Floyd Dixon(1929-2006)

Blues musician/singer Floyd Dixon was born Jay Riggins Jr. in Marshall, TX, in 1929. In the 1940s his family moved to Los Angeles, CA. Dixon had already taught himself how to play the piano, and decided to become a professional singer. He won a few amateur talent contests in the Los Angeles area and met bandleader Johnny Otis, who was impressed with the young musician and encouraged him to seek out a record contract. Shortly afterward, Dixon signed with Modern Records. He released "Dallas Blues" for that label in 1949. He branched out into recording for other labels--among them Supreme and Specialty--but he had his biggest successes on Aladdin Records. His "Telephone Blues" (1951) and "Call Operator 210" (1952), both on Aladdin, hit near the top of the R&B charts. His best-known song, however, was "Hey Bartender", which he wrote and recorded in 1954 for Cat Records. It became famous in the 1970s when it was played regularly by The Blues Brothers, a blues band fronted by actors John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd.

In the 1970s Dixon moved back to Texas and more or less retired from the music industry, although he did do the occasional tour. In 1984 he was commissioned by the US Olympic Committee to write "Olympic Blues" for the 1984 Summer Olympics. In 1993 he was presented with the Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation.

He died in Los Angeles, California, in 2006 from kidney failure. He was 77.