HOWLIN /// The real story of the blues

This is an old one but it is a good one. A wonderful documentary that has everybody that is anybody in the blues in it. Of course it has Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Memphis Slim, The Rolling Stones, Willie Dixon, Son House and many others.

I Just Wanna Make Love To You

Wikipedia

 "I Just Want to Make Love to You" is a 1954 blues song written by Willie Dixon and first recorded by Muddy Waters. The song was a major hit, reaching number four on Billboard magazine's Black Singles chart.

It's the Birthday of Willie Dixon

I Am The Blues

click above image

William James "Willie" Dixon (July 1, 1915 – January 29, 1992) was a well-known American blues bassist, singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer.

Willie Dixon has got to be one of the most complete bluesmen of all time, he wrote, was a side man for, and produced some of the best blues out there.

The above album is one of my favorite by him because it is him preforming his own songs. And for lack of a better word all I can say is that it is wonderful.

Willie Dixon MP3s @ Amazon.com

Willie Dixon – 29 Ways + I Think I Got The Blues (1981)

Willie Dixon - Bassology

Willie Dixon - Chess Box

click image for more info

Willie Dixon @ SqueezeMyLemon

Wang Dang Doodle

"Wang Dang Doodle" was written by Willie Dixon for Howlin' Wolf at Chess Records in Chicago. Willie Dixon says in his autobiography that of all the songs he wrote for Howlin' Wolf, "Wang Dang Doodle" is the one he hated the most. However everyone seems to know it and has been heavily covered.

This?




or




or the original?




or

Blues Quote - Willie Dixon

"When everybody trying to sleep,
I'm somewhere making my midnight creep.

Every morning the rooster crow,
something tell me I got to go

I am a back door man"

~ Willie Dixon Backdoor Man

The Seventh Son

Willie Dixon lived from 1915-1992. He was a great song-writer, performer and blues ambassador. He wrote many, many blues classics.

I'm Nervous


Weak Brain and a Narrow Mind

Songs Of The Rolling Stones: All Blues'd Up!

While doing some research on a Rolling Stone's song I came across the mp3 album Songs Of The Rolling Stones: All Blues'd Up!.

I'm not sure how this album slipped under my radar, but I missed it back when it was released in July 9th, 2002.

And I would like to present it to you today, because I love how it highlights the blues music of the Rolling Stones and because their songs are performed by some great blues musicians.

Songs of the Rolling Stones: All Blues'd Up
(This Ain't No Tribute Series)

click image for mp3 album info

Track Listing

Please click song title below to play mp3 sample

1. You Can't Always Get What You Want - Luther Allison

2. Tumblin' Dice - Johnny Copeland

3. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - Junior Wells

4. Wild Horses - Otis Clay

5. Honky Tonk Women - Taj Mahal

6. Sway - Alvin Youngblood Hart

7. Ventilation Blues - Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown

8. Beast of Burden - Willie 'Popsy' Dixon

9. Under My Thumb - Lucky Peterson

10. It's All Over Now - Bobby Womack

11. Midnight Rambler - Larry McCray

12. Heart of Stone - Joe Louis Walker

13. Moonlight Mile - Alvin Youngblood Hart

The Rolling Stones @Amazon.com

The Rolling Stones @SqueezeMyLemon

Willie Dixon & Chicago Blues Old Stars - Seventh Son

Unlike Willie Dixon I'm the first son, but I think if you were the Seventh Son you would have a lot of luck, and a lot of big brothers to help teach you how to play those guitar chords. LOL.

Willie Dixon & Chicago Blues Old Stars - Seventh Son


The Chess Box

The SqueezeMyLemon All Stars

Every now and then you find a clip on YouTube that is just so delightful. This is an example, I call this clip the "SqueezeMyLemon All Stars." I would have loved being at this show. But it just so happens that this was filmed in 1963, I was two years old at the time.

Can you imagine seeing Otis Spann, Sonny Boy Williamson II, Big Joe Williams, Willie Dixon, Victoria Spivey, Muddy Waters, Lonnie Johnson and Memphis Slim all on the same stage.

American Folk Blues Festival 1963

Cadillac Records: My Review

Cadillac Records
27x41 Original Movie Poster


Movie Review

I saw Cadillac Records yesterday. It is a musical biopic that is now showing in theaters, it was written and directed by Darnell Martin. The film explores blues music starting in the early 1940s to the late 1960s. It chronicles the life of the influential Chicago-based record-company founder Leonard Chess, and some of the musicians who created and recorded Chicago blues music.

Cast

Adrien Brody as Leonard Chess
Beyoncé Knowles as Etta James
Emmanuelle Chriqui as Revetta Chess
Mos Def as Chuck Berry
Gabrielle Union as Geneva Waters
Columbus Short as Little Walter
Jeffrey Wright as Muddy Waters
Cedric the Entertainer as Willie Dixon
Eamonn Walker as Howlin' Wolf

I thought it was a good movie, all things considered. The performances for the most part were well done and you can see that the actors wanted to put in a good performances. And some of them really shined.

