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− | {{Infobox musical artist
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− | | Name = Willie Dixon
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− | | Birth_name = William James Dixon
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− | | Background = solo_singer
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− | | Born = {{birth date|1915|7|1}}<br/>[[Vicksburg, Mississippi]], [[United States]]
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− | | Died = {{death date and age|1992|1|29|1915|7|1}}<br/>[[Burbank, California]], [[United States]]
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− | | Origin = [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]], [[United States]]
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− | | Instrument = [[Double bass]], [[guitar]]
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− | | Genre = [[Blues]]
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− | | Occupation =
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− | | Label = [[Chess Records|Chess]]
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− | | Associated_acts =
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− | | URL = www.bluesheaven.com
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− | | Notable_instruments =
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− | '''William James "Willie" Dixon''' (July 1, 1915 – January 29, 1992) was an [[United States|American]] [[blues]] [[singing|singer]]-[[songwriter]], many of whose songs became classics of the [[Chicago blues]] [[musical genre|genre]] and were later covered by major [[rock and roll]] artists. He was also a noted bassist, [[arranger]], and [[record producer]] for Chicago's premier blues label, [[Chess Records]], in its heyday during the 1950s and early 60s.
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− | Dixon wrote such blues hits as "[[Little Red Rooster]]," "Big Boss Man," "[[Spoonful]]," "[[Back Door Man]]," "[[I Just Want to Make Love to You]]," "[[My Babe]]," "[[Wang Dang Doodle]]," "[[Hoochie Coochie Man]]," and "[[Bring It on Home]]." His songs were performed by blues greats like [[Muddy Waters]], [[Howlin' Wolf]], [[Jimmy Reed]], and [[Little Walter]]. He also influenced a generation of younger musicians who later recorded his songs, including [[Sam Cooke]], [[The Rolling Stones]], [[Otis Redding]], [[Eric Clapton]], [[The Doors]], [[The Animals]], [[Bob Dylan]], [[Cream (band)|Cream]], [[Led Zeppelin]], [[The Yardbirds]], the [[Grateful Dead]] and many others.
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− | Dixon also formed a direct link between the blues and [[rock and roll]] by working with early rock artists like [[Chuck Berry]] and [[Bo Diddley]] in their early years. Next to Muddy Waters, he is considered the most influential shaper of the post-[[World War II]] sound of the [[Chicago blues]] and is considered my some to be the most important blues songwriter in history.
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− | ==Biography==
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− | ===Early life===
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− | Dixon was born in [[Vicksburg, Mississippi]] on July 1, 1915. His mother, Daisy, often created [[rhyme]]s during casual conversation, a habit Dixon learned to imitate. At the age of seven, he became an admirer of a band that featured blues pianist [[Little Brother Montgomery]]. Dixon was further introduced to the [[blues]] when he served time on prison farms in Mississippi as an early-teenager. As a teen, he also learned how to sing harmony from a local carpenter named Leo Phelps. Dixon sang [[bass (vocal range)|bass]] in Phelps' group, the Jubilee Singers, a local [[gospel music|gospel]] quartet that regularly appeared on the Vicksburg radio station WQBC. Around this time Dixon began experimenting with songwriting by adapting [[poem]]s he had written into [[song]]s, and was even able to sell some of them to local music groups.
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− | Dixon left Mississippi for [[Chicago]] in 1936. A man of impressive stature at 6 feet six inches tall and weighing over 250 pounds, he took up [[boxing]]. He showed considerable talent in the sport, winning the Illinois State [[Golden Gloves]] heavyweight championship (novice division) in 1937. Dixon soon turned professional as a boxer and worked briefly as [[Joe Louis]]' sparring partner. After four pro fights, however, Dixon abandoned the boxing business due to a quarrel with his manager over a question of money.
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− | At the boxing [[gym]], Dixon met by fellow singer Leonard "Baby Doo" Caston, who helped him become serious about music as a career. Dixon sang in several vocal groups in Chicago, and Caston built him his first [[Bass (instrument)|bass]], made of a [[tin can]] and one string. Dixon also learned the [[guitar]].
