The Chess Box

Disc 1
1	My Babe / Little Walter 2:40
2	Violent Love / The Big Three Trio previously unreleased 2:20
3	Third Degree / Eddie Boyd 3:13
4	Seventh Son / Willie Mabon 2:52
5	Crazy for My Baby previously unreleased 2:49
6	Pain in My Heart previously unreleased 3:18
7	(I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man 2:45
8	Evil / Howlin' Wolf 2:52
9	Mellow Down Easy / Little Walter 2:40
10	When the Lights Go Out / Jimmy Witherspoon 2:50
11	Young Fashioned Ways / Muddy Waters previously unreleased 2:59
12	Pretty Thing / Bo Diddley 2:49
13	I'm Ready / Muddy Waters 3:02
14	Do Me Right / Lowell Fulson 2:52
15	I Just Want to Make Love to You / Muddy Waters 2:50
16	Tollin' Bells / Lowell Fulson 3:04
17	29 Ways previously unreleased 2:08
18	Walking the Blues 3:01
Disc 2
1	Spoonful / Howlin' Wolf 2:45
2	You Know My Love / Otis Rush 2:40
3	You Can't Judge a Book by Its Cover / Bo Diddley 3:08
4	I Ain't Superstitious / Howlin' Wolf 2:52
5	You Need Love / Muddy Waters previously unreleased 2:39
6	Little Red Rooster / Howlin' Wolf 2:25
7	Back Door Man / Howlin' Wolf 2:48
8	Dead Presidents / Little Walter previously unreleased 2:45
9	Hidden Charms / Howlin' Wolf 2:21
10	You Shook Me / Muddy Waters 2:40
11	Bring It on Home / Sonny Boy Williamson [II] 2:33
12	Three Hundred Pounds of Joy / Howlin' Wolf 3:02
13	Weak Brain, Narrow Mind previously unreleased 4:24
14	Wang Dang Doodle / Koko Taylor 2:59
15	The Same Thing / Muddy Waters Live 5:54
16	Built for Comfort / Howlin' Wolf 2:33
17	I Can't Quit You Baby / Little Milton 6:38
18	Insane Asylum / Koko Taylor 4:19

Barnes & Noble

When Willie Dixon titled his autobiography I AM THE BLUES, he wasn't kidding. But his influence over the music world is less apparent than the contributions of some others, because Dixon was force that worked primarily behind the scenes -- as a writer of some of the most potent blues anthems in history and as a highly influential bass player whose work made an important link between the blues and rock 'n' roll. While Dixon also recorded with his group the Big Three, Dixon the writer and player is celebrated on the two-disc CHESS BOX. Which is fine, since Dixon's incomparable compositions run the full gamut from raw to sophisticated, and include such basics of the blues repertoire as "Spoonful," "You Shook Me," "Seventh Son," "(I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man," "I Just Wanna Make Love to You," "You Can't Judge a Book by Its Cover," "Back Door Man," "I Can't Quit You Baby," "Bring It on Home," "Little Red Rooster," and "Wang Dang Doodle." Of course, these songs don't sing themselves, and by virtue of his association with the Chess label, Dixon worked with the best in the business. Artists represented on the set include Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, Willie Mabon, Little Walter, Jimmy Witherspoon, Lowell Fulson, Bo Diddley, and Otis Rush. There are a few vocal appearances by Dixon as well, but, as you might expect, they pale a bit when with performances by Muddy or the Wolf. Dixon's influence on rock 'n' roll has been well documented -- groups such as the Allman Brothers, the Rolling Stones, the Doors, Foghat, Cream, and Led Zeppelin have sung his songs. But the stuff on THE CHESS BOX is the real deal -- and if you don't believe me, just ask Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, or Jimmy Page. Daniel Durchholz

All Music Guide

This was the most unusual, and probably the most difficult to assemble of MCA's Chess Box series, mostly because of the unusual nature of Willie Dixon's contribution to Chess Records. To be sure, Dixon rates a place in the history of the label right alongside that of Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and Little Walter, but his role was more subtle than that of a performer (indeed, two of the half-dozen recordings here that feature Dixon as a singer were previously unreleased). So he is all over this two-CD set, as a songwriter, producer, and bassist, and occasionally as a singer as well, but the unifying element are the Dixon songs, and he is the only blues songwriter to be honored by a major label with a retrospective of this type. Since he was not the performer on most of this material, but, rather, was working to mesh his material with the styles and sensibilities of a vast range of players, the sounds contained on these two CDs are a lot more varied than on any of the other Chess Box releases -- amplified Delta blues, big band, Mills Brothers-style harmony blues, jazz-influenced jump blues, and near-pop style R&B are all here; guitar pyrotechnics by Muddy Waters or Hubert Sumlin (on the Wolf's records), vocal acrobatics by Little Walter, and rippling performances by Koko Taylor illuminate this set throughout. While some of it, such as Muddy Waters' single of "Hoochie Coochie Man"; Little Walter's "My Babe"; Howlin' Wolf's performances of "Evil," "Spoonful," "Little Red Rooster," and "Back Door Man"; and Lowell Fulson's version of "Do Me Right" are easily available elsewhere, a lot else of what's here is genuinely rare and most enticing -- Dixon's own renditions of "Violent Love," "Crazy For My Baby," and "Pain In My Heart," in particular, are great records, lacking perhaps only a slight measure of the energy that a Muddy Waters brought to recording. Most of the set is concentrated on his blues work -- a pair of hot Bo Diddley sides ("Pretty Thing," "You Can't Judge a Book by Its Cover") that Dixon wrote are represented, but since he didn't write anything for Chuck Berry, that side of Dixon's history is left out, despite his having played bass on most of Berry's early recordings. Still, it's difficult to imagine anyone complaining over an "excuse" to bring some of the best sides of Muddy, Walter, the Wolf, Diddley, Taylor, Lowell Fulson, Jimmy Witherspoon, Sonny Boy Williamson, Otis Rush, and even Dixon's own '40s outfit, the Big Three together in one release. The sound is impeccable, holding up to standards even a dozen years later, and the set includes a well-illustrated and annotated booklet. Bruce Eder