Willie Dixon (born July 1, 1915, Vicksburg, Miss., U.S.-died Jan. 29, 1992,… Read Full Bio ↴Willie Dixon (born July 1, 1915, Vicksburg, Miss., U.S.-died Jan. 29, 1992, Burbank, Calif.) was a U.S. musician who influenced the emergence of electric blues and rock music. In 1936 Dixon moved from his native Mississippi to Chicago, won an Illinois Golden Gloves boxing championship, and began selling his songs. He played double bass in several bands before joining Chess Records. His lively compositions, which he sold for as little as $30, included “Little Red Rooster,” “You Shook Me,” and “Back Door Man”; many were later recorded by Muddy Waters, Elvis Presley, and the Rolling Stones. Dixon toured widely throughout the U.S. and Europe.

extensive subsequent covers, include:

"29 Ways" – Marc Cohn, Willie Dixon, The Blues Band
"300 Pounds Of Joy" – Howlin' Wolf, Tom Jones & Jools Holland
"After Five Long Years" – Willie Dixon
"As Long as I Have You" – Led Zeppelin
"Back Door Man"[9] – Howlin' Wolf, The Doors, Grateful Dead, Shadows of Knight, Bob Weir
"Big Boss Man" – Jimmy Reed, Elvis Presley, The Animals, The Grateful Dead
"Bring It on Home" – Sonny Boy Williamson II, Led Zeppelin, Van Morrison, Dread Zeppelin, Johnny Thunders
"Built for Comfort" – Howlin' Wolf, Canned Heat, UFO
"Crazy For My Baby" – Little Walter, Charlie Musselwhite, Willie Dixon
"Crazy Love" – Buddy Guy
"Crazy Mixed Up World" – Little Walter
"Close to You" – Muddy Waters, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Doors
"Dead Presidents" – Little Walter, The J. Geils Band
"Diddy Wah Diddy" – Bo Diddley, Captain Beefheart, The Blues Band
"Do Me Right" – Lowell Fulson
"Do the Do" – Howlin' Wolf
"Don't Go No Farther" – Muddy Waters
"Don't Tell Me Nothin´" – Willie Dixon – used in the movie The Color of Money
"Down in the Bottom" – Howlin' Wolf, Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings
"Earthquake and Hurricane" – Willie Dixon
"Eternity" – Grateful Dead
"Everybody Needs Something" – Little Walter
"Everything But You" – Jimmy Witherspoon
"Everything's Got a Time" – Willie Dixon
"Evil" – Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Canned Heat, Captain Beefheart, Monster Magnet, Derek and the Dominos, Gary Moore, Cactus, The Faces, Steve Miller, Koko Taylor
"Flamin' Mamie" – Willie Dixon
"Help Me" – Sonny Boy Williamson II
"Gone Daddy Gone" - the Violent Femmes' Gordon Gano incorporated elements of "I Just Want To Make Love To You" into his track; the former was later covered by Gnarls Barkley
"Grave Digger Blues" – Willie Dixon
"Groanin' the Blues" – Willie Dixon, Eric Clapton
"Hidden Charms" – Howlin' Wolf, Link Wray
"Hoochie Coochie Man"[6] – Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Shadows of Knight, Eric Burdon, The Nashville Teens, Dion, The Allman Brothers Band, Alexis Korner, Steppenwolf, Chuck Berry, Motörhead, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Healey, Manfred Mann
"Howlin' For My Baby" – Howlin' Wolf, George Thorogood
"I Ain't Superstitious" – Howlin' Wolf, The Yardbirds, Grateful Dead, Megadeth, The Jeff Beck Group, Chris Spedding
"I Can't Quit You Baby" – Little Milton, Otis Rush, Willie Dixon, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, Led Zeppelin, Gary Moore, Dread Zeppelin, Nine Below Zero
"I Can't Understand" – Los Lobos (co-written with Cesar Rojas)
"I Don't Make Sense (You Can't Make Peace)" – Willie Dixon
"If the Sea Was Whiskey" – Chris Thile
"I Got What It Takes" – Koko Taylor
"I Just Want To Make Love To You"[6] – Muddy Waters, 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
"I Love the Life I Live, I Live the Life I Love" – Muddy Waters, Willie Nelson
"I'm Ready"[6] – Muddy Waters, Humble Pie, Buddy Guy, Aerosmith, Long John Baldry, Eric Burdon, George Thorogood, Albert King
"Insane Asylum" – Koko Taylor, Kathy McDonald and Sly Stone, Diamanda Galás, Asylum Street Spankers, The Detroit Cobras, Oxbow feat. Marianne Faithful
"I Don't Play" – Robben Ford
"I Got My Brand on You" – Muddy Waters
"It Don't Make Sense (You Can't Make Peace)" – Styx
"I Want To Be Loved" – Muddy Waters, The Rolling Stones
"Let Me Love You Baby" – Buddy Guy, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jeff Beck, Muddy Waters, B. B. King
"Little Baby" – Howlin' Wolf, The Rolling Stones
"Little Red Rooster"[6] – Howlin' Wolf, Sam Cooke, The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, Grateful Dead, The Doors, Luther Allison, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Big Mama Thornton, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
"Love, Life & Money" – Johnny Winter
"Mellow Down Easy" – Little Walter & His Jukes, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, The Black Crowes, Carey Bell, ZZ Top, Jimmy Reed, Holly Golightly
"Million Dollar Baby" – Dizzy Gillespie
"My Babe"[6] – Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Elvis Presley, The Everly Brothers, Spencer Davis Group, John P. Hammond, Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters, Othar Turner & The Rising Star Fire and Drum Band
"My Baby's Sweeter" – Little Walter, Fleetwood Mac
"My Captain" – Muddy Waters
"My John the Conqueror Root" – Muddy Waters
"Nervous" – Willie Dixon
"Oh Baby" – Little Walter
"One More Chance With You" – Little Walter
"Pain In My Heart" – Willie Dixon, The Rolling Stones, Otis Redding, Grateful Dead
"Pie in the Sky" – Willie Dixon
"Pretty Thing" – Bo Diddley, Pretty Things, Canned Heat
"Seventh Son" – Willie Mabon, Mose Allison, Bill Haley, Johnny Rivers, Sting, Climax Blues Band, Long John Baldry
"Same Thing" – The Band
"Sin And City" – Buddy Guy
"Shake For Me" – Stevie Ray Vaughan
"Sit and Cry (The Blues)" – Buddy Guy (co-written with Buddy Guy)
"Spoonful"[6] – Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, Shadows of Knight, Dion, Paul Butterfield, Cream, Canned Heat, Grateful Dead, Ten Years After, The Who, Etta James Salty Dog
"Study War No More" – Willie Dixon
"The Same Thing" – Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, George Thorogood, The Allman Brothers Band, Sue Foley, Marc Ford, Grateful Dead
"The Seventh Son" – Willie Dixon
"Study No More" – Willie Dixon
"Third Degree" – Eddie Boyd, Willie Dixon, Eric Clapton, Leslie West
"Tollin' Bells" – Lowell Fulson, Savoy Brown Blues Band, Robert Cray
"Too Late" – Little Milton, Little Walter
"Too Many Cooks" – Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, Mick Jagger
"Violent Love" – Otis Rush, The Big Three, Oingo Boingo, Dr. Feelgood
"Walkin' The Blues" – Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton, John Kay
"Wang Dang Doodle"[6] – Koko Taylor, Howlin' Wolf, Grateful Dead, Savoy Brown, Box Tops, PJ Harvey, Rufus Thomas, The Pointer Sisters, The Blues Band, Widespread Panic
"Weak Brain, Narrow Mind" – Willie Dixon, Widespread Panic
"When My Left Eye Jumps" – Buddy Guy
"When The Lights Go Out" – Jimmy Witherspoon, Kim Wilson
"Who" – Little Walter
"Wigglin' Worm" – Willie Dixon
"You Can't Judge A Book By Looking At Its Cover" – Bo Diddley, 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.
"You Don't Love Me" – Booker T. & the M.G.s, Al Kooper and Stephen Stills
"You Know My Love" – Otis Rush, Gary Moore
"You'll Be Mine" – Howlin' Wolf, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Dr. Feelgood
"You Need Love" – Muddy Waters, Mick Clark Band
"Whole Lotta Love" – Led Zeppelin. Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" was appropriated, without credit, from Dixon's "You Need Love". Although the main guitar riff was composed by Jimmy Page himself, Robert Plant based the lyrics on Dixon's song. Dixon and his music publisher received credit and royalties, after a 1985 lawsuit was settled out of court.
"You Need Loving" recorded by The Small Faces in 1965, is another uncredited loose version of the song
"You Shook Me"[9] – Otis Rush, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Jeff Beck Group, Led Zeppelin, Dread Zeppelin
"Young Fashioned Ways" – Muddy Waters
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

You may also see Willie Dixon & The Allstars and Chicago Blues Allstars on Last.fm.

