rocker, My Babe , Just your Fool, Confessin´the Blues
- Willie Mabon: The Seventh Son
- The Moonglows: Sincerly
- Muddy Waters: Hoochie Coochie Man, I'm Ready, Trouble No More
- Robert Nighthawk: Annie Lee Blues
- Jimmy Reed: Big Boss Man
- Otis Rush: I Can't Quit You Baby , All Your Love
- Sonny Boy Williamson II .: Nine Below Zero
Interpretations of popular songs by Willie Dixon
The following list includes both cover versions and first releases and does not claim to be complete.
- "29 Ways" - Marc Cohn , Willie Dixon, The Blues Band
- "300 Pounds Of Joy" - Howlin 'Wolf , Big Twist and The Mellow Fellows
- "Back Door Man" - Howlin 'Wolf , The Doors , Grateful Dead , Shadows of Knight , Bob Weir , The Blues Band
- "Big Boss Man" - Jimmy Reed , Elvis Presley , Grateful Dead , Pretty Things , The Yardbirds
- "Bring It on Home" - Sonny Boy Williamson II (Rice Miller), Led Zeppelin
- "Built for Comfort" - Howlin 'Wolf , Canned Heat , UFO , Big Twist and The Mellow Fellows
- "Crazy for My Baby" - Willie Dixon
- "Close to You" - Muddy Waters , Stevie Ray Vaughan , The Doors , Sam Lay , Rock Bottom
- "Dead Presidents" - Little Walter , J. Geils Band
- "Diddy Wah Diddy" - Bo Diddley , Captain Beefheart , Ry Cooder , The Blues Band
- "Do Me Right" - Lowell Fulson
- "Do not Tell Me Nothin '" - Willie Dixon - was in the movie The Color of Money used
- "Everything But You" - Jimmy Witherspoon
- "Evil" - Howlin 'Wolf , Muddy Waters , Canned Heat , Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band , Monster Magnet , Derek and the Dominos , Gary Moore
- " Help Me " - Junior Wells , Canned Heat , Ten Years After , George "Harmonica" Smith , Luther Allison , Van Morrison , The James Cotton Band, Sugar Blue , Peter Green Splinter Group, Billy Branch & Lurrie Bell and the Sons of Blues , Jimmy Witherspoon , John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers and Johnny Winter
- "Hidden Charms" - Howlin 'Wolf
- "(I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man " - Muddy Waters , Shadows of Knight , The Nashville Teens , Allman Brothers , Alexis Korner , Steppenwolf , Motörhead , Eric Clapton , Jimi Hendrix , Supertramp
- "I Ain't Superstitious" - Howlin 'Wolf , The Yardbirds , Jeff Beck Group , Grateful Dead , Megadeth , Jeff Beck , Savoy Brown Blues Band
- "I Can't Quit You Baby" - Little Milton , Otis Rush , John Mayall's Bluesbreakers , Led Zeppelin , Gary Moore
- "It Don't Make Sense" (You Can't Make Peace) - Styx
- "I Got What It Takes" - Koko Taylor
- " I Just Want to Make Love to You " - Muddy Waters , The Sensational Alex Harvey Band , The Kinks , Yardbirds , Shadows of Knight , Mungo Jerry , Grateful Dead , Foghat , Rolling Stones , Etta James , Van Morrison , LA Guns , The Animals
- "Gone Daddy Gone" - Violent Femmes ; contains elements from "I Just Want to Make Love to You"; it was later covered by Gnarls Barkley
- "I Want to Be Loved" - Muddy Waters , Rolling Stones
- "I'm Ready" - Muddy Waters , Humble Pie , Buddy Guy , Aerosmith , The Blues Band
- "Insane Asylum" - Koko Taylor
- "Insane Asylum" - Koko Taylor , Kathy McDonald & Sly Stone , Diamanda Galás , Asylum Street Spankers , Detroit Cobras
- "Killing Floor" - Led Zeppelin , Jimi Hendrix , Howlin 'Wolf
- "Let Me Love You Baby" - Buddy Guy , Stevie Ray Vaughan , Jeff Beck , Muddy Waters , Savoy Brown Blues Band
- Little Red Rooster - Howlin 'Wolf , Sam Cooke , Rolling Stones , The Grateful Dead , The Doors , Luther Allison , The Jesus and Mary Chain
