25 Facts About Willie Dixon

1.

William James Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer.

2.

Willie Dixon was proficient in playing both the upright bass and the guitar, and sang with a distinctive voice, but he is perhaps best known as one of the most prolific songwriters of his time.

3.

Willie Dixon's songs have been recorded by countless musicians in many genres as well as by various ensembles in which he participated.

4.

Willie Dixon was an important link between the blues and rock and roll, working with Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley in the late 1950s.

5.

Willie Dixon received a Grammy Award and was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

6.

Willie Dixon was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, on July 1,1915.

7.

At the age of seven, young Willie Dixon became an admirer of a band that featured pianist Little Brother Montgomery.

8.

Willie Dixon sang his first song at Springfield Baptist Church at the age of four.

9.

Willie Dixon was first introduced to blues when he served time on prison farms in Mississippi as a young teenager.

10.

Later in his teens, he learned to sing harmony from a local carpenter, Theo Phelps, who led a gospel quintet, the Union Jubilee Singers, in which Willie Dixon sang bass; the group regularly performed on the Vicksburg radio station WQBC.

11.

Willie Dixon began adapting his poems into songs and even sold some to local music groups.

12.

Willie Dixon became a professional boxer and worked briefly as Joe Louis's sparring partner, but after four fights he left boxing in a dispute with his manager over money.

13.

Willie Dixon met Leonard Caston at a boxing gym, where they would harmonize at times.

14.

Willie Dixon performed in several vocal groups in Chicago, but it was Caston that persuaded him to pursue music seriously.

15.

Willie Dixon refused to go to war because he would not fight for a nation in which institutionalized racism and racist laws were prevalent.

16.

Willie Dixon then reunited with Caston, forming the Big Three Trio, which went on to record for Columbia Records.

17.

Willie Dixon signed with Chess Records as a recording artist, but he began performing less, being more involved with administrative tasks for the label.

18.

Willie Dixon was a producer for the Chess subsidiary Checker Records.

19.

In 1956, Willie Dixon wrote "Fishin' in My Pond", which was recorded by Lee Jackson, and released on Cobra in February 1957.

20.

Willie Dixon is considered one of the key figures in the creation of Chicago blues.

21.

Willie Dixon worked with Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Otis Rush, Bo Diddley, Joe Louis Walker, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Koko Taylor, Little Milton, Eddie Boyd, Jimmy Witherspoon, Lowell Fulson, Willie Mabon, Memphis Slim, Washboard Sam, Jimmy Rogers, Sam Lay and others.

22.

Willie Dixon was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980, in the inaugural session of the Blues Foundation's ceremony.

23.

Willie Dixon died of heart failure on January 29,1992, in Burbank, California, and was buried in Burr Oak Cemetery, in Alsip, Illinois.

24.

Willie Dixon was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the category Early Influences in 1994.

25.

In 2007, Willie Dixon was honored with a marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail in Vicksburg.