Julius Edward Dixson (who also used the spelling Dixon) (May 20, 1913 – January 30, 2004) was an American songwriter and record company executive.

Life and work

Born in

Barnwell, South Carolina Barnwell is a city in and county seat of Barnwell County, South Carolina, United States, located along U.S. Route 278. The population was 4,750 at the 2010 census. Geography Barnwell is located east of the center of Barnwell County at (33.244 ...

, he served in the Army during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in England and France. After the war Dixson re-enlisted, was assigned to Special Services, and hosted a live weekly radio broadcast for the forces in Germany and the Middle East, ''Variety Jive,'' featuring new songwriters and musicians.Biography by Jason Ankeny at Allmusic.com
Retrieved 25 July 2013 According to fellow songwriter

Beverly Ross Beverly Ross (September 5, 1934 – January 15, 2022) was an American songwriter and musician who co-wrote several successful pop songs in the 1950s and 1960s, including "Dim, Dim The Lights", "Lollipop" (which she also recorded as one half of Ro ...

, he fathered several children while in Europe. Beverly Ross, ''Lollipop: story behind the song'', 25 October 2012
Retrieved 25 July 2013 In 1949 he returned to the United States and moved to New York City to work as a professional songwriter. He had greatest success co-writing with Beverly Ross, a rare musical pairing of an African-American male and a white female in the 1950s. Their first major hit was "Dim, Dim The Lights", which

Bill Haley William John Clifton Haley (; July 6, 1925 – February 9, 1981) was an American rock and roll musician. He is credited by many with first popularizing this form of music in the early 1950s with his group Bill Haley & His Comets and million-sel ...

recorded in 1954 as the follow-up to "

Shake, Rattle and Roll "Shake, Rattle and Roll" is a song, written in 1954 by Jesse Stone (usually credited as Charles Calhoun, his songwriting name). The original recording by Big Joe Turner is ranked number 127 on the ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's list of The 500 Gr ...

". The song reached number 10 on the ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' chart and number 11 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

pop chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include re ...

. "Dim, Dim The Lights" is of historic importance, as it was not only Haley's first crossover hit with the black R&B audience, reaching number 10 on the US ''

'' R&B

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...

, but the first R&B or rock and roll song recorded by any white artist to cross over to the R&B chart. "Dim, Dim The Lights" was hailed by

Alan Freed Albert James "Alan" Freed (December 15, 1921 – January 20, 1965) was an American disc jockey. He also produced and promoted large traveling concerts with various acts, helping to spread the importance of rock and roll music throughout Nor ...

as "the grand daddy song of rock n’ roll". Also with Ross, Dixson co-wrote "

Lollipop A lollipop is a type of sugar candy usually consisting of hard candy mounted on a stick and intended for sucking or licking. Different informal terms are used in different places, including lolly, sucker, sticky-pop, etc. Lollipops are availa ...

" for the duo Ronald and Ruby, who were in reality the black teenager Ronald Gumps (or Gumm) and Ross herself. The recording was originally for the purpose of a

demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

to shop the song, but

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

got ahold of it and Dixson, who owned the master and had produced the demo, agreed to let RCA release it. Their version rose up the chart reaching number 20, but when it was learned that Ronald and Ruby were an inter-racial duo, television appearances that had been previously booked got cancelled and interest in the song waned. Thanks to the cover version by

The Chordettes The Chordettes were an American female vocal quartet, specializing in traditional pop music. They are best known for their 1950s hit songs " Mr. Sandman" and "Lollipop". Career The group organized in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, in 1946. The origin ...

, Lollipop reached number 2 and number 3 on the pop and R&B chart, respectively. In the UK the song was successfully

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

The Mudlarks The Mudlarks were an English pop vocal group of the late 1950s and early 1960s. They had two Top 10 UK hit singles in 1958. Career The Mudlarks were a family group from Luton, Bedfordshire, England, originally comprising Fred Mudd (1933–2007) ...

, and it became a worldwide hit reaching number 1 in many countries. Dixson also co-wrote

Annie Laurie "Annie Laurie" is an old Scottish song based on a poem said to have been written by William Douglas (1682?–1748) of Dumfriesshire, about his romance with Annie Laurie (1682–1764). The words were modified and the tune was added by Alicia Sco ...

's hit "It Hurts to Be in Love" with

Rudy Toombs Rudolph Toombs (1914 – November 28, 1962) was an American performer and songwriter. He wrote "Teardrops from My Eyes", Ruth Brown's first number one R&B song, and other hit songs for her, including " 5-10-15 Hours". He also wrote "One Mint ...

, "Begging, Begging" with Rudy Toombs for

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

, "Love, Life and Money" with Henry Glover for

Little Willie John William Edward "Little Willie" John (November 15, 1937 – May 26, 1968) was an American R&B singer who performed in the 1950s and early 1960s. He is best known for his successes on the record charts, with songs such as " All Around the World" (1 ...

, and

Kitty Wells Ellen Muriel Deason (August 30, 1919 – July 16, 2012), known professionally as Kitty Wells, was an American pioneering female country music singer. She broke down a barrier to women in country music with her 1952 hit recording "It Wasn't God W ...

' "Three Ways (To Love You)" with Lee Morris. He also established the

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

, Alton Records. In late 1959, the label's

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

single release "The Clouds" by The Spacemen, also written and produced by Dixson, reached number 1 on the R&B chart. Another first for Dixson, "The Clouds" was the first number one on any chart released by an African-American owned independent record label, predating

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

's first number 1 by a year. Dixson died in a hospital in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

in 2004, at the age of 90. His family has claimed negligence by the hospital in his death and has filed a wrongful death lawsuit.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dixson, Julius 1913 births 2004 deaths Songwriters from South Carolina People from Barnwell, South Carolina American music industry executives 20th-century American musicians