Adrien Brody and Jeffrey Wright both did good jobs acting. But I could not totally suspend disbelief when it came to Jeffrey Wright as Muddy Waters. I think this maybe because I am such a big fan of Muddy Waters. I really like Jeffrey Wright as an actor, but here it was a hard sell. Having said that I can not think of anyone who could have done a better job, but Muddy Waters is such a strong character to play.

I thought as a whole that the movie packed too may threads into the same movie. Any one of the musicians depicted in this movie could have a movie made about their lives (and I hope someone makes those movies too). But too many threads caused the movie to play fast and lose with the facts, which again was kind of annoying to me, and again that may be because I'm such a big fan of the musicians depicted in this movie.

I was pleasantly surprised by Beyoncé Knowles as Etta James. I think she brought a lot of emotion to the part and of course her singing came across very well and is probably the high point of the movie.

Another highlight was Mos Def as Chuck Berry. I thought he really played the role well and he puts you in the mind of Mr. Berry. His mannerisms were perfect. I also really liked the part of Howlin' Wolf as played by Eamonn Walker. And because I enjoyed the way he played the part, it made me think that I would love to see a movie about Wolf's life played by Eamonn Walker.

Columbus Short as Little Walter was very well acted and he played the part in a way that portrays much of the volatility and sadness of Little Walter's life. And both Gabrielle Union as Geneva Waters and Cedric the Entertainer as Willie Dixon put in notable performances.

The movie was very enjoyable, and while I have some criticisms of the film they are minor. This movie is a great introduction to blues music for young music fans. It has many popular young actors who may be able to attract young people to the blues pioneers and to be inspired by them.

Willie Dixon - I Get Nervous Video

This video is too cool. The bass playing prowess of one Mr. Willie Dixon are on full display here, and I believe that Otis Span is helping out a little bit on the piano. I'm getting nervous just typing this, I tremble in my bones. I believe that this video is from the "The American Folk Blues Festival 1962-1966, Vol. 2 (2003)" DVD.

As in this video on that DVD Willie Dixon "nervously" stutters his way through this comical song where he is introduced by a very dignified Memphis Slim: "He is such a big man", says Slim, "he weighs four or five hundred pounds, something like that. Imagine a guy that big being nervous!"

Willie Dixon, is one of my favorite bluesmen, who I believe was pound for pound one of the best all around bluesmen ever, and I say that because of his abilities as a producer, songwriter and session musician who helped so
many other Chess Records artist and who also was instrumental in creating the Chicago blues sound.

In the original liner notes to Dixon's classic album "I Am The Blues: Willie Dixon", Pete Welding describes Dixon this way:

He may well be the single most influential artist in the modern blues. Certainly, in light of his prodigious activities in and on behalf of the magnificent, impassioned, urgent and powerful music to which he has contributed so significantly over the years, he must be considered on of the major figures of the postwar blues.

Willie Dixon: Seventh Son video @ YouTube.

file under;
music, blues, video

Chess Records

Lately Chess Records has been on my mind. I have been listening to a lot of the music of the artist of Chess. If you don't know, Chess Records was an American record label, based in Chicago, Illinois. The brothers Leonard Chess and Phil Chess were the owners and operators of the company. Chess Records is one of the most important record labels in blues history and rock and roll too. If it were not for Chess Records we would not have some of the recordings that are considered the foundations of blues and rock and roll. They released many singles and albums by Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Sonny Boy Williams II (Rice Miller), Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and many others.

While they had rock and roll, and rhythm & blues recording, the blues was their mainstay and the area where they had the biggest impact. People like Willie Dixon, Little Walter, John Lee Hooker, and Jimmy Reed among others worked with the Chess Brothers.

With Willie Dixon, an artist whose talent as a producer/songwriter/ session player during the 1950s and 1960s vastly contributed to the label's long-term success. Dixon was very instrumental and a vital figure at Chess Records. He was not only a good musician filling in as bassist and prolific songwriter. He aided in orchestration and was something of a figurehead for the label. But in my mind it is his songwriting that made him that man at Chess. Songs written by Dixon include "Back Door Man," "The Red Rooster," "Spoonful," and "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man." These are just a few of the songs that helped to make Chess Records the great label that it was.

Here are a few books that you might want to read about Chess Records;
The Record Men : Chess Records and the Birth of Rock & Roll (Paperback)

Spinning Blues into Gold : The Chess Brothers and the Legendary Chess Records (Paperback)

The Story of Chess Records (Hardcover)

file under;
music, blues, Chess Records, Willie Dixon