Willie Dixon - Live In Chicago, 1974 (2018) [CD Rip]

Willie Dixon was one of the great giants of Chicago blues, both physically and creatively. An originator and a forefather, Dixon was a songwriter responsible for penning such iconic classics as 'Hoochie Coochie Man', 'Spoonful' and 'Wang Dang Doodle'. He was both a huge physical and musical presence.

'Live in Chicago, 1974' was recorded for a Chicago radio station. It is a crack set, backed by Dixon’s regular band, before a receptive audience.

The concert opening 'Intro Boogie' is solid and propulsive with a fine harmonica line and a resonant electric guitar.

'Crazy ‘Bout My Baby' is rollicking from the get go - a solid train of the blues. Dixon is less known as a singer and more legendary as a songwriter, but this one is a compelling vocal with lots of personality. Along with Muddy Waters and Howlin Wolf, Dixon is one of the great early creators from Chicago in the post World War II era of the blues.

On 'Rock Me', the lyric is “She rocked me, she rocked me all night long/Lord, she messed up my happy home.” Dixon’s voice is very much that of this gentle giant which he was with a voice strong and solid. “She moved me,” Dixon sings, “just like a hurricane.”

“I Don’t Trust Nobody” features some stinging electric guitar and a steamroller of a beat, pulsating with momentum.

'Wang Dang Doodle' is something of an iconic classic. “Tell Automatic Slim, Tell Razor Toting Jim/ We gonna pitch a wang dang doodle all night long” - a rocking tour de force here with powerful full band instrumentals.

An absolute concert album highlight here is 'Hoochie Coochie Man'. A solid, heavy beat. Harmonica reverberates. “Gypsy woman told my mama before I was born, you got a boy child coming/Gonna be a son of a gun.” This one is among the greatest of all blues classics and a fine well rendered version here. “On the seventh hour, on the seventh day… He’s born for good luck, I know you’ll see.”

Another blues classic, 'Little Red Rooster' has a sharp Dixon vocal. “If you see my little red rooster, somebody please drive him home.”

'Spoonful' is another deep blues and one of the iconic numbers adopted by the younger generation of blues based rock and roll bands that came up in the 1960s. “One little spoonful/Satisfy my soul.”

Finally 'Closing Boogie' rocks out. It is a solid Dixon set and a window into one of the legendary figures of Chicago blues. ~Carl Bookstein