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List of songs written by Willie Dixon

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Willie Dixon was a Chicago blues artist, perhaps best known for his songwriting.[1] He wrote or co-wrote over 500 songs[2] and his work has been recorded by some of the best-known blues musicians of his era, including Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and Little Walter.[3][4] Later, some of his songs were popularized by rock groups, such as the Rolling Stones, Cream, and Led Zeppelin.[1] Musicians in several genres have interpreted Dixon's songs.[2]

List of songs with title, first recorded by, year, and subsequently recorded by
Title First recorded
by
Year Subsequently recorded by
"29 Ways" Willie Dixon 1956 Koko Taylor, Marc Cohn, The Blues Band
"As Long as I Have You" Little Walter 1960 The Ford Blues Band, John P. Hammond, George Thorogood
"Back Door Man" Howlin' Wolf 1960 The Doors, Grateful Dead, Shadows of Knight, Bob Weir, The Blues Project, The Blues Band
"The Big Boat" a.k.a. "Somebody Tell that Woman" Big Three Trio 1955 Peter, Paul and Mary
"Bring It On Home"[a] Sonny Boy Williamson II 1963 Led Zeppelin, Van Morrison, Dread Zeppelin, Johnny Thunders, Widespread Panic, Hawkwind, Canned Heat
"Built for Comfort" Willie Dixon 1959 Howlin' Wolf, Canned Heat, UFO, Juicy Lucy, Dana Gillespie
"Close to You" Muddy Waters 1958 Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Doors
"Crazy for My Baby" Willie Dixon 1955 Little Walter, Colin James, Charlie Musselwhite
"Crazy Love" Buddy Guy 1967
"Crazy Mixed Up World" Little Walter 1959 James Harman Band
"Dead Presidents" Little Walter 1963 The J. Geils Band
"Diddy Wah Diddy" Bo Diddley 1955 Captain Beefheart, The Remains, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, The Blues Band
"Do Me Right" Lowell Fulson 1955 Willie Dixon
"Do the Do" Howlin' Wolf 1962 Top Jimmy & the Rhythm Pigs
"Don't Go No Further" Muddy Waters 1956 The Doors, B.B. King, John P. Hammond
"Don't You Tell Me Nothin'" Willie Dixon 1986 used in the film The Color of Money
"Down in the Bottom" Howlin' Wolf 1961 Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings, John P. Hammond, Siegel–Schwall Band, Barry McGuire
"Eternity" Grateful Dead 1992
"Everything but You" Jimmy Witherspoon 1959
"Evil" Howlin' Wolf 1954 Canned Heat, Captain Beefheart, Monster Magnet, Luther Allison, Derek and the Dominos, Gary Moore, Cactus, The Faces, Steve Miller, Koko Taylor, Jeff Healey, Tom Jones, Greta Van Fleet
"Fishin' in My Pond" Lee Jackson 1957 Hip Linkchain, Jimmy Rogers, Willie Dixon
"Groanin' the Blues" Otis Rush 1957 Eric Clapton
"Help Me" Sonny Boy Williamson II 1963 Ten Years After, Charlie Musselwhite, Canned Heat, Junior Wells, Luther Allison, Johnny Winter, James Cotton
"Hidden Charms" Charles Clark 1958 Howlin' Wolf, Link Wray, Elvis Costello
"Hoochie Coochie Man" Muddy Waters 1954 Willie Dixon, Shadows of Knight, Eric Burdon, The Nashville Teens, Dion, The Allman Brothers Band, Alexis Korner, Steppenwolf, Chuck Berry, Motörhead, Eric Clapton, John P. Hammond, Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Healey, Manfred Mann, New York Dolls, Dave Van Ronk, Phish
"Howlin' for My Baby" Howlin' Wolf 1959 George Thorogood, Paul Filipowicz
"I Ain't Superstitious" Howlin' Wolf 1961 Jeff Beck Group, Grateful Dead, Megadeth, Chris Spedding, The White Stripes, The Yardbirds, Howlin' Wolf
"I Can't Quit You Baby" Otis Rush 1956 Little Milton, Willie Dixon, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, Led Zeppelin, Gary Moore, Dread Zeppelin, Nine Below Zero
"I Can't Understand" (co-written with Cesar Rojas) Los Lobos 1990
"I Don't Play" Little Walter 1960 Robben Ford
"I Got My Brand on You" Muddy Waters 1960 Alexis Korner
"I Got What It Takes" Koko Taylor 1964
"I Just Want to Make Love to You" Muddy Waters 1954 Willie Dixon, The Animals, The Kinks, The Yardbirds, Shadows of Knight, Mungo Jerry, Grateful Dead, Foghat, The Rolling Stones, Etta James, Van Morrison, Paul Rodgers, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, April Wine, Robben Ford, Meat Puppets, Cold Blood, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, The Righteous Brothers, Johnny Kidd & the Pirates, Chuck Berry, Sam Cooke
"I Love the Life I Live, I Live the Life I Love" Muddy Waters 1956 Willie Nelson, John P. Hammond, Mose Allison
"I Want to Be Loved" Muddy Waters 1955 The Rolling Stones
"I'm a Natural Born Lover" Muddy Waters 1954