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− | ===Career===
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− | In Chicago, Dixon and Caston helped form the Five Breezes, a group that blended blues and [[jazz]], emphasizing vocal harmonies. Dixon's progress in learning to play the bass was halted when he was imprisoned for ten months after resisting [[the draft]] during [[World War II]]. After the war, he briefly formed the Four Jumps of Jive and then reunited with Caston to create the Big Three Trio, which went on to record briefly for [[Columbia Records]].
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− | Dixon first signed with [[Chess Records]] in 1948 as a [[recording artist]], but soon began working at the [[record label|label]] as a producer and arranger. By 1951, he was a full time employee at Chess, where he acted as [[record producer|producer]], talent scout, [[session musician]] on the bass, arranger, and staff [[songwriter]]. Although his relationship with the label was sometimes strained, he remained with Chess through the early 60s. During this time his output and influence was prodigious.
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− | The artists with whom Dixon worked reads like a ''Who's Who'' of the Chicago blues world, including such greats as [[Muddy Waters]], [[Howlin' Wolf]], [[Otis Rush]], [[Little Walter]], [[Sonny Boy Williamson]], [[Koko Taylor]], [[Little Milton]], [[Jimmy Witherspoon]], [[Lowell Fulson]], [[Memphis Slim]], [[Buddy Guy]], and [[Washboard Sam]]. He also appears on many of [[Chuck Berry]]'s early recordings and also worked with [[Bo Diddley]] during the same period, forming a direct link between blues and early rock and roll.
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− | Dixon had a unique gift for refurbishing traditional blues motifs. Even though many of his songs follow traditional 12-bar blues patterns, they are rarely monotonous, featuring memorable "hooks" and bridges, demonstration his sophistication as an arranger, yet remaining true to the authentic blues form. He also showed a flare as a lyricist, from the party chatter of "Wang Dang Doogle" to the humorous complaint of "Big Boss Man" and the melancholy lament of a man plagued by sexual impotence in "Little Red Rooster." So successful was his songwriting career that it was hardly an exaggeration when he boasted "I am the blues!"
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− | In the early 60s, many of the young blues-oriented groups in Britain began playing and recording Dixon's songs. In December 1964, [[The Rolling Stones]] reached [[chart-topper|number one]] on the [[UK Singles Chart]] with their cover version of "[[Little Red Rooster]]." [[Cream (band)|Cream]], [[The Animals]], and [[Eric Clapton]] also covered many of his songs. In the US, [[The Doors]] had a hit with his "Back Door Man," song originally written for Howlin' Wolf. [[The Lovin' Spoonful]] took their name from the Dixon song "Spoonful," which likewise had been a hit for [[Howlin' Wolf]]. Otis Redding's "Pain in My Heart" was also penned by Dixon, as was Captain Beefheart's "Ditty Wah Ditty."
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− | In the late 60s, as the blues revival reached full swing, Dixon put together several all-star Chicago-based blues ensembles for work in Europe. Dixon also had a modest success as a performing artist as he played and folk venues and blues festival throughout the US and Europe, often performing with pianist [[Memphis Slim]]. His health deteriorated in the 70s and 80s, due to long-term [[Diabetes mellitus|diabetes]], and one leg eventually had to be [[amputation|amputated]].
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− | Dixon died of [[heart failure]] in [[Burbank, California]] on January 29, 1992 and was buried in the [[Burr Oak Cemetery and Restvale Cemetery|Burr Oak Cemetery]] in [[Alsip, Illinois]].
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− | ==Legacy==
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− | Willie Dixon is considered by many to be the greatest blues songwriter in history. Together with Muddy Waters, he was one of the main creators of the [[Chicago blues]] sound which interpreted [[Mississippi Delta]] blues in an urban setting in the context of the contemporary [[R & B]] market of the time.
