Errol Dixon RIP

A music death that seems to have gone under the radar somewhat is that of Jamaican/British singer and pianist Errol Dixon, who died while on a visit to Jamaica on January 31. Born in Clarendon Parish, Jamaica, in 1939 Errol came to the UK in 1957 and recorded several blues influenced ska records in the early sixties for a variety of labels, including Blue Beat, Island, Carnival, Oriole, Rainbow and Ska Beat. These included 'Midnight Train' (a hit in Jamaica), 'Bad Bad Woman', 'Rocks In My Pillow' 'You're No Good' and 'I Need Someone To Love'. He was a member of the Ram Jam Band prior to the arrival of Geno Washington and may have recorded 'Shake Shake Senora' with them in 1965, although the label references Geno. His material moved towards blues and soul and his recording of 'True Love Never Runs Smooth', produced by Mike Vernon and released on Decca, is deep soul at its best. He also recorded an EP of Fats Domino songs for Decca. Errol formed the 'Big City Blues of Errol Dixon', with musicians from Chicken Shack, including Stan Webb and Andy Sylvester, and recorded 'Blues In The Pot' - one of the best British blues records of the sixties, again produced by Mike Vernon. The album included several instrumentals showing off Errol's keyboard skills, and his 'Back To The Chicken Shack' was a homage to Amos Milburn. Sleeve notes mention the influence of blues pianist Lloyd Glenn on Errol, along with his similarity to artists such as Nappy Brown, Charles Brown, Johnny Otis and Louis Jordan. Later in 1969 he recorded an album of piano blues for Transatlantic called 'That's How You Got Killed Before'. In the seventies he recorded a number of blues albums for Swiss and German labels, including 'Blues Is Trouble' , 'In The Groove' and 'Listen To the Blues' and at some point moved to Switzerland. Other albums included 'Mr Boogie Woogie' and 'Boogie Woogie Party'.