"I'm Ready" Muddy Waters 1954 Humble Pie, Buddy Guy, Aerosmith, Long John Baldry, Eric Burdon, George Thorogood, Albert King, John P. Hammond, Carey Bell, The Blues Band, Luther Johnson
"If the Sea Was Whiskey" Big Three Trio 1947 Chris Thile and the How to Grow a Band
"Insane Asylum" Koko Taylor 1968 Kathi McDonald & Sly Stone, Diamanda Galás, Asylum Street Spankers, The Detroit Cobras, Oxbow & Marianne Faithfull
"It Don't Make Sense (You Can't Make Peace)" Willie Dixon 1984 Styx
"Let Me Love You Baby" Buddy Guy 1961 Koko Taylor, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jeff Beck, Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Mike Farris
"Little Baby" Howlin' Wolf 1961 The Rolling Stones, The Blues Project, Ant Trip Ceremony
"Little Red Rooster" Howlin' Wolf 1961 Sam Cooke, The Rolling Stones, Grateful Dead, The Doors, Luther Allison, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Big Mama Thornton, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Bo Diddley, Otis Rush
"Mellow Down Easy" Little Walter 1954 Cactus, Paul Butterfield, The Black Crowes, Carey Bell, ZZ Top, Jimmy Reed, Holly Golightly, John P. Hammond
"Mighty Earthquake and Hurricane" a.k.a. "Earthquake and Hurricane" Willie Dixon 1978 Tina Turner
"Move Me" Willie Dixon 1959
"My Babe" Little Walter 1955 Sonny Boy Williamson, Elvis Presley, The Everly Brothers, Lonnie Mack, Spencer Davis Group, John P. Hammond, Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters, The Remains, Othar Turner, James Cotton, Bo Diddley, Memphis Slim, Ike & Tina Turner, Ricky Nelson, Gerry and the Pacemakers
"My Baby's Sweeter" Little Walter 1959
"My Love Will Never Die" Big Three Trio 1952 Otis Rush, Magic Sam, Robben Ford
"Nervous" Willie Dixon 1959 André van Duin (as a parody, in Dutch), Ian Whitcomb
"Oh Baby" Little Walter 1954
"Pain in My Heart" Willie Dixon 1955
"Pretty Thing" Bo Diddley 1956 Pretty Things, Canned Heat
"The Same Thing" Muddy Waters 1964 Willie Dixon, George Thorogood, The Allman Brothers Band, Sue Foley, Marc Ford, Grateful Dead, The Band, Louisiana Red, Eddie C. Campbell, Treat Her Right
"The Seventh Son" Willie Mabon 1956 Mose Allison, Bill Haley, Johnny Rivers, Sting, Climax Blues Band, Long John Baldry, Remo Four, Georgie Fame, John P. Hammond
"Shake for Me" Howlin' Wolf 1961 Stevie Ray Vaughan, John P. Hammond
"Sittin' and Cryin' the Blues" a.k.a. "Sit and Cry (The Blues)" Buddy Guy 1958 Willie Dixon
"Spider in My Stew" Buster Benton 1974 Magic Slim
"Spoonful" Howlin' Wolf 1960 Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, Shadows of Knight, Dion, Paul Butterfield, Cream, Canned Heat, Grateful Dead, Ten Years After, The Who, Etta James, Delbert McClinton, Allman Joys, Gil Evans
"Study War No More" Willie Dixon 1989
"Talk to Me Baby" a.k.a. "I Can't Hold Out" Elmore James 1960 Fleetwood Mac, Eric Clapton
"Third Degree" Eddie Boyd 1953 Willie Dixon, Eric Clapton, Leslie West, Johnny Winter
"Three Hundred Pounds of Joy" Howlin' Wolf 1963 Tom Jones & Jools Holland, Blues Brothers, Dana Gillespie
"Tollin' Bells" Lowell Fulson 1956 Savoy Brown, Robert Cray, Paul Butterfield
"Too Late" Little Walter 1953 Little Milton
"Too Many Cooks" Jesse Fortune 1961 Buddy Guy, Robert Cray
"Violent Love" Big Three Trio 1951 Otis Rush, Oingo Boingo, Dr. Feelgood, Skankin' Pickle
"Wang Dang Doodle" Howlin' Wolf 1960 Koko Taylor, Grateful Dead, Savoy Brown, Box Tops, PJ Harvey, Rufus Thomas, The Pointer Sisters, The Blues Band, Widespread Panic, Warren Zevon, Dave Edmunds, Z.Z. Hill
"Weak Brain, Narrow Mind" Willie Dixon 1964 Great White, Widespread Panic
"What in the World You Goin' to Do" John Littlejohn 1968
"When My Left Eye Jumps" Buddy Guy 1967
"When the Lights Go Out" Jimmy Witherspoon 1954 Kim Wilson
"Whole Lotta Love" (co-credit with Led Zeppelin)[b] Led Zeppelin 1969 Tina Turner, Tori Amos, Ben Harper, Prince, Carlos Santana, Mary J. Blige
"You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover" Bo Diddley 1962 Shadows of Knight, Cactus, The Yardbirds, Beat Farmers, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Tim Hardin, The Merseybeats, Elliott Murphy, Long John Baldry, The Monkees, Eric Clapton, Roy Buchanan, Tom Rush, The Rolling Stones, John P. Hammond, Dion DiMucci, Delbert McClinton
"You Know My Love" Otis Rush 1960 Gary Moore, Anson Funderburgh
"You Need Love" Muddy Waters 1962 Candye Kane, Savoy Brown, The Small Faces
"You Shook Me" Muddy Waters 1962 Willie Dixon, Jeff Beck Group, Led Zeppelin, Dread Zeppelin
"You'll Be Mine" Howlin' Wolf 1961 Stevie Ray Vaughan, Dr. Feelgood, John P. Hammond
"Young Fashioned Ways" Muddy Waters 1955 Koko Taylor

