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I Am the Blues: The Willie Dixon Story
These are just a few of Willie Dixon's contributions to blues, R&B, and rock'n'roll—songs performed by artists as varied as the Rolling Stones, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, ZZ Top, the Doors, Sonny Boy Williamson, the Grateful Dead, Van Morrison, Megadeth, Eric Clapton, Let Zepplin, Tesla, Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Jeff Healey. I Am the Blues captures Willie Dixon's inimitable voice and character as he tells his life the segregation of Visksburg Mississippi, where Dixon grew up; the prison farm from which he escaped and then hoboed his way north as a teenager; his equal-rights-based draft refusal in 1942; his work—as songwriter bassist, producer, and arranger—with Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, Bo Diddley, and Chuck Berry which shaped the definitive Chicago blues sound of Chess Records; and his legal battles to recapture the rights to his historic catalog of songs.
264 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1989
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
January 9, 2018
Excellent portrayal of a very intelligent and complex man. I've read biographies of Buddy Guy, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, B B King, and others-- but Willie Dixon was a very different character from them all. The format of this book is quite interesting, with Don Snowden contributing contextual background, then allowing Willie Dixon and others to speak for themselves. While this biography does not read as much like a novel as some others (particularly those co-written by the excellent David Ritz), the organization of the chapters provided a strong historical chronology of not only Willie Dixon's life, but the panorama of Blues history in the 20th century.
November 19, 2021
If you think the title is presumptuous, read the book. He’s being humble.
April 5, 2013
I gave up after about a hundred pages. There's nothing wrong with the writing or the book itself, but I just wasn't as intrigued by Willie Dixon as I thought I would be--and I've read a lot of blues bios. For some reason, I found myself not believing a lot of what he said, either. There's nothing in the book to explain my suspicion, it was just a general feeling. A lot of what he talked about seemed completely out of the blue, a little far fetched, appeared to have no rhyme or reason to it other than it filled in a gap, or sounded remotely interesting as part of his tale. Biographies are the only non-fiction books I have any attention span for, and I generally read ones about blues musicians and pro cyclists--two of my favorite subjects. When it comes to blues bios, not only do I prefer ones about country blues artists, because they're always full of rich southern history and early African-American culture, but I'm partial to autobiographies. I like reading about their personal experiences and anecdotes, and in their own words. One of my favorites was Honeyboy Edwards's book. In the case of Willie Dixon, however, it simply didn't hold my attention. And like I said, a lot of it just sounded made up on the fly. I'm probably completely wrong in this, but it was just the tone in which he told his story. Anyway, on to BB King's autobiography...
January 3, 2009
An excellent telling of a much neglected story. I Am the Blues, named after one of Willie Dixon's own songs, is the story of this amazing man: the large family he came from, his gun slinging father, his narrow decision to go into music over professional fighting, his abuse by the law, his career as a songwriter for the Chess brothers (perhaps the greatest of his whole era), and from that his being thoroughly cheated by them, and finally his poverty and poor health in his twilight years. It's a story full of good fun, tragic sadness, and moral outrage, told by Dixon himself and people that knew him.
As often hard to read as fun, but thoroughly worth it. I strongly recommend it to all Americans, anyone in show business, musicians, blues fans, students of history, especially African American history and 20th century history, and anyone who likes good literature.
As often hard to read as fun, but thoroughly worth it. I strongly recommend it to all Americans, anyone in show business, musicians, blues fans, students of history, especially African American history and 20th century history, and anyone who likes good literature.
November 24, 2014
I Am The Blues: The Willie Dixon Story is written as mostly a series of interviews with Willie himself and various persons who have known and/or worked with Willie. It is a very interesting "take" on Willie's writing and recording career and even somewhat on the Chess recording enterprise. Fans of Led Zeppelin, the Yardbirds and various other early British blues bands will enjoy some of the insights in the book as well.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the blues and blues related music.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the blues and blues related music.
March 2, 2021
Willie Dixon has as much to say in these interviews as he says in the hundreds of songs he’s written. He is indeed a complex character who has much to say about the times in which he lived. Unfortunately so much of it is still true, especially for Black Lives. I feel fortunate to have read his words and the interviews of those who knew him. I wish I had known him. His intelligence, heart, soul, determination and musicianship are well documented here. Truly an under-appreciated and poorly known figure in the history of music. I wish this book had several more volumes.
June 4, 2019
Great insight into the record business and especially Chess records,the early British blues scene, and of course, living in a segregated and racist USA. Essential reading.
July 18, 2025
3.5 stars, not exactly a gripping story, but very educational. I have a much greater appreciation and respect for Willie Dixon, he really is/was the Blues. Without his presence at Chess Records it’s impossible to say what might have happened, he wrote a ton of top line classics, he produced & engineered and guided the artists in the studio, two of the biggest rock bands ever recorded his music, one legally, the other more legally after losing lawsuits. What other composer had his songs on both the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin's first LPs? None! Throughout the book he maintains a positive outlook and he took tragedies in his life in relative stride, losing a leg, getting ripped off for tons of money. His final message of world peace is inspirational. Definitely a must read book.
January 25, 2024
Really enjoyed this book though the writing left a lot to be desired. More reportage than writing but a great effort to retain Willie Dixon’s narrative. Hard to imagine his influence on music for 30 plus years.
How cool would it be to get him into a modern studio with a great band.
How cool would it be to get him into a modern studio with a great band.
September 1, 2018
Fabulous history of the blues by the writer of the Chicago sound.