Seventh Son
Willie Dixon Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Well now everybody cryin' 'bout the seventh son
But in the whole round world there is only one, and
I'm the one, yes, I'm the one
I'm the one, I'm the one,
I'm the one they call the seventh son

Well I can tell your future before it comes to pass
And I can do things for you that make your heart feel glad

Look at the skies and predict the rain
I can tell when a woman's got another man
I'm the one, yes, I'm the one
I'm the one, I'm the one,
I'm the one they call the seventh son

Now I can hold you close and I can squeeze you tight
And I can make you cry for me both day and night
And I can heal the sick and even raise the dead
And make you little girls talk out of your head
I'm the one, yes, I'm the one
I'm the one, I'm the one,
I'm the one they call the seventh son

Now I can talk these words that sound so sweet
I can make your little heart even skip a beat
I can take you, baby, hold you in my arms
And make the flesh quiver on your lovely bones
I'm the one, yes, I'm the one
I'm the one, I'm the one,
I'm the one they call the seventh son

Well now everybody cryin' 'bout the seventh son
But in the whole round world there is only one, and
I'm the one, yes, I'm the one
I'm the one, I'm the one,
I'm the one they call the seventh son

I'm the one they call the seventh son
I'm the one they call the seventh son

Overall Meaning

The song "The Seventh Son" by Willie Dixon is a powerful blues song that asserts the singer's supremacy as a seventh son. The song begins with the singer emphasizing that while many people might cry about the seventh son being ill-fated, there is only one seventh son in the world - the singer himself. The singer then proceeds to list all the things he can do, such as tell the future, make people happy, and even heal the sick and raise the dead. The song also includes a reference to his ability to detect infidelity in women.

The song is clearly about the singer's unique position as a seventh son, and the power and abilities that come with that position. In traditional folklore, seventh sons are considered lucky, gifted, or even magical. This song builds on that idea, suggesting that the seventh son possesses incredible abilities that others do not. Overall, the song is a powerful assertion of the singer's dominance and importance, based on his unique birthright.

Line by Line Meaning

Well now everybody cryin' 'bout the seventh son
Everyone wants to be the seventh son, but there is only one.

But in the whole round world there is only one, and
Out of the entire world, I am the only seventh son.

I'm the one, yes, I'm the one
I am the seventh son.

I'm the one, I'm the one,
I am the only one with these gifts.

I'm the one they call the seventh son
Everyone refers to me as the seventh son.

Well I can tell your future before it comes to pass
I have the ability to predict the future before it happens.

And I can do things for you that make your heart feel glad
I possess skills that can bring joy to your heart.

Look at the skies and predict the rain
I am able to determine when rain is approaching by observing the clouds.

I can tell when a woman's got another man
I can sense when a woman is involved with someone else.

Now I can hold you close and I can squeeze you tight
I have the power to embrace you and make you feel safe.

And I can make you cry for me both day and night
I can evoke deep emotions within you and make you long for me.

And I can heal the sick and even raise the dead
I have the ability to cure illnesses and even bring people back from death.

And make you little girls talk out of your head
I can make young girls lose their minds over me.

Now I can talk these words that sound so sweet
I am capable of speaking words that are charming and alluring.

I can make your little heart even skip a beat
I am able to make your heart race with excitement.

I can take you, baby, hold you in my arms
I am able to hold you closely and make you feel protected.

And make the flesh quiver on your lovely bones
I have the ability to make you shiver with pleasure.

I'm the one they call the seventh son
Everyone refers to me as the seventh son.

Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: HENRY GLOVER, MORRIS LEVY, IVERSON MINTER

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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Comments from YouTube:

Big Dan

6y↑21

It seems every time I hear a good blues tune, Willie Dixon wrote it. Incredible song writer AND musician.

Ross De Marco

4y↑12

Glad I grew up in the time when I did . Got to see all the great blues guys live . Willie , Muddy , John Lee Hooker , James Cotton , Odetta , Chuck , little Richard, etc what an era

John Cox

2y↑3

Great song. Huge Willie Dixon fan here

MrJRJ1964

1y↑3

I am the seventh son, born in Chicago and this song makes me so fucking happy. Long live the blues. Authentic and fresh!

surfdogdude

8y↑15

God bless Willie's soul! SOOOO great! Who the hell disliked this?

John Allen

5y↑4

Willie Dixon was a great blues musician and writer. When all the big black players were coming out of the south and up to Chicago Willie was there to help them out and he was a talent scout for Chess Records.

