American treasure Willie Dixon would have turned 100 this year. As it seems must be the case with even the most revered and successful blues musicians, his life had its highs and lows; sometimes those were two sides of the same coin, from having his songs covered by some of the most popular bands in the world to fighting those bands for copyright royalties when they stole his songs for their own. I hope this album was a high for him; he likely never knew how much a group of cranky college radio DJs in Seattle dug it, but at least it earned him a Grammy.
"A very low-key effort, but definitely full of quiet passion & artistry. A real grower! At 1st, I thought this was kind of boring, but now I'm starting to love it. It's so cool to see an old blues guy keeping the faith & sounding so damn excellent w/no gestures toward new technology or commercial radio airplay.""Produced by T-Bone Burnett -> one of the most influential blues Gods of our time. Play. Play. Play."
"And I thought he was dead."
"This simply smokes! I've seen it in stores for months and wanted to know more. Now I do, and I wish I bought it in October. This is a major label?"
"Try 'I Don't Trust Myself.'"
"A nice, modest record. But don't believe the hype - Willie has nothing on Muddy and Wolf, who put the real passion in those Blues classics he penned in the late '50s and early '60s. sStill, this is a record worth playing many times."
"Actually, I thought he was best known for writing a few of 'Led Zeppelin's' early hits."
"Ooh, what sarcasm Jah! Surely you mean that when the history of rock is written, groups like LZ will be known for doing Willie Dixon songs, like the Rolling Stones, Grateful Dead, and others, including Cream."
"Oh Neil. Ooohh Neil. Oh Neil. Neil. Neil. Neil. Oh Neil. JEEZ."
"Depressing album!"
"I like it."
"Willie Dixon is the Blues. This is excellent! Listen to the great, subtle piano playing on 1.3."
"'Study War No More' was cowritten with Willie's 13-yr. old grandson - see liner notes fo' mo' info."
Despite their being named after my favorite brand of pants and the fact that I loved me some poppy punk rock music in my early teens, I don't believe I ever got into The Dickies. Maybe they were just a little too goofy for me, or maybe I was so busy with the output of Dischord and Lookout! Records …
I'm actually feeling like a pretty bad music nerd right now, because somehow I've never heard The Dream Syndicate's debut album, The Days of Wine and Roses, which the Internet seems to agree is one of the most important albums of the 1980s (and when the Internet agrees on something, you really shou…
