The Big Three Trio

For the legendary <a href="spotify:artist:5v8WPpMk60cqZbuZLdXjKY">Willie Dixon</a>, the Big Three Trio was an important launching pad for a fantastic career. Pianist <a href="spotify:artist:2AWxtGHxzDeuzMU5UisOSY">Leonard "Baby Doo" Caston</a> and guitarist Bernardo Dennis (replaced after a year by Ollie Crawford) joined upright bassist <a href="spotify:artist:5v8WPpMk60cqZbuZLdXjKY">Dixon</a> to form the popular trio in 1946. <a href="spotify:artist:2AWxtGHxzDeuzMU5UisOSY">Caston</a> was just out of the service (where he'd played on U.S.O. tours during World War II); <a href="spotify:artist:5v8WPpMk60cqZbuZLdXjKY">Dixon</a> had been a conscientious objector. <a href="spotify:artist:5v8WPpMk60cqZbuZLdXjKY">Dixon</a> had previously worked with <a href="spotify:artist:2AWxtGHxzDeuzMU5UisOSY">Caston</a> in the Five Breezes and with Dennis in the Four Jumps of Jive.

Sharing vocal (they specialized in three-part harmonies) and writing duties democratically, the trio signed with Jim Bullet's Bullet imprint in 1946 for a solitary session before making a giant jump in stature to Columbia Records in 1947. Their polished, pop-oriented presentation resulted in one national hit, "You Sure Look Good to Me," in 1948, and a slew of other releases that stretched into 1952 (toward the end, they were shuttled over to the less prestigious OKeh subsidiary).

Incidentally, <a href="spotify:artist:5v8WPpMk60cqZbuZLdXjKY">Dixon</a> dusted off two songs the trio waxed for OKeh, "Violent Love" and "My Love Will Never Die," and handed them to <a href="spotify:artist:1h0hOL3bVcYlg4xcSjU7fP">Otis Rush</a> a few years later when the bassist was working as a producer at Eli Toscano's Cobra Records. <a href="spotify:artist:1h0hOL3bVcYlg4xcSjU7fP">Rush</a>'s tortured "My Love Will Never Die" was a postwar masterpiece; the corny "Violent Love" may be the worst thing the southpaw guitarist ever committed to tape.

<a href="spotify:artist:2AWxtGHxzDeuzMU5UisOSY">Caston</a> split at the end of 1952, effectively breaking up the trio. But <a href="spotify:artist:5v8WPpMk60cqZbuZLdXjKY">Dixon</a>'s destiny was at Chess Records, where he was already making inroads as a session bassist and songwriter. Pretty soon, he'd be recognized as one of the most prolific and invaluable figures on the Windy City scene. ~ Bill Dahl, Rovi