FLOYD DIXON

THE RIVER
RED CHERRIES

Aladdin 3144

GRADE: VG to VG+

DESCRIPTION: Floyd Dixon is often referred to as the classic example of an exponent of West Coast blues. Born J. Riggins, Jr., Dixon began playing piano and singing as a child, and in Texas he was exposed to a range of blues and gospel influences, and even a little jazz and hillbilly. After his family moved to Los Angeles in 1942, Dixon came into contact with Charles Brown, a major musical influence throughout his working life. To an extent, Brown took the young piano player under his wing and when Johnny Moore's Three Blazers split up, Dixon had learned more than enough to act as a natural replacement for the Brown sound. Besides recording with Johnny Moore and a couple of other combos, Floyd also recorded extensively with his own trio, signing with Modern Records in 1949, and adding the influences of jump blues greats, Louis Jordan and Amos Milburn, to the urban sophistication of Charles Brown. He had his early successes with Modern, securing a top ten R&B hit with Dallas Blues in 1949. He soon switched to the Aladdin label and in 1950 scored another hit with Sad Eyes, and a number of other hits. The influence of the likes of Amos Milburn found its way onto up-tempo, ribald recordings such as Red Cherries (this record up for auction), Too Much Jelly Roll, and Baby Let's Go Down To The Woods.

Dixon continued to record for a selection of small West Coast and Texas independent labels throughout the 50s and 60s and he was in constant demand as a live performer off and on into the 1990s. In 1997, Living Blues Magazine recognized him as Most Outstanding Blues Musician (Keyboards) and as Comeback Artist Of The Year. He also received the W.C. Handy award for Comeback Album Of The Year for his "Wake Up and Live" album recorded in the mid-'90s. The man lived to see himself made into a legend.

This record for auction is one of Dixon's rare 45s on Aladdin. Most of his early '50s Aladdin music was recorded on 78s, and occasionally a rare 45 of his pops up, as now. This record, in mint condition, is listed up to $400, to give you an idea of its rarity. This disk, with Dixon accompanied by his own band, shows us the variety of musical styles the man could perform in. Especially outstanding is the A side, The River. This seems to be the frontrunner for Donald Woods & the Vel-Aires' recording of Death of an Angel (originally titled My Baby's Gone). The River, like Woods' record, is a heavy blues done in a dirge-like style, with Dixon bemoaning the loss of his woman. His strong depression for his loss is evident as he wails that he might as well be dead, and implying that the river was looking better to him all the time. "If I can't find my baby, then I don't want to see another day," and "If my baby comes back, tell her to say a prayer for me." Finally, at the end of the song comes a very unique and dramatic finale: the sounds of gurgling water get louder and then softer, as they would if he were drowning. What an incredible number! Why this treasure has been ignored all these years by blues aficionados is a mystery! Just as good is the flip side of the record, Red Cherries. As I stated above, this is a ribald number with double entendre lyrics: "Red cherries, sweet cherries, rose cherries, oh, is all so fine--give me a juicy, ripe cherry any ol' time." Dixon also accompanies himself on the piano in this great jump blues, and it's obvious his piano style was copied by many other artists of the time. This is not only a highly collectible record, but it has two of the most excellent sides on any blues record I've heard from the early 1950s! Bid on this great treasure now!

CONDITION: The record has some scuffing and a few light scratches, but plays excellently on both sides. There is a tiny bit of crackling which I don't know is from the noted scuffs or from the light sand being blown in from the Mojave Desert, on the edge of which I live. The breezy weather makes the fine grains of sand sift through every tiny opening in the house, and I can clean a record and 10 minutes later it will be covered with a light layer of dust again. Whatever is causing the extremely light crackles, though, they are not distracting unless you are exclusively listening for them (as I had to do during the run-through play). You can listen to this disk without even noticing the bits of unwanted background sound. This is a fantastic record in every way!

I will be happy to answer your questions (such as requesting my phone number to talk further about this item, asking to listen to records I have up for bid, etc.). Just click on Ask Seller a Question in the Information Box above.

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The Boring Stuff

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