The Songs of Willie Dixon
Willie Dixon
(Telarc CD-83452)
Over the past several years,
recorded tributes to popular artists have been a very popular trend in all
genres of music. Many of these tributes have been less than spectacular
due to the fact that the performances contained on these tributes just
cannot compare to the classic recordings of the artists that they are
paying homage to. However, the Telarc label, which has previously released
tributes to Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf, has now followed these discs
with an album paying tribute to the songs of Willie Dixon. As a composer,
bassist, vocalist and producer, Willie Dixon wrote for, or performed with
artists such as Otis Rush, Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf until
his death in 1992. Like their previous tribute albums, Telarc has chosen a
core group of musicians to back the special guests who are intimately
familiar with the artist's music. This group of musicians includes Doug
Wainoris on guitar, Jerry Portnoy on harmonica, David Maxwell on piano,
Eddie Shaw on saxophone, Calvin Jones on bass and Willie Smith on drums.
This group truly represents the cream of the Chicago blues crop. Guest
artists paying tribute to Dixon include John Mooney, Eddie Kirkland, Kenny
Neal, Tab Benoit, Deborah Coleman, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown,
Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson, Ronnie Earl and several others.
The disc opens with a haunting acoustic instrumental reading of
"Spoonful" performed by Doug Wainoris. Eddie Kirkland and Tab
Benoit turn in solid renditions of "Do Me Right" and
"Mellow Down Easy" respectively. Session band members Eddie Shaw
and Willie Smith get in on the action by turning in solid performances on
"I Ain't Superstitious" and "The Same Thing" in the
classic Chicago tradition. The two highlights of the album are "My
Love Will Never Die" featuring Luther "Guitar Junior"
Johnson on vocals and Ronnie Earl on guitar. For my money, there is no
better guitar player around than Ronnie Earl. The absolute highlight of
the album is an instrumental cut entitled "Shakin' The Shack" on
which Jerry Portnoy and David Maxwell recall the spirits of Little Walter
and Otis Spann. This cut is worth the cost of the album alone. Willie
Dixon wrote some of the greatest songs in blues history. The artists who
participated in this tribute have done a good job in recreating these
classic songs. As far as tribute albums go this is a very good one. Do
yourself a favor and pick it up and while you're at it you might also seek
out the original versions of these songs. Good stuff.
- Barry T. Gober -
Southwest Blues CD Review - October 1999
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