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− | Dixon was inducted into the [[Blues Hall of Fame]] in 1980 at its inaugural session. He also won a [[Grammy Award]] in [[Grammy Awards of 1989|1989]] for his album, ''Hidden Charms''.
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− | He was [[Posthumous recognition|posthumously]] inducted into the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] in the "early influences" (pre-rock) category in 1994. His song "Hoochie Coochie Man" ia listed among ''Rolling Stone Magazine'''s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
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− | Dixon's work was covered by a varied range of artists, from [[the blues]] and jazz to modern day [[rock music]] and [[R & B]] practitioners. In addition to his classic blues hits, he was also the composer of such popular classics as "Pain In My Heart" ([[Otis Redding]]), "Diddy Wah Diddy" ([[Captain Beefheart]]), "The Seventh Son" ([[Mose Allison]]), and "You Can't Judge A Book By Looking At Its Cover" (Bo Diddley). [[Led Zeppelin]]'s hit "[[Whole Lotta Love]]" was based on Dixon's "You Need Love," and the [[Righteous' Brothers]]' "My Babe" was a remake of the Dixon song of the same name.
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− | Actor and comedian [[Cedric the Entertainer]] portrayed Dixon in the 2008 feature film ''[[Cadillac Records]]'', based on the life of [[Leonard Chess]] and featuring [[Beyoncé]] as [[Etta James]] and [[Jeffrey Wright]] as [[Muddy Waters]].
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− | ===Selected songs===
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− | Dixon wrote many famous [[blues]] [[song]]s for the great artists of the Chicago blues genre, often producing the records and playing [[double bass]] when they were first recorded. Many of his songs later covered by second-generation blues and rock artists. Some of his better known songs include:
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− | *"29 Ways" – [[Marc Cohn]], Willie Dixon, [[The Blues Band]]
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− | *"300 Pounds Of Joy" – [[Howlin' Wolf]], [[Tom Jones (singer)|Tom Jones]] & [[Jools Holland]]
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− | *"After Five Long Years" – Willie Dixon
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− | *"As Long as I Have You" – [[Led Zeppelin]]
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− | *"[[Back Door Man]]" – [[Howlin' Wolf]], [[The Doors]], [[Grateful Dead]], [[Shadows of Knight]], [[Bob Weir]]
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− | *"Big Boss Man" – [[Jimmy Reed]], [[Elvis Presley]], [[The Animals]], [[The Grateful Dead]]
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− | *"[[Bring It on Home]]" – [[Sonny Boy Williamson II]], [[Led Zeppelin]], [[Van Morrison]], [[Dread Zeppelin]], [[Johnny Thunders]]
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− | *"Built for Comfort" – [[Howlin' Wolf]], [[Canned Heat]], [[UFO (band)|UFO]]
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− | *"Crazy For My Baby" – [[Little Walter]], [[Charlie Musselwhite]], Willie Dixon
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− | *"Crazy Love" – [[Buddy Guy]]
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− | *"Crazy Mixed Up World" – [[Little Walter]]
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− | *"Close to You" – [[Muddy Waters]], [[Stevie Ray Vaughan]], [[The Doors]]
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− | *"Dead Presidents" – [[Little Walter]], [[The J. Geils Band]]
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− | *"Diddy Wah Diddy" – [[Bo Diddley]], [[Captain Beefheart]], [[The Blues Band]]
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− | *"Do Me Right" – [[Lowell Fulson]]
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− | *"Do the Do" – [[Howlin' Wolf]]
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− | *"Don't Go No Farther" – [[Muddy Waters]]
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− | *"Don't Tell Me Nothin´" – Willie Dixon – used in the [[film|movie]] ''[[The Color of Money]]''
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− | *"Down in the Bottom" – [[Howlin' Wolf]], [[Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings]]
