The Great Willie Dixon

William James “Willie” Dixon (July 1, 1915 – January 29, 1992) was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer.

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”, “You Shook Me”, 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.

Next to Muddy Waters, he was the most influential person in shaping the post World War II sound of the Chicago blues. 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, Oingo Boingo, Megadeth, The Doors, Etta James, The Allman Brothers Band, Aerosmith, Grateful Dead, and Styx.

From YouTube:

Willie Dixon is the man who changed the style of the blues. As a songwriter and producer, the man was a genius. If you wanted a hit song, you went to Willie Dixon. Played it like he said play it, and sing it like he said sing it, and you damn near always had a hit. Willie Dixon taught bass players how to rock ‘n’ roll. Listen to him on Chuck Berry’s Chess recordings of “Rock and Roll Music,”and “Reelin’ and Rockin”. He took big band music and Mississippi blues and melded them into something new, opening the door for Motown and others to walk in and take it even further. Features 8 super tracks, biography, image gallery and much more!

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