Willie Dixon Biography
He was born as William James Dixon, in
Vicksburg, Mississippi. He was a producer for Chess and
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, Led Zeppelin,
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.
He had a colorful life. In his teens he had many scrapes
with the law, and decided to hitchhike his way to Chicago.
A giant of a man, he took up boxing, and was so successful
as to win the Golden Gloves heavywight title in
1936. His progress in learning to play the bass
was halted when he resisted the World War II draft, and
was imprisoned for ten months. After the war, he re-united
with his bass playing tutor, Baby Doo Caston, forming the
Big Three Trio, who went on to record for Columbia Records.
Dixon subsequently signed for Chess Records
as a recording artist, but by 1951 he was a full time employee
of the label. His relationship with them 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.
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 'n'
roll.
Dixon's genius as a songwriter lay in refurbishing archaic
Southern motifs, in contemporary arrangements. This produced
songs with the backbone of the blues, and the agility of
pop music. British R&B bands of the 1960s constantly
drew on the Dixon songbook for inspiration.
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.
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 to rights for
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. Willie
Dixon died in 1992 and was posthumously inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. As
the songlist below demonstrates, his work was covered by
a varied range of artists, from the blues, to modern day
rock music practitioners.
Willie Dixon died of heart failure in Burbank, California
in 1992 and was buried in the Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip,
Illinois.
Just a few of the songs written by Willie Dixon
* "29 Ways" –
Marc Cohn, Willie Dixon, The Blues Band
* "300 Pounds Of Joy" –
Howlin' Wolf
* "Back Door Man" – Howlin'
Wolf, The Doors, Grateful Dead, Shadows of Knight, Bob Weir
* "Big Boss Man" – Jimmy
Reed, Elvis Presley, Grateful Dead, Freight Train Troubadours
* "Bring It on Home" –
Sonny Boy Williamson II (Rice Miller), Led Zeppelin, Van
Morrison, Dread Zeppelin
* "Built for Comfort" –
Howlin' Wolf, Canned Heat, UFO
* "Crazy For My Baby" –
Little Walter, Charlie Musselwhite, Willie Dixon
* "Close to You" – Muddy
Waters, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Doors, Sam Lay, Rock Bottom
* "Dead Presidents" – Little
Walter, J. Geils Band
* "Do Me Right" – Lowell
Fulson
* "Do the Do" – Howlin'
Wolf
* "Don't Tell Me Nothin´"
– Willie Dixon
* "Everything But You" –
Jimmy Witherspoon
* "Evil" – Howlin' Wolf,
Muddy Waters, Canned Heat, Captain Beefheart, Monster Magnet,
Derek and the Dominos, Gary Moore, Cactus, The Faces, Steve
Miller
* "Hoochie Coochie Man" –
Muddy Waters, Shadows of Knight, The Nashville Teens, Dion,
The Allman Brothers Band, Alexis Korner, Steppenwolf, Motörhead,
Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Healey
* "I Ain't Superstitious" –
Howlin' Wolf, The Yardbirds, Grateful Dead, Megadeth, Jeff
Beck
* "I Can't Quit You Baby" –
Little Milton, Otis Rush, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers,
Led Zeppelin, Gary Moore, Dread Zeppelin
* "I Got What It Takes" –
Koko Taylor
* "I Just Want To Make Love To You"
– Muddy Waters, The Kinks, The Yardbirds, Shadows
of Knight, Mungo Jerry, Grateful Dead, Foghat, The Rolling
Stones, Etta James, Van Morrison, Paul Rodgers
* "I'm Ready" – Muddy Waters, Humble
Pie, Buddy Guy, Aerosmith, Long John Baldry, Low Budget
Blues Band
* "Insane Asylum" – Koko
Taylor, Kathy McDonald & Sly Stone, Diamanda Galás,
Asylum Street Spankers, The Detroit Cobras, Oxbow
* "It Don't Make Sense (You Can't Make Peace)"
– Styx
* "I Want To Be Loved" –
Muddy Waters, The Rolling Stones, Sean Costello
* "Let Me Love You Baby" –
Buddy Guy, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jeff Beck, Muddy Waters,
B.B. King
* "Little Red Rooster" –
Howlin' Wolf, Sam Cooke, The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds,
Grateful Dead, The Doors, Luther Allison, The Jesus and
Mary Chain, Big Mama Thornton
* "Mellow Down Easy" –
Little Walter & His Jukes, Paul Butterfield Blues Band,
The Black Crowes, Carey Bell, ZZ Top, Freight Train Troubadours
* "Million Dollar Baby" –
Dizzy Gillespie
* "My Babe" – Little Walter,
The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Spencer Davis Group, John P.
Hammond, Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters, Othar Turner & The
Rising Star Fire and Drum Band
* "My Mind is Ramblin" –
Rock Bottom
* "Nervous" – Willie Dixon
* "Pain In My Heart" –
Willie Dixon
* "Pretty Thing" – Bo Diddley,
Pretty Things, Canned Heat
* "Seventh Son" – Willie
Mabon, Mose Allison, Bill Haley, Johnny Rivers, Sting, Climax
Blues Band, Long John Baldry
* "Sin And City" – Buddy
Guy
* "Shake For Me" – Stevie
Ray Vaughan
* "Spoonful" – Howlin'
Wolf, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, Shadows of Knight, Dion,
Paul Butterfield, Cream, Canned Heat, Grateful Dead, Ten
Years After, Willie King & the Liberators, The Who,
Etta James, Freight Train Troubadours
* "The Same Thing" – Muddy
Waters, George Thorogood, The Allman Brothers Band, Sue
Foley, Marc Ford
* "The Seventh Son" – Willie
Dixon
* "Third Degree" – Eddie
Boyd, Eric Clapton, Leslie West
* "Tollin' Bells" – Lowell
Fulson, Savoy Brown Blues Band
* "Too Late" – Little Milton
* "Too Many Cooks" – Buddy
Guy, Robert Cray
and many many more - Willie was one of the most important
Blues figures of any era...be sure to join the Willie Dixon
Foundation.
