I've got 29 ways To make it to my baby's door.
If she need me bad,
I can find about two or three more.
-- Willie Dixon
By John Orr
Say ``thank you'' to Willie Dixon. We
owe him a lot.
Some, such as Mick Jagger, Robert Plant, Eric Clapton
and Chuck Berry, owe Willie Dixon a chunk of nearly
every dime they ever made, and an earful of nearly
every ovation they ever received.
If there'd been no Willie Dixon, Chess Records wouldn't
have been as mighty a force as it was in shaping the
great post-war blues explosion, and in helping to build
the foundation of rock 'n' roll. And a lot of Led Zepplin
fans would still have their full hearing.
``Willie Dixon is the man who changed the style of
the blues in Chicago,'' slide guitarist Johnny Shines
told Guitar Player magazine. ``As a songwriter and
producer, that man is a genius. Yes, sir. You want a
hit song, go to Willie Dixon. Play it like he say
play it, and sing it like he say sing it, and you
damn near got a hit.''
Most of us white baby boomers found out about the blues
via Willie Dixon, whether we knew it at the time or not.
.
We heard Cream's strut-and-shout cover of
``Spoonful'' on ``Wheels of Fire,'' but it was
written for Howlin' Wolf, who had a blues hit with it
in 1960. ``Little Red Rooster'' was perfect for Mick
Jagger and the Stones, but it was another song
written for Wolf, who recorded it in 1961. Led
Zepplin's Jimmy Page and Robert Plant performed
monster covers of ``You Need Love'' and ``You Shook
Me,'' but Dixon had written them for Muddy Waters,
who recorded them in 1962.
Willie Dixon taught bass players how to rock 'n' roll.
Listen to him on Chuck Berry's Chess recordings of ``Rock
and Roll Music,'' ``Reelin' and Rockin''' and many
others. He took big band music and Mississippi blues and
melded them into something new, opening the door for the
people at Motown and elsewhere who would take it even
further.
Since World War II, when he was briefly jailed as a
conscientious objector, and later went to work at
Chess, his influence among musicians, producers and
record companies has been profound, driven by his
love for ``strong brains and broad minds'' and a deep
desire to see black people and blues musicians
treated better in a nation that often gave short
shrift to both.
``The blues are the roots and the other musics are the
fruits,'' Dixon said. ``It's better keeping the roots
alive because it means better fruits from now on. The
blues will always be, because the blues are the roots of
all American music. As long as American music survives,
so will the blues.''
Dixon's people told Jose Luis Villegas in late
January that he and I could come down to L.A. and see
Willie. He'd just gone in the hospital, they said,
but we could see him as soon as he got out. In a week
or so.
Willie Dixon died Jan. 29, 1992. The San Jose Mercury
News sent Jose to Alsip, Illinois, where on March 28,
1992, in that cold winter wind, grass had yet to grow
over the turned earth of Willie Dixon's grave.
Oh, the dogs begin to bark and the hounds begin to howl
Oh, the dogs being to bark, hound begin to howl
Oh, watch out, strange kin people,
'Cause the little red rooster's on the prowl
If you see my little red rooster, please drive him home
If you see my little red rooster, please drive him home
There's been no peace in the barnyard since the litte red
rooster been gone
-- Willie Dixon
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