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− | *"Earthquake and Hurricane" – Willie Dixon
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− | *"Eternity" – [[Grateful Dead]]
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− | *"Everybody Needs Something" – [[Little Walter]]
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− | *"Everything But You" – [[Jimmy Witherspoon]]
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− | *"Everything's Got a Time" – Willie Dixon
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− | *"[[Evil (Howlin' Wolf song)|Evil]]" – [[Howlin' Wolf]], [[Muddy Waters]], [[Canned Heat]], [[Captain Beefheart]], [[Monster Magnet]], [[Derek and the Dominos]], [[Gary Moore]], [[Cactus (band)|Cactus]], [[The Faces]], [[Steve Miller]], [[Koko Taylor]]
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− | *"Flamin' Mamie" – Willie Dixon
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− | *"Help Me" – [[Sonny Boy Williamson II]]
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− | *"Grave Digger Blues" – Willie Dixon
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− | *"Groanin' the Blues" – Willie Dixon, [[Eric Clapton]]
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− | *"Hidden Charms" – [[Howlin' Wolf]], [[Link Wray]]
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− | *"[[Hoochie Coochie Man]]" – [[Muddy Waters]], Willie Dixon, [[Shadows of Knight]], [[Eric Burdon]], [[The Nashville Teens]], [[Dion DiMucci|Dion]], [[The Allman Brothers Band]], [[Alexis Korner]], [[Steppenwolf (band)|Steppenwolf]], [[Chuck Berry]], [[Motörhead]], [[Eric Clapton]], [[Jimi Hendrix]], [[Jeff Healey]], [[Manfred Mann]]
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− | *"Howlin' For My Baby" – [[Howlin' Wolf]], [[George Thorogood]]
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− | *"[[I Ain't Superstitious]]" – [[Howlin' Wolf]], [[The Yardbirds]], [[Grateful Dead]], [[Megadeth]], [[The Jeff Beck Group]], [[Chris Spedding]]
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− | *"[[I Can't Quit You Baby]]" – [[Little Milton]], [[Otis Rush]], Willie Dixon, [[John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers]], [[Led Zeppelin]], [[Gary Moore]], [[Dread Zeppelin]], [[Nine Below Zero]]
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− | *"I Can't Understand" – [[Los Lobos]] (co-written with Cesar Rojas)
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− | *"I Don't Make Sense (You Can't Make Peace)" – Willie Dixon
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− | *"If the Sea Was Whiskey" – [[Chris Thile]]
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− | *"I Got What It Takes" – [[Koko Taylor]]
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− | *"[[I Just Want to Make Love to You|I Just Want To Make Love To You]]" – [[Muddy Waters]], [[The Animals]], [[The Kinks]], [[The Yardbirds]], [[Shadows of Knight]], [[Mungo Jerry]], [[Grateful Dead]], [[Foghat]], [[The Rolling Stones]], [[Etta James]], [[Van Morrison]], [[Paul Rodgers]], [[Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers]], [[April Wine]], [[Robben Ford]], [[Meat Puppets]], [[Cold Sweat]]
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− | *"I Love the Life I Live, I Live the Life I Love" – [[Muddy Waters]], [[Willie Nelson]]
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− | *"[[I'm Ready (Blues song)|I'm Ready]]" – [[Muddy Waters]], [[Humble Pie (band)|Humble Pie]], [[Buddy Guy]], [[Aerosmith]], [[Long John Baldry]], [[Eric Burdon]], [[George Thorogood]], [[Albert King]]
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− | *"Insane Asylum" – [[Koko Taylor]], Kathy McDonald and [[Sly Stone]], [[Diamanda Galás]], [[Asylum Street Spankers]], [[The Detroit Cobras]], [[Oxbow (band)|Oxbow]] feat. [[Marianne Faithful]]
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− | *"I Don't Play" – [[Robben Ford]]
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− | *"I Got My Brand on You" – [[Muddy Waters]]
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− | *"It Don't Make Sense (You Can't Make Peace)" – [[Styx (band)|Styx]]
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− | *"I Want To Be Loved" – [[Muddy Waters]], [[The Rolling Stones]]
