William James "Willie" Dixon (July 1, 1915 – January 29, 1992)

 William James "Willie" Dixon
July 1, 1915 ` January 29, 1992

Willie was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1915. Being exposed to a plethora of genres, including , gospel, blues, country & western, he started writing music at a very young age. He migrated to Chicago in 1936…

      Willie Dixon has been called “the poet laureate of the blues” and “the father of modern Chicago blues.”

 To his credit are over 500 songs written over his lifetime; in addition to playing bass, arranging and producing Chess Records

sessions for the likes of  Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Little Walter and Sonny Boy Williamson, and others…

      After an abbreviated stint as a boxer, his next fight was with the U.S. Army,--He refused induction on the grounds he was a conscientious objector.

Early on in Chicago he played with  the Five Breezes

The Four Jumps of Jive



The Big Three Trio



All three of those groups were making records.  

But, beginning in 1951, Dixon really established himself at Chess,

working  as a recording artist, session musician, in-house songwriter and staff musician.

That’s where he wrote;  “Hoochie Coochie Man,”  

and “I Just Want to Make Love To You”   for Muddy Waters,  

“Back Door Man,”

 “Spoonful"

  

“I Ain’t Superstitious” and “Wang Dang Doodle” which were hits for Howlin’ Wolf

 and “My Babe” for Little Walter.

It was during those days that he played bass on most of Chuck Berry’s early recordings. 

Although he’s most famous for his work at Chess, he also wrote for and worked with artists on Cobra label

 fostering the careers of Otis Rush

Buddy Guy



Magic Sam



 Dixon really came into his own, beginning in 1959 and into the Sixties,  writing and producing some of his greatest works during that decade.

It was 1959 when he recorded a series of albums in a duet format with Memphis Slim

on the Folkways, Verve and Battles labels,  releasing his first album, “Willie’s Blues,”

but it  would be 1970 before he produced his first solo album  “I Am the Blues.”  In the years that followed, Willie released a string of albums under his own name ,  including “Peace?”

culminating in the 1988 release of

Hidden Charms

“Hidden Charms”  won Dixon a Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Recording.

 “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.”—Willie Dixon

In 1990, Chess Records released Willie Dixon: The Chess Box, a two-disc set that included Dixon’s greatest songs as performed by the artists who’d made them famous – Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Little Walter, Bo Diddley, Lowell Fulson – and  Dixon himself...                                                    

Willie passed away on January 29, 1992 ~ R.I.P. WILLIE

Willie Dixon's official website




 

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