 |
 |
||||||||
 |
07:31:2006: "Sad Journey": Floyd Dixon R.I.P.
“Mr Magnificent,” Floyd Dixon, passed away Wednesday at the age of 77. Floyd Dixon was one of the many Texas-based artists who moved to Los Angeles in the 1940s and helped popularize a post-swing style of music that would soon dubbed R&B. He was a teenage protégé of Charles Brown himself. And, though he, like many of his Central Avenue compatriots, was heavily influenced by the Brown’s smooth jazzy take on blues, Dixon found his greatest success playing a more rudimentary jump blues style similar to that of his friend Amos Milburn – a racket that was, in essence, rock’n’roll. And, a few years into his career found his biggest success in that idiom, the now-standard “Hey Bartender.” He even had a Lieber and Stoller hit, “Too Much Jelly Roll” penned for him. As R&B gave way to
soul, Dixon, like most of his fellow swing-based musicians, faded
into obscurity, retiring to Paris, TX. He made a comeback in the
1980s after a number of his recordings were re-released and, in
1996, shocked everyone with a live album called “Wake Up and
Live!” which proved that he hadn’t lost an ounce of
his either his energy or chops.
OBITS
|
 |
|||||||
|
|||||||||