Cora Visser

7y↑2

This is real unbelieveble such a great talent he was,for ever in my heart he was a genius,

Big-J

5y↑15

Willie Dixon; The most underrated and under appreciated Blues man of all time.

rc

4y↑1

Dont know why ya say he's underated...perhaps you're just too young.
He's always been a big deal

Potnios Demetros

Willie Dixon underrated and under appreciated??? No my friend..he is the heart and the base of the blues..u can ask Muddy..

Big-J

3y↑2

@rc You are making age assumptions.

Big-J

3y↑1

@Potnios Demetros understand and should have clarified. I wasn't talking about his influence or the songs he wrote. I am referring to most people not knowing his influence or the songs he wrote for Muddy.

rc

@Big-J guess I was making age assumptions, but he was never underrated. or under appreciated. Its usually people who are too young or recently discovered him who say that

1 More Replies...

Merle Molofsky

2y↑1

I didn't know Willie Dixon wrote this. I first heard this song performed by Mose Allison. Both Willie Dixon and Mose Allison are terrific musicians.

SoulDaddy33

39w↑1

Were, unfortunately. But yes, very true.

Jeff Reese

6y↑9

Wow and I did this song for years the Johnny Rivers way. Tonight is the first time I heard this. I love it!

Jodie Jackson

Today was the first time I listened to this version ever. Jinkies.

Randy Merlo

@Jodie Jackson Climax Blues Band did this song great job in concert and much better than Johnny Rivers

HH Scott

7y↑5

God this is epic!

Sergey Kharitonov

2y↑1

Wonderful. Timeless music 🎶

Sonja Dietz

5y↑1

So great !

Jose Meda

An harmonica playing. He really was the one.

Stuart Munro

49w

❤got every record by Willie Dixon. I met and shook hands with Memphis Slim , when I was Fourteen , my Dad was Friends with him , I went to rehearsals , on their English tour in 1963

Porco Russo

Difference in lyrics from the later rockabilly version. Great piano, guitar work and real blues vocals. Thanks!

laz chapman

9y↑2

yes he is the one. preacher of the blues

D. M. Ball

Not much of a singer, but it's interesting to hear the author record his composition.

Rockin Daddy

🎵 Sagenhaft ! 👍 🧡 Spitzenmäßiger R n B !!

James Hester

I met muddy waters in 1970 Willie was still alive then.

Stuart Limbrick

Willie's version is my favourite, but Johnny Rivers did a nice version. Dixon plays it more laid back and cool in my opinion.

Randy Merlo

Check out Climax Blues Band playing it live from FM live 1973 or any live version better than Rivers

Randy Merlo

Ramona Rael check out Climax Blues Band doing it live 1973 FM live or any live version

guardduck25

Big Willie Dixon. 🕶

jeffrey conyers

5y↑2

Heck, it's the original style of the composer.

MEL Camm

3y↑1

Just think of all the beautiful blues musit will blues music that would not be here if it were not for Willie.. God-bless you Willie I know you're still rocking around

Dancing Trout

Wolf, Waters ,Dixon, BB ,Freddie ,Albert.. For starters.... ((I shook BB's Hand back in 89

bingochoice

5y↑6

mose allison did a great cover of this tune, check it out

Gil Guillermo

4y↑1

I heard Mose's version when I was about 10. Have never forgotten it.

Gil Guillermo

4y↑1

(I'm 63!! - Holy $***!)

Merle Molofsky

@Gil Guillermo Mose Allison recorded this in 1958. I am 80 years old. I probably heard his rendition some time in the 1960's. I just heard Willie Dixon singing this for the first time today, and learned that he wrote it! I love Willie Dixon's "Built for Comfort".

Elizabeth Freshour

1y↑1

I'm a girl but I'm still the one!!!

Acyutananda das

5y↑3

Walter Horton on harp

Dante Rivero

Daaaalee 🎶

Hachimedia

I guess he was singing, but not playing bass on this recording. That's electric bass, not upright bass.

William Dines

That bass playing is Willie Dixon himself and he was actually a damn good double bass player in his own right and was pretty quick on the strings when he wanted to be.

Johnny Shines is playing guitar and Sunnyland Slim on piano in this recording.

Hachimedia

2y↑1

@William Dines Yes, he was a fantastic upright bass player, but that's Fender bass on this track, so I assume it's someone else on bass with Willie singing. Here's Willie's Big Three Trio https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgY13JwIS8Q (bass solo at a minute and thirty seconds), but I don't know of him ever playing electric bass.

William Dines

I am aware of the differences in sound and tone of a double bass and an electric bass, but I'm also aware that if someone was playing a fender bass, then it would come through louder on this recording, especially during the piano and bass solo, but the bass is difficult to hear clearly.