- "Mellow Down Easy" - Little Walter , Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Black Crowes , Carey Bell , ZZ Top
- " My Babe " - Little Walter , The Spencer Davis Group , John Hammond , Bo Diddley , Muddy Waters , Otha Turner & The Rising Star Fire and Drum Band, Solomon Burke , Elvis Presley
- "My Mind is Ramblin '" - Rock Bottom
- "Nervous" - Willie Dixon
- "Pain in My Heart" - Willie Dixon, Rolling Stones , Otis Redding
- "Pretty Thing" - Bo Diddley , Pretty Things , Canned Heat
- Seventh Son - Willie Mabon , Mose Allison , Bill Haley , Johnny Rivers , Sting , Climax Blues Band
- "Sin and City" - Buddy Guy
- " Spoonful " - Howlin 'Wolf , Muddy Waters , Bo Diddley , Shadows of Knight , Paul Butterfield Blues Band , Cream , Canned Heat , Grateful Dead , Ten Years After , Willie King & The Liberators
- "The Same Thing" - Muddy Waters
- " Third Degree " - Eddie Boyd , Eric Clapton , Leslie West
- "Three Hundred Pounds of Joy" - Howlin 'Wolf , Big Twist and The Mellow Fellows
- "Tollin 'Bells" - Lowell Fulson
- "Too Late" - Little Milton
- "Too Many Cooks" - Jessie Fortune , Buddy Guy , Robert Cray
- "Violent Love" - The Big Three Trio , Oingo Boingo , Dr Feelgood
- "Walkin 'the Blues" - Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters , Eric Clapton
- "Wang Dang Doodle" - Koko Taylor , Howlin 'Wolf , Grateful Dead , Savoy Brown , PJ Harvey , Rufus Thomas , The Pointer, The Blues Band
- "Weak Brain, Narrow Mind" - Willie Dixon
- When The Lights Go Out - Jimmy Witherspoon , Kim Wilson
- " You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover " - Bo Diddley , Shadows of Knight , Cactus , The Yardbirds
- "You Know My Love" - Otis Rush , Gary Moore
- "You Need Love" - Muddy Waters , Savoy Brown
- "Whole Lotta Love" - Led Zeppelin . Without a copyright notice, the song contains essential parts of Dixon's "You Need Love". Dixon and his publisher received royalties after a 1985 lawsuit that resulted in an out-of-court settlement.
- "You Shook Me" - Muddy Waters , Jeff Beck Group, Led Zeppelin
- "You'll Be Mine" - Howlin 'Wolf , Stevie Ray Vaughan
- "Young Fashioned Ways" - Muddy Waters , Mojo Blues Band
Others
In the 2008 film Cadillac Records , Willie Dixon is portrayed by Cedric the Entertainer . His sons Butch and Freddie Dixon are also blues musicians.
Web links
- Literature by and about Willie Dixon in the catalog of the German National Library
- Willie Dixon at Discogs (English)
- Willie Dixon's Blues Heaven Foundation
Bibliography
- Willie Dixon & Don Snowden: I am the Blues - The Willie Dixon Story. Quartet Books, London, 1989, ISBN 0-7043-0253-5 . Blues Hall of Fame 1992 (Classics of Blues Literature)
Individual evidence
- ↑ 2010 Blues Hall of Fame ( Memento from May 20, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ The 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time. Rolling Stone , August 2015, accessed August 7, 2017 .
- ^ Willie Dixon: I am the Blues, Quartet Books 1989, p. 251.
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Dixon, Willie |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Dixon, William James (maiden name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American blues musician |
DATE OF BIRTH | July 1, 1915 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Vicksburg , Mississippi |
DATE OF DEATH | January 29, 1992 |
Place of death | Burbank , California |