From: "Dik de Heer" 
Date: Fri Apr 22, 2005 1:35am 
Subject: This Is My Story : Luther Dixon  
  
LUTHER DIXON

Producer, songwriter

Luther Dixon was probably born in the mid-1930s and grew up on the East
Coast. By 1954 he had joined the vocal group The Four Buddies (led by Larry
Harrison), who had recorded prolifically for the Savoy label during 1950-1953.
Dixon became their baritone singer and (occasional) guitar player. The group
also recorded as The Barons (one of at least five US groups with that name)
for Decca and as The Buddies for Glory. The group disintegrated in 1955 and
Luther Dixon and Larry Harrison started writing songs together. Their biggest
(and only) hit was "Why Baby Why", one of the better up-tempo records by 
Pat Boone, which peaked at # 5 in the spring of 1957. Soon Dixon and Harrison
would each go their own songwriting way, but Luther hardly ever wrote a song 
all by himself, almost always with a partner. Some of these songwriting partners 
were among the best in the business, like Otis Blackwell, with whom Dixon 
wrote "All the Way Home" for Bobby Darin (recorded in January 1958, but 
shelved until the release of the "For Teenagers Only" LP in 1960). Luther's 
next big hit as a songwriter was "Sixteen Candles" by the Crests (# 2, late 
1958), co-written with Allyson Khent. 

In 1960 Dixon was approached by Florence Greenberg, who had started her
own NYC record label, Scepter Records, in 1959. She was also managing a 
girl group called the Shirelles, whose first record for Scepter, "Dedicated 
To The One I Love" had peaked at # 83, but several follow-ups by the group
bombed completely. Greenberg felt that the label needed better material and 
more promotion and asked Dixon if he would be interested in working with the
Shirelles. His answer was "Of course". He had previously heard the group and 
thought they had promise. After a few meetings, Greenberg was so impressed 
with Dixon that she offered him a good financial package with a lot of responsibility
and independence : A&R (Artists & Repertoire), production and a piece of the 
publishing. 

Dixon's first production for the Shirelles was "Tonight's the Night", which he
co-wrote with Shirley Owens, the group's lead singer. It went to # 39 in the
autumn of 1960, in spite of competition from a cover by the Chiffons, whose 
version peaked at # 76. This was followed by the monster hit "Will You Love
Me Tomorrow" (# 1, written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin) and the Shirelles
were truly on their way. The B-side of that record, Dixon's composition "Boys",
would later become a handsome source of royalties after it was recorded by
the Beatles on their first LP.

The Shirelles had many more hits during 1961-63, all produced by Dixon, 
including a second number one, "Soldier Boy", which Dixon co-wrote with
Florence Greenberg. She had started a second label, Wand Records, in
1961. Wand's most successful artist was Chuck Jackson (ex-Dell-Vikings),
whose first hit, "I Don't Want To Cry" (# 36 in March 1961), was joinly written
by Luther Dixon and Jackson himself. 

By 1963, Dixon had co-written many of the Scepter/Wand hits and produced
most of them. In the industry, he was a hot commodity, and Capitol Records
offered him a chance to set up his own label, Ludix Records. After Dixon's
departure, the Shirelles would still score occasional hits, but they never made
the Top 20 again.

Unfortunately for Dixon, the Ludix venture was unsuccessful. By 1966 he was
working with a later version of the Platters, and he co-wrote and produced their
two biggest post-Mercury hits: "I Love You 1000 Times" (# 31, 1966) and "With
This Ring" (# 14, 1967), both on Musicor.

Other well-known compositions by Dixon include "Big Boss Man" (with Al Smith),
"A Hundred Pounds of Clay" and "Soul Serenade" (with King Curtis, who had a
# 51 hit with the song in 1964). Not well-known, but very good is "I Dig That Rock
and Roll" for Earl Wade (Swan 4008). At least, the BMI database lists Luther Dixon
as the writer (with Earl Wade) of this song, whereas the Roller Coaster CD
"Walkin' With Willie" (RCD 3009, annotated by our own Tony Wilkinson) lists
"Gill, Wade" as the composers.

Further info on the Four Buddies:
http://home.att.net/~marvy42/4Buddies/4buddies.html

Dik