The Mississippi Songwriters Alliance held its annual Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on the evening of Thursday, September 19, 2024 at the Trent Lott Performing Arts Theater inside the Mary C. O’Keefe Cultural Arts Center in beautiful and historic Ocean Springs, Mississippi. The annual event was another huge success for its organizers. This year’s inductees, Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, and Glen Ballard, were four well-deserving songwriters, each with an amazing history.
The night’s performances began with the highly popular family trio Chapel Hart singing the national anthem. Outstanding performances by Don Underwood, Keith Johnson (great-nephew of Muddy Waters), and Jamell Richardson honored the three legendary bluesmen Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, and Willie Dixon; while Glen Ballard performed several songs he co-wrote, including Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” and Alanis Morissette’s “Hand in My Pocket.” Chapel Hart closed the evening with a few songs of their own. (They performed a full concert the following night, also at this beloved venue).
The Southland Music Line is the official archivist of the Mississippi Songwriters Hall of Fame. Johnny Cole wrote the following biographies featured in the ceremony with editing by Deborah Chatham. The much-anticipated Hall of Fame Museum opening is scheduled for 2026.
Chester Arthur Burnett, known to millions as Howlin’ Wolf, was born in White Station, Mississippi (just north of West Point) on June 10, 1910. The great Howlin’ Wolf would reach career heights as a premiere Chicago bluesman, known for his huge stature, booming voice, and occasional rivalry with fellow bluesman Muddy Waters. Chester A. Burnett, named for Chester A. Arthur (the 21st U.S. President), received several nicknames as a young man (“Big Foot Chester” and “Bull Cow”) because of his large and sometimes intimidating physique. The name “Howlin’ Wolf” originated from his grandfather’s warnings to the young Burnett over squeezing his grandmother’s chickens by mistake. He told his grandson that wolves in the area would come and get him – and the name “Wolf” stuck. There are various other stories about the name’s origin, including a theory that Burnett was given the nickname by his idol Jimmie Rodgers.
During the 1930s, Howlin’ Wolf met one of the more popular bluesmen of the day, the great Charley Patton, who would help advance his skills on the guitar and teach him a thing or two about showmanship. He said the first song he learned to play on guitar was Patton’s “Pony Blues.”
Howlin’ Wolf was influenced by many of the great blues musicians of the time, including the Mississippi Sheiks, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Ma Rainey, and others. He also performed alongside several of the era’s better-known blues musicians. While living a short time in Parkin, Arkansas, the 20-something-year-old musician learned much about playing the harmonica from Sonny Boy Williamson II. Interestingly, he also found influence from Jimmie Rodgers, “the father of country music,” known for his “signature yodel.” When trying to emulate Rodgers, Howlin’ Wolf’s yodel was more likened to a growl or howl. As he said, “I couldn’t do no yodelin’, so I turned to howlin’. And it’s done me just fine.”
As World War II was approaching, Howlin’ Wolf found his place in clubs with a harmonica and an early electric guitar. After two difficult years in the U.S. Army and being stationed around the country, he moved to West Memphis, Arkansas, where he resumed playing in clubs across the river in Memphis, Tennessee. Also, some of his live performances began receiving radio airplay on KWEM radio in West Memphis and with Williamson on KFFA radio in Helena, Arkansas.
When future Rock and Roll of Fame inductee Ike Turner heard Howlin’ Wolf in 1951 he brought him to record a few songs for Sam Phillips’ Memphis Recording Service (later renamed Sun Studio) and the legendary Bihari (Pronounced: Buh-Har-E) Brothers at Modern Records. Phillips later licensed Howlin’ Wolf to Chicago’s Chess Records. In Chicago, he formed a band that consisted of several of that era’s best blues sidemen. Once Hubert Sumlin joined the band, he would remain a part throughout Howlin’ Wolf’s career – the Chicago Howlin’ Wolf sound had come into its own.
Just as Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf recorded several great songs by fellow Mississippian Willie Dixon, such as “Wang Dang Doodle,” “Back Door Man,” “The Red Rooster,” “I Ain’t Superstitious,” and “Evil (Is Going On).” Howlin’ Wolf is also credited with using his birth name for many songs of his own, including “How Many More Years,” “Moanin’ at Midnight,” “Killin’ Floor,” “I Asked for Water (She Gave Me Gasoline),” and “Smokestack Lightning,” a song honored by the Grammy Music Hall of Fame in 1999.
Throughout much of the 1960s, a significant blues revival took place, appealing strongly to the white youth culture. Many acclaimed bluesmen found long overdue recognition thanks to frequent blues festivals, tours, and television appearances. In 1965, Howlin’ Wolf was on TV’s Shindig, his only nationally aired appearance on U.S. television. The Rolling Stones, who were on the same show, insisted Howlin’ Wolf be a part of it. Along with The Rolling Stones, many 1960s rock musicians such as The Yardbirds, Cream, Led Zeppelin, The Animals, and The Doors were deeply influenced by Howlin’ Wolf and his blues counterparts.
Unlike most bluesmen of the day, Howlin’ Wolf was financially secure – so much so that he could offer his band members a decent salary and a variety of benefits. Regardless of how successful he became, Howlin’ Wolf always found time to return to “The South” to visit friends and perform a variety of shows. He was a deeply devoted family man and loyal to his wife. Many of the stories from Howlin’ Wolf’s past were often heartbreaking for a kid growing up in Mississippi, yet he still made positive steps in life to improve things.
The influential bluesman was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991, the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame in 2003, the Memphis Music Hall of Fame in 2012, while his album The Chess Box—Howlin’ Wolf was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2020. Howlin’ Wolf has been honored with a Mississippi Blues Trail marker in West Point, Mississippi, an official U.S. commemorative postage stamp, and received an honorary Doctor of Arts degree from Columbia College in Chicago.
By the end of the ’60s until mid-70s, Howlin’ Wolf’s health was in serious decline. Following complications from surgery, he died at age 65 on January 10, 1976, near Chicago. Howlin’ Wolf was devoted to his profession to the very end. He was a man who rose beyond a difficult past and made a life for himself and his family, while bringing so much joy to the world with music. Howlin’ Wolf’s musical influence will be celebrated for generations to come.
Mississippi-born McKinley Morganfield, who became known to all as Muddy Waters, grew up immersed in the Delta blues. Waters, a singer, songwriter, and musician, would leave his humble southern beginnings to become the “father of the Chicago blues.” His grandmother, Della Grant, nicknamed him “Muddy” because, as a baby, he loved to play in the mud. A few years later, childhood friends tagged him with the name “Waters.” He adopted Muddy Waters as his legal name when he began his musical career. Waters was raised by his grandmother, who moved to the Stovall Plantation near Clarksdale when Waters was still a young child.
By age 17, Waters was playing the guitar and the harmonica. As a young musician, he was inspired by Delta musicians Son House, Robert Johnson, and Robert Nighthawk. Waters performed with a variety of bluesmen during the early years, including blues legend Big Joe Williams. Waters did his first recordings at Stovall in 1941- 42 for a Library of Congress team led by Alan Lomax and John Work III. A year later, he joined many other musicians from the south in Chicago, where he would help advance the city’s thriving blues scene. In 1946, Waters recorded his first records for Columