[Harp-L] Willie Dixon Controversy

["jcolbyspell@xxxxxxxx" <jcolbyspell@xxxxxxxx>]

In my earlier statement about Willie Dixon claiming credit for songs he did not write, I assumed that this was commonly known.  I guess not.  My source is from am interview with either Buddy Guy or BB King in a guitar magazine.  I have been tearing my house apart trying to find that issue.  No luck.  Some one who is no longer on Harp-l but check the archives e-mailed me off list.  He confirmed my statements.  He has asked to remain anonymous because, in his words, he doesn't "have any published references to back it up" and knows "that most of the folks on the Harp-l won't accept anything you can't confirm on the internet."  And he really doesn't "have time to defend and justify" his comments.  I looked into this person, he does have the credentials to speak knowledgeably about this.  I will continue to look for sources myself, not to prove myself right, but to prove am not making this up.  I have nothing against Willie Dixon.  He is a great songwriter and producer and the world of music owes him dearly.  He also did some charity work on behalf of blues musicians.  Here is the information from my source:

I'm not currently signed up on the harp-l so I can't post to the 
list, but I occasionally look at the online archives, and I saw your 
note about Dixon.  And you are absolutely right, and the people who 
are disagreeing with you are the ones who need to do their homework. 
Dixon took credit, and received royalties, for composing many songs 
that came from other sources.  Easy examples are Red Rooster and 
Spoonful, taken from Charlie Patton records, and Wang Dang Doodle, 
listed from a 1930s record called Bull Dagger's Ball.  

If you listen only to Dixon tell it, he wrote every great blues song 
to come out of Chicago.  If you listen to the people who actually 
worked with him 'back in the day', as I have done in my over 30 years 
hanging around and chronicling the blues scene here in Chicago, Dixon 
was the biggest song thief in the history of blues.  Stories abound 
of him offering to use his clout to get people a session to record 
their original material with Chess (or Cobra/Abco, who he also worked 
for briefly in the '50s), with one of two outcomes: the resulting 
record was released, but Dixon's name appeared on the record as 
composer, or else the session was never released, but the songs later 
turned up on Howlin' Wolf, Muddy, or whoever's record, with Dixon's 
name listed as composer.  This was the standard operating procedure, 
and seemed to be accepted as the price one had to pay in order to get 
hooked up with the prestigious Chess label.  Composer royalties were 
not looked at as a big deal then, but when bands like the Stones, 
Zep, and others started recording these songs and selling millions of 
records in the 1960s, there were a LOT of pissed of blues people in 
Chicago who very much resented Dixon's business dealings, and never 
forgave him.  

Since Dixon was the most famous voice telling the inside story of the 
classic era of Chicago blues, more people heard it and believed his 
account as the 'true' account, and unfortunately the lesser-known 
guys who felt they were taken advantage of never had their stories 
heard.  So most people believe the 'Dixon is the man' story these 
days, but it's wise to remember that there are two sides to every 
story.




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