Willie Dixon’s Blues Garden, Chess Records (2001)
Chicago, Illinois

One of Chicago’s landmarks on my bucket list was visiting the legendary Chess Records Studios at 2120 South Michigan Avenue. 

In the 1950s and ‘60s, Michigan Avenue was home to some of the most famous record labels in the history of American music: Chess. Aristocrat. Vee-Jay. States. J.O.B. Chief. United. Cobra. Curtom. And Brunswick to name a few. 

Chess became the most well-known label on that list. At the time, that stretch of blocks on Michigan Avenue was known as Record Row constantly churning out hit after hit.

The Chess Records location also became home to Willie Dixon’s Blues Heaven Foundation when Willie’s wife, Marie, purchased the property. Shirli Dixon-Nelson, Willie’s daughter, was President and Executive Director of the Foundation when I visited. 

Shirli’s top mission was to help artists recoup royalties for songs they had written - including her Dad’s songs - but were recorded and released by others without acknowledging or paying the original songwriter. She also assisted aspiring musicians with legally protecting their original material before it was recorded.  

So that hot Chicago summer day, Shirli and her husband, Keith, doubled as my tour guides roaming one of the most historic spaces in music history. 

My tour ended where it began: the front reception area. Shirli and I continued chatting about her Dad, music, and the mission of the Blues Heaven Foundation. 

She went on to explain how the City of Chicago sold the abandoned lot next door to the foundation for one dollar to keep the adjacent land aligned with Willie’s legacy. Shirli and the Dixon family transformed the lot into Willie Dixon’s Blues Garden, an outdoor live performance space where blues acts across the city performed on a weekly basis. 

I was interested, of course, and asked about the lineup of acts for the rest of the Summer. Shirli handed me this flier:

Then, she posed this question:

“So are you a musician or play an instrument?”, she asked.

“I play harmonica and sing some, too. Mostly blues jams around the city,” I shared.

‘Well, you should come out to the next performance this Wednesday,” Shirli said. 

“And be sure to bring your harps. I usually sing a few songs with the featured band. I’ll call you up to the stage to play along with me.”

Sure enough, two days later, I found myself on stage next door to Chess Records playing harp behind Willie Dixon’s daughter who’s belting out the Louis Jordan classic, “Let The Good Times Roll”.

When we finished playing a few songs, Shirli and the other musicians in The Roy Hightower Band were more than gracious with their compliments of my playing. 

“Put your hands together for Kirk on harmonica!,”
Shirli declared into the mic.

It was the biggest crowd I played for at that point in my life. It also felt much more like an official invitation to play than the typical blues jam sign-up sheet.

As I walked off the stage sifting my way to the back of the audience, I heard people clapping their hands. You expect to hear clapping after most performances you attend, right? It’s polite, regardless of what you hear. 

But as I started to look up and make eye contact with several people in the audience, I saw more than just people clapping. I saw approving head nods and genuine smiles. A few folks patted me on the back or shook my hand. 

Those gestures and body language meant more to me than any hand clapping, especially coming from the Blues Garden audience. I mean, I’m in the heart of Chicago being welcomed in a new neighborhood among new friends who never heard me play a lick of music. 

Some were tourists or immigrants from faraway lands. 

Some were fellow musicians and artists. 

Some were descendants of the great Willie Dixon family. 

And some were sure to be descendants of those brave enough to make The Great Migration escaping the hopeless grip of slavery and racism for a new sunrise.

When the evening’s live music ended, the conversations started. I met some really interesting people that day: 

Kevin, E.J., Ralph, Jave’ [pronounced Jah-VAY’], Debbie, DeTrina, Vanessa, Dora, Vernon, Cliff, LaDonna, Judy, Robert, and Dr. Willie Naylor, a long-time Chicago Public Schools music instructor and bandleader. 

The laughter and smiles we shared were heartfelt. We didn’t want the night to end at the blues garden. So a few of us - including Shirli - made our way a few blocks North to Koko Taylor’s blues club: a place the late, legendary performer owned at the time. 

On the way, new friend Cliff popped into a Dunkin’ Donuts for a snack. He came out with a box of a dozen donuts and a smile. He wanted to share them with everyone. Nothing like late-night donuts, beer, and the blues.  

Nellie Tiger Travis was the headliner. What a powerful live singer. You don’t mess with Nellie. About 15 years later, the world got to see what Chicago already knew about Nellie when she was invited by Jimmy Fallon to perform with The Roots on The Tonight Show (skip to 1:33 in this YouTube video):

So there I was surrounded by my new friends sitting around one tiny circular table inches from the stage. Between songs, Nellie acknowledged Shirli and her new blues donut patrol who I was complete strangers with just hours ago. I didn’t want that day to end.

Two years later, Shirli died suddenly at the young age of 40. 

I never had the chance to tell Shirli how much her unconditional acceptance of me and my playing meant. Think about it. She never even heard me play one note. Yet she was willing to risk her own public reputation to give someone she didn’t know a shot. 

Sounds a lot like the long lineage and history of Chicago blues: 

“Oh, you love the music, too? Let’s hear what you got!”

My last living memory of Shirli was seeing her perform as a headliner on the main stage at The 2003 Chicago Blues Festival about a month before she died. One of the songs she sang was “Let The Good Times Roll”. 

Good times indeed, Shirli.

My Willie Dixon Playlist (Songs Written and Arranged by Willie Dixon):

• Little Walter

  • “Mellow Down Easy”

  • “My Babe”

  • ‘Too Late”

  • “Crazy Mixed Up World”

  • “Dead Presidents”

  • “My Baby Is Sweeter”

  • “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright”

  • “I’m A Businessman”

  • “Oh Baby”

  • “Who”

  • “As Long As I Have You”

  • “I Got To Find My Baby”

• Muddy Waters

  • “Don’t Go No Further”

  • “Hoochie Coochie Man” 

  • “I Just Want To Make Love To You” 

  • “I Live The Life I Love” 

  • “I’m Ready” 

  • “You Need Love” 

  • “You Shook Me”

  • “Young Fashioned Ways” 

  • “Close To You” 

• Howlin’ Wolf

  • “Evil”

  • “Little Red Rooster”

  • “Back Door Man” 

  • “Built For Comfort” 

  • “Three Hundred Pounds of Joy” 

  • “Hidden Charms” 

  • “Shake For Me”

  • “Spoonful”

  • “Tail Dragger”

• Bo Diddley

  • “Pretty Thing”

  • “You Can’t Judge A Book By Its Cover”

  • “Diddy Wah Diddy”

• Junior Wells

  • “I’ll Get You Too”

  • “One Day (Every Goodbye Ain’t Gone)”

  • “She’s A Sweet One”

• Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller)

  • “Bring It On Home” 

  • “Bye Bye Bird”

  • “Help Me”

• Otis Rush

  • “I Can’t Quit You Baby”

  • “My Love Will Never Die”

• Big Walter Horton

  • “Good Moanin’ Blues”

  • “Need My Baby”

• Willie Dixon

  • “29 Ways”

• Koko Taylor

  • “Wang Dang Doodle”

• Jimmy Rogers

  • “One Kiss”

• Albert King

  • “Howlin’ For My Darling (Calling on My Darling)”

• Willie Mabon

  • “The Seventh Son”

• Eddie Boyd

  • “Third Degree”

• Buster Benton

  • “Spider In My Stew”

• Jesse Fortune

  • “Too Many Cooks”

• Lowell Fulson

  • “Tollin’ Bells”