Personnel includes: Willie Dixon (vocals, acoustic guitar, bass); Ollie Crawford (guitar, background vocals); Jody Williams, John Watkins, Johnny B. Moore (guitar); Stanley Behrens (harmonica); J.T. Brown (tenor saxophone); Leonard "Baby Doo" Caston, Lafayette Leak, Arthur "Butch" Dixon (piano); Jerome Arnold, Freddie Dixon (bass), Fred Below (drums, percussion); Al Duncan, Junior Blackman, Clifton James, Jimmy Tillman, Chucki Burke (drums); The El Rays (background vocals).
Prodcuers: Rob Wasserman, Willie Dixon, Leonard Chess, Phil Chess.
Compilation producer: Andy McKaie.
Recorded between 1954 and 1990. Includes liner notes by Mary Katherine Aldin.
Digitally remastered by Erick Labson (MCA Music Media Studios, North Hollywood, California).
Personnel: Willie Dixon (vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar); Ollie Crawford (guitar, background vocals); Hubert Sumlin, John Watkins, Jody Williams, Johnny B. Moore, Cash McCall (guitar); Stanley Behrens, Billy Branch (harmonica); Harold Ashby, J.T. Brown (tenor saxophone); Leonard Caston (piano, background vocals); Johnny Jones, Lafayette Leake (piano); Fred Below (drums, percussion); Clifton James, Junior Blackman, Jim Tillman, Al Duncan , Chuck Burke (drums); Lucius McGill, Chuck Barksdale, Johnny Funches, Vern Allison, Marvin Junior, Michael McGill (background vocals).
Audio Remasterer: Erick Labson.
Liner Note Author: Mary Katherine Aldin.
Recording information: Chicago, IL (02/17/1954-??/??/1990); Los Angeles, CA (02/17/1954-??/??/1990); New York, NY (02/17/1954-??/??/1990).
Photographers: Carl Studna; Joe Alper.
This is a good collection of hard-to-find and previously unreleased Dixon sides, although there are several Chess tracks that were left off that would have made it much more valuable. The title track is especially worthwhile, as is "Tail Dragger," but it is also easy to see from this collection why Dixon was never quite a star in his own right as a performer -- he has a good voice, but not a very memorable or powerful one, compared with Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf et al. ~ Bruce Eder minimize