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− | *"Let Me Love You Baby" – [[Buddy Guy]], [[Stevie Ray Vaughan]], [[Jeff Beck]], [[Muddy Waters]], [[B. B. King]]
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− | *"Little Baby" – [[Howlin' Wolf]], The Rolling Stones
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− | *"[[Little Red Rooster]]" – [[Howlin' Wolf]], [[Sam Cooke]], [[The Rolling Stones]], [[The Yardbirds]], [[Grateful Dead]], [[The Doors]], [[Luther Allison]], [[The Jesus and Mary Chain]], [[Big Mama Thornton]], [[Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers]]
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− | *"Love, Life & Money" – [[Johnny Winter]]
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− | *"Mellow Down Easy" – [[Little Walter]] & His Jukes, [[Paul Butterfield]] Blues Band, [[The Black Crowes]], [[Carey Bell]], [[ZZ Top]], [[Jimmy Reed]], [[Holly Golightly]]
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− | *"Million Dollar Baby" – [[Dizzy Gillespie]]
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− | *"[[My Babe]]" – [[Little Walter]], [[Sonny Boy Williamson]], [[Elvis Presley]], [[The Everly Brothers]], [[Spencer Davis Group]], [[John P. Hammond]], [[Bo Diddley]], [[Muddy Waters]], [[Othar Turner]] & The Rising Star Fire and Drum Band
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− | *"My Baby's Sweeter" – [[Little Walter]], [[Fleetwood Mac]]
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− | *"My Captain" – [[Muddy Waters]]
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− | *"My John the Conqueror Root" – [[Muddy Waters]]
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− | *"Nervous" – Willie Dixon
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− | *"Oh Baby" – [[Little Walter]]
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− | *"One More Chance With You" – [[Little Walter]]
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− | *"Pain In My Heart" – Willie Dixon, [[The Rolling Stones]], [[Otis Redding]], [[Grateful Dead]]
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− | *"Pie in the Sky" – Willie Dixon
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− | *"Pretty Thing" – [[Bo Diddley]], [[Pretty Things]], [[Canned Heat]]
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− | *"[[The Seventh Son|Seventh Son]]" – [[Willie Mabon]], [[Mose Allison]], [[Bill Haley]], [[Johnny Rivers]], [[Sting (musician)|Sting]], [[Climax Blues Band]], [[Long John Baldry]]
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− | *"Sin And City" – [[Buddy Guy]]
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− | *"Shake For Me" – [[Howlin' Wolf]], [[Stevie Ray Vaughan]]
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− | *"Sit and Cry (The Blues)" – [[Buddy Guy]] (co-written with Buddy Guy)
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− | *"[[Spoonful]]" – [[Howlin' Wolf]], [[Muddy Waters]], [[Bo Diddley]], [[Shadows of Knight]], [[Dion DiMucci|Dion]], [[Paul Butterfield]], [[Cream (band)|Cream]], [[Canned Heat]], [[Grateful Dead]], [[Ten Years After]], [[The Who]], [[Etta James]] [[Salty Dog]]
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− | *"Study War No More" – Willie Dixon
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− | *"The Same Thing" – [[Muddy Waters]], Willie Dixon, [[George Thorogood]], [[The Allman Brothers Band]], [[Sue Foley]], [[The Band]], [[Marc Ford]], [[Grateful Dead]]
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− | *"[[The Seventh Son]]" – Willie Dixon
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− | *"Study No More" – Willie Dixon
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− | *"Third Degree" – [[Eddie Boyd]], Willie Dixon, [[Eric Clapton]], [[Leslie West]]
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− | *"Tollin' Bells" – [[Lowell Fulson]], [[Savoy Brown]] Blues Band, [[Robert Cray]]
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− | *"Too Late" – [[Little Milton]], [[Little Walter]]
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− | *"Too Many Cooks" – [[Buddy Guy]], [[Robert Cray]], [[Mick Jagger]]
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− | *"Violent Love" – [[Otis Rush]], [[The Big Three]], [[Oingo Boingo]], [[Dr. Feelgood (band)|Dr. Feelgood]]
