This boxed set bears Willie Dixon’s name and photo on the front, but it is actually a collection of performances by 13 different Chess/Checker artists recorded between 1951 and 1969. The unifying theme is that all 36 songs were written by Dixon, who was also the producer and bass player on most tracks. The song list in itself is enough to crown Dixon king of the blues composers, and the set includes hit singles, definitive performances by Wolf, Muddy, Koko Taylor, Otis Rush and others, and a few ditties that show more of the novelty side of Dixon’s pen. The six tracks featuring Dixon as vocalist are probably the least familiar to collectors. “Crazy For My Baby” and his Big Three Trio’s previously unreleased take of “Violent Love,” both from 1951, are the earliest recordings here. Dixon biographer Don Snowden’s informative 12-page booklet adds to the value and also includes a complete session discography for every track; note, however, that the 1965 date given for “The Same Thing” from the Fathers and Sons album (one of the few tracks here where Dixon was not present as bassist or A&R director) should be 1969.

CD Disc: 1
1. My Babe – Little Walter
2. Violent Love – The Big Three Trio
3. Third Degree – Eddie Boyd
4. Seventh Son – Willie Mabon
5. Crazy for My Baby – Willie Dixon
6. Pain in My Heart – Willie Dixon
7. (I’m Your) Hoochie Coochie Man – Willie Dixon
8. Evil – Howlin’ Wolf
9. Mellow Down Easy – Little Walter
10. When the Lights Go Out – Jimmy Witherspoon
11. Young Fashioned Ways – Muddy Waters
12. Pretty Thing – Bo Diddley
13. I’m Ready – Muddy Waters
14. Do Me Right – Lowell Fulson
15. I Just Want to Make Love to You – Muddy Waters
16. Tollin’ Bells – Lowell Fulson
17. 29 Ways – Willie Dixon
18. Walking the Blues – Willie Dixon

CD Disc: 2
1. Spoonful – Howlin’ Wolf
2. You Know My Love – Otis Rush
3. You Can’t Judge a Book by Its Cover – Bo Diddley
4. I Ain’t Superstitious – Howlin’ Wolf
5. You Need Love – Muddy Waters
6. Little Red Rooster – Howlin’ Wolf
7. Back Door Man – Howlin’ Wolf
8. Dead Presidents – Little Walter
9. Hidden Charms – Howlin’ Wolf
10. You Shook Me – Muddy Waters
11. Bring It on Home – Sonny Boy Williamson
12. Three Hundred Pounds of Joy – Howlin’ Wolf
13. Weak Brain, Narrow Mind – Willie Dixon
14. Wang Dang Doodle – Koko Taylor
15. Same Thing [Live] – Muddy Waters
16. Built for Comfort – Howlin’ Wolf
17. I Can’t Quit You Baby – Little Milton
18. Insane Asylum – Koko Taylor

Released as Chess MCA CH3-16500, a boxed set of 3 LPs (also as 2 cassettes or 2 CDs), in 1989.

–Jim O’Neal
www.bluesoterica.com