Footnotes

  1. ^ Led Zeppelin copied portions of Dixon's "Bring It On Home" for the intro and outro of their song of the same name on Led Zeppelin II. A lawsuit on behalf of Dixon was brought against Jimmy Page, et al. and was settled out of court.[3] Subsequent releases of the group's "Bring It On Home" listed Dixon as the songwriter, with their original portions re-titled "Bring It On Back" and credited to the group members. ISWC T-914.040.241-1.
  2. ^ Elements of Dixon's "You Need Love" were copied by Led Zeppelin for their popular "Whole Lotta Love". A lawsuit was settled out of court[3] and resulted in Dixon's name being added along with the group members on subsequent releases of "Whole Lotta Love". IWSC T-070.202.109-7.

Citations

  1. ^ a b Shadwick 2007, p. 277.
  2. ^ a b Dixon & Snowden 1989, p. 247.
  3. ^ a b c Eder 1996, p. 72.
  4. ^ Herzhaft 1992, pp. 94–95.

Specific references

  • Dixon, Willie; Snowden, Don (1989). I Am the Blues. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-80415-8.
  • Eder, Bruce (1996). "Willie Dixon". In Erlewine, Michael (ed.). All music guide to the blues : The experts' guide to the best blues recordings. All Music Guide to the Blues. San Francisco: Miller Freeman Books. ISBN 0-87930-424-3.
  • Herzhaft, Gerard (1992). "Willie Dixon". Encyclopedia of the Blues. Fayetteville, Arkansas: University of Arkansas Press. ISBN 1-55728-252-8.
  • Shadwick, Keith (2007). "Willie Dixon". The Encyclopedia of Jazz & Blues. London: Quantum Publishing. ISBN 978-0-681-08644-9.

General references