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− | *"Walkin' The Blues" – Willie Dixon, [[Muddy Waters]], [[Eric Clapton]], [[John Kay (musician)|John Kay]]
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− | *"[[Wang Dang Doodle]]" – [[Koko Taylor]], [[Howlin' Wolf]], [[Grateful Dead]], [[Savoy Brown]], [[Box Tops]], [[PJ Harvey]], [[Rufus Thomas]], [[Pointer Sisters|The Pointer Sisters]], [[The Blues Band]], [[Widespread Panic]]
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− | *"Weak Brain, Narrow Mind" – Willie Dixon, [[Widespread Panic]]
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− | *"When My Left Eye Jumps" – [[Buddy Guy]]
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− | *"When The Lights Go Out" – [[Jimmy Witherspoon]], [[Kim Wilson]]
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− | *"Who" – [[Little Walter]]
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− | *"Wigglin' Worm" – Willie Dixon
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− | *"You Can't Judge A Book By Looking At Its Cover" – [[Bo Diddley]], [[Shadows of Knight]], [[Cactus (band)|Cactus]], [[The Yardbirds]], [[Beat Farmers]], [[The Fabulous Thunderbirds]], [[Tim Hardin]], [[The Merseybeats]], [[Elliott Murphy]], [[Long John Baldry]], [[The Monkees]], [[Eric Clapton]], [[Roy Buchanan]].
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− | *"You Don't Love Me" – [[Booker T. & the M.G.s]], [[Al Kooper]] and [[Stephen Stills]]
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− | *"You Know My Love" – [[Otis Rush]], [[Gary Moore]]
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− | *"You'll Be Mine" – [[Howlin' Wolf]], [[Stevie Ray Vaughan]], [[Dr. Feelgood (band)|Dr. Feelgood]]
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− | *"You Need Love" – [[Muddy Waters]]
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− | *"[[Whole Lotta Love]]" – [[Led Zeppelin]], based on Dixon's "You Need Love." Dixon and his [[Music publisher (popular music)|music publisher]] received credit and [[royalties]], after a 1985 [[lawsuit]] was settled out of [[court]].
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− | *"[[You Shook Me]]"– [[Muddy Waters]], Willie Dixon, [[Jeff Beck|Jeff Beck Group]], [[Led Zeppelin]], [[Dread Zeppelin]]
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− | *"Young Fashioned Ways" – [[Muddy Waters]]
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− | ==See also==
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− | * [[Blues]]
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− | * [[Chicago blues]]
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− | ==References==
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− | * Dixon, Willie, and Don Snowden. ''I Am the Blues: The Willie Dixon Story''. New York, N.Y.: Da Capo Press, 1989. ISBN 9780306804151
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− | *Rowe, Mike. ''Chicago Blues: The City & the Music''. New York, N.Y.: Da Capo Press, 1975. ISBN 9780306801457
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− | *Taft, Michael. ''Blues Lyric Poetry: An Anthology''. Garland reference library of the humanities, vol. 361. New York: Garland Pub, 1983. ISBN 9780824092351
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− | *Titon, Jeff Todd.'' Downhome Blues Lyrics: An Anthology from the Post-World War II Era''. [Boston, MA.]: Twayne Publishers, 1981. ISBN 9780805794519
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− | *Zollo, Paul. ''Songwriters on Songwriting''. New York: Da Capo Press, 2003. ISBN 9780306812651
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− | ==External links==
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− | *[http://www.rockhall.com/inductee/willie-dixon Willie Dixon] at the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]]
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− | {{DEFAULTSORT:Dixon, Willie}}
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− | [[Category:art, music, literature, sports and leisure]]
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− | [[Category:musicians]]
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− | [[Category:music]]
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− | [[Category:biography]]
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− | {{credit|253569440}}
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