![]() He might have had some experience of that type.” That’s why I think he put so much emphasis in it. Dixon: “Howlin’ Wolf had the type of delivery that could express the concept real well – and then he knew exactly what I was talking about. Dixon had no trouble teaching that one to Howlin’ Wolf, who gave the Southern expression of the title the perfect interpretation. The back door man can get more out of the back than you can in the front.” If you did not guess it already, the song is ‘Back Door Man’. And this is the kind of a phrase they use in the South a lot of times. Dixon explains the meaning of the title: “When the front door man goes out the front door someone else could come in the back door. The first was made famous in 1967 by The Doors on their debut self-titled album. That session would go down as one of the most important in modern blues history, yielding two songs that became staple blues rock tunes by big time groups during the following decade. In June of 1960 Willie Dixon and Howlin’ Wolf went into the studio to record for the second time since Dixon came back to Chess. Yeah, that’s the one for me.’ And so, I’d just let him have it.” Howlin’ Wolf And then I found out that all I could do was tell him, ‘Now here’s one I wrote for Muddy, man.’ ‘Yeah, man, let me hear it. How come you won’t write me one like that?’ But when you write one for him he wouldn’t like it. And if he gets ’em right, he still ain’t gonna get the right meaning.” Dixon had to apply what he called ‘backward-psychology’ in his dealings with Wolf: “Every once in a while he’d mention the fact, ‘Hey, man, you wrote that for Muddy. Dixon faced other difficulties with lyrics: “Wolf, you can’t give him too many words, because he gets ’em all jumbled up. He always felt everything was going the wrong direction and he’d try all kinds of angles.” Like many old-school blues men, Howlin’ Wolf was not a schooled musician and Dixon had to spend many hours and takes in the studio to teach him the songs he wrote for him. It required a lot of diplomacy working with him. Dixon remembers: “Most of the guys tried to cooperate in the recording studio because they wanted to record but Howlin’ Wolf was pretty rough to deal with. But physic aside, it was his personality that made it difficult for Dixon to work with him. Willie Dixon in the backyard of Muddy Waters’ house, Westmont, Illinois, 1981 (Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images)Ħ feet 3 inches tall and close to weighing 300 pounds, Howlin’ Wolf was an intimidating figure. One of Dixon’s main collaborations after returning was with blues singer Howlin’ Wolf, the two producing some of the genre’s classic and most-covered tunes. Chess has recently moved to their new location at 2120 South Michigan Avenue, now a legendary street address immortalized as the title of a Rolling Stones instrumental. In 1959 Willie Dixon came back to work for Chess Records after a few years working as talent scout, producer, arranger, songwriter and bassist with Cobra Records. The second is Motown Records, a fledgling label just before hitting the big time with its first bona fide hits. The first is Chess Records, a decade in existence and renowned for its brand of Chicago blues. In this review of popular music in 1960 we focus on two labels that produced some of the best music by black musicians that year. 2 1960 Popular Music: Chess and Motown Records.
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