July 10, 2024
This is worth reading if you are interested in blues music.
October 21, 2014
I Am the Blues is an oral history, mostly told by Willie Dixon and oh my god are there some wonderful lines. To wit:
"It couldn't make sense you can't make peace if you want to make peace."
"If you accept the wisdom of the blues, we can definitely have peace."
"It was a great thing for a man to wear a derby."
"We played the lottery all the time there, cashing them Israeli pounds."
"When I went to try and get birth certificates for guys like Sunnyland Smith and Homesick James to go overseas, they went right back to where they were born and most of them didn't even know their names. When people are old, they figure if they can find any kind of record of anybody that knew them, that's how they make their birth certificate. They don't make them off of what was made at birth. That's the reason they mix their ages up from one to the other."
"I used to be in such a deep thought that one time some guy got close enough to me to scare me. I jumped."
And so on.
This thing is brimming with folksy wisdom. The business details are predictable--spoiler alert: Chess Records robbed musicians--but the voice of the book is perfect. Best to read in a day.
"It couldn't make sense you can't make peace if you want to make peace."
"If you accept the wisdom of the blues, we can definitely have peace."
"It was a great thing for a man to wear a derby."
"We played the lottery all the time there, cashing them Israeli pounds."
"When I went to try and get birth certificates for guys like Sunnyland Smith and Homesick James to go overseas, they went right back to where they were born and most of them didn't even know their names. When people are old, they figure if they can find any kind of record of anybody that knew them, that's how they make their birth certificate. They don't make them off of what was made at birth. That's the reason they mix their ages up from one to the other."
"I used to be in such a deep thought that one time some guy got close enough to me to scare me. I jumped."
And so on.
This thing is brimming with folksy wisdom. The business details are predictable--spoiler alert: Chess Records robbed musicians--but the voice of the book is perfect. Best to read in a day.
March 12, 2008
A decently well done story of the man responsible for most of the famous blues songs you've ever heard.
November 19, 2010
"You gave sight to the blind with other men's eyes "
January 7, 2015
Very informative, and an interesting look into how Chess Records ran things in the 1950s and 60s. Also, I had no idea Willie Dixon played bass on so many recordings!
April 28, 2016
essential reading. Dixon should be a household name.
May 26, 2019
This book is a very sound read. Willie Dixon is, in my opinion, the most underrated person in music history. And not just because he was the songwriter behind Muddy Water’s “Hoochie Coochie Man”, Howlin’ Wolf’s “Evil”, The Rolling Stone’s first big hit, “Red Rooster”. He was also a damn fine person.
Before Muhammad Ali conscientiously objected to serving in the Vietnam War, Willie did so during World War II. He didn’t want to fight for a country that didn’t fight for him. He was thrown in jail for pretty much the rest of the war. It takes a strong man to take a stand like that. While some of you may not agree with me that, Willie’s protest is a noble one, I hope you can agree his founding the Willie Dixon’s Blues Heaven Foundation. The purpose of The Foundation is to fight for the little guy. His own recording experience for Chess Records (among others) saw him not get fairly compensated. He was an employee for hire when at Chess, which means that any song he wrote or any musical arrangements he threw together, were copyrighted by Chess, not Willie. As a result, he did not get what was coming to him. At first. It was a long battle but he did finally get some of the credit due him. Led Zepplin does not come across very well here.
Willie’s story is so fascinating. In addition to the two things I mentioned above, he was also a fairly successful boxer, until he found out white management and bookers were robbing him blind. Then he hung up his gloves. I guess you could say the music world owes the racist greed of the boxing industry a huge debt! He also works with promoters in Germany to bring Blues artists across the pond and in doing so helped usher in the British Blues Invasion. I would highly recommend you search out a copy of any of the American Folk Blue Festival DVDs. Great stuff.
The book is not a narrative, which makes the reading a little rougher. Each chapter begins with some background info provided by the co-author before letting Willie and people in his life speak for themselves. It almost reads like a one-sided transcript of an interview. That said, this rough presentation is quickly forgotten because of how rich a life Willie lead.
Before Muhammad Ali conscientiously objected to serving in the Vietnam War, Willie did so during World War II. He didn’t want to fight for a country that didn’t fight for him. He was thrown in jail for pretty much the rest of the war. It takes a strong man to take a stand like that. While some of you may not agree with me that, Willie’s protest is a noble one, I hope you can agree his founding the Willie Dixon’s Blues Heaven Foundation. The purpose of The Foundation is to fight for the little guy. His own recording experience for Chess Records (among others) saw him not get fairly compensated. He was an employee for hire when at Chess, which means that any song he wrote or any musical arrangements he threw together, were copyrighted by Chess, not Willie. As a result, he did not get what was coming to him. At first. It was a long battle but he did finally get some of the credit due him. Led Zepplin does not come across very well here.
Willie’s story is so fascinating. In addition to the two things I mentioned above, he was also a fairly successful boxer, until he found out white management and bookers were robbing him blind. Then he hung up his gloves. I guess you could say the music world owes the racist greed of the boxing industry a huge debt! He also works with promoters in Germany to bring Blues artists across the pond and in doing so helped usher in the British Blues Invasion. I would highly recommend you search out a copy of any of the American Folk Blue Festival DVDs. Great stuff.
The book is not a narrative, which makes the reading a little rougher. Each chapter begins with some background info provided by the co-author before letting Willie and people in his life speak for themselves. It almost reads like a one-sided transcript of an interview. That said, this rough presentation is quickly forgotten because of how rich a life Willie lead.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews