Willie Dixon (Born 01/07/1915, Died 29/01/1992)

Apart from a brief sojourn with Cobra, he stayed with Chess until 1971 (even in the short time at Cobra, he made his mark with Otis Rush's 'I Can't Quit You Baby').
Dixon's production of his own songs for others include Howlin' Wolf's 'Spoonful', Muddy Waters' 'Hoochie Coochie Man', Koko Taylor's 'Wang Dang Doodle', Bo Diddley's 'You Can't Judge A Book By Its Cover'. Other songs worthy of note include 'Little Red Rooster', 'Back Door Man', and 'I Just Want To Make Love To You' (recently a hit again, this time for the great Etta James). Much of this material can be heard on the "The Chess Box" and it's probably the best introduction to the man's music when placed in the hands of some great contemporary interpreters. For those who want a less expansive (and less expensive) introduction to Willie, try one of the many single disc compilations of his own recordings such as "The Original Wang Dang Doodle - The Chess Recordings & More". An excellent 24 track CD, if you can find it, is "A Tribute To Willie Dixon 1915 - 1992" (Charly CD RED 37) which features many artists recordings of Dixon's songs, along with a few of Dixon's own. The twofer released as part of the Chess 50th anniversary is also worth getting your hands on.

Dixon's influence on blues and rock music has been extensive and many bands have adapted and recorded his compositions, including the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin. He also administered the Blues Heaven Foundation to promote awareness of the Blues and, perhaps more importantly, to fight the financial and royalty injustices of the past. This wider role ensures his influence stretches beyond the recordings themselves but it is as a songwriter, performer, producer and mediator between artists and record companies that he should best be remembered.

So if you hear his music and want more, get hold of one of the compilations cited earlier or some of the later material such as "I Am The Blues" - well worth hearing, as well as bringing us full circle!