Hidden Charms (Willie Dixon album)

Last updated

Hidden Charms
Hidden Charms (Willie Dixon album).jpg
Studio album by
Released1988
Studio Ocean Way, Hollywood
Genre Blues
Label Bug/Capitol Records
Producer T Bone Burnett
Willie Dixon chronology
Willie Dixon: Live (Backstage Access)
(1985)
Hidden Charms
(1988)
Ginger Ale Afternoon
(1989)

Hidden Charms is a blues album by Willie Dixon, released in 1988 on Bug/Capitol Records. [1] [2] It won a 1989 Grammy Award. [3]

Contents

Production

The album was produced by T Bone Burnett. [4] The band was made up of Cash McCall and Burnett on guitars, Sugar Blue on harmonica, Red Callender on bass, Lafayette Leake on piano, and Earl Palmer on drums. [5] "Study War No More" was cowritten by Dixon's grandson. [6]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [7]
Orlando Sentinel Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [5]
The Philadelphia Inquirer Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [8]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [4]

The Globe and Mail wrote that "the band is excellent - rootsy and tough but not overpowering - and, while Dixon's hardly a mesmerizing singer, his gruff grandfatherly voice has a plaintive soulfullness that suits his more recent songs." [9] The Kingston Whig-Standard wrote that "Leake's unique playing is alone worth the price of the album." [10]

The Rolling Stone Album Guide called the album "a solid if unspectacular outing." [4] Paste deemed it "a collection of overlooked Dixon gems." [11]

Track listing

All tracks composed and arranged by Willie Dixon; except where indicated

  1. "Blues You Can't Lose" 5:44
  2. "I Don't Trust Myself" 4:23
  3. "Jungle Swing" (Willie Dixon, Leonard Caston) 5:27
  4. "Don't Mess With The Messer" 7:10
  5. "Study War No More" (Willie Dixon, Alex Dixon) 4:33
  6. "I Love The Life I Live (I Live The Life I Love)" 3:11
  7. "I Cry For You" 4:40
  8. "Good Advice" (Willie Dixon, J.B. Lenoir) 5:13
  9. "I Do The Job" 6:22

Personnel

Technical

References

  1. "Willie Dixon and the Blues--One of the Last From the Past". Los Angeles Times. December 3, 1988.
  2. 1 2 "Hidden Charms - Willie Dixon - Songs, Reviews, Credits - AllMusic". AllMusic . Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  3. Steve Shorter (2015). Roots to Rock: Part 2 - Blues. Booktango. ISBN   978-1468954456. Dixon was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980 and won a Grammy Award in 1989 for his album, Hidden Charms
  4. 1 2 3 The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. pp. 202–203.
  5. 1 2 Fields, Curt (December 11, 1988). "WILLIE DIXON". Orlando Sentinel: 6.
  6. "Dixon hasn't stopped singing the blues". Calgary Herald: C5. December 22, 1988.
  7. Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 3. MUZE. p. 37.
  8. Moon, Tom (November 20, 1988). "Willie Dixon Hidden Charms". The Philadelphia Inquirer: H12.
  9. Dafoe, Chris (December 15, 1988). "INSIDE THE SLEEVE POP Hidden Charms Willie Dixon". The Globe and Mail: C13.
  10. Burliuk, Greg (December 24, 1988). "Short Cuts". The Kingston Whig-Standard: 1.
  11. "Forgotten Giants: Willie Dixon - The Poet Laureate of Chess Records". pastemagazine.com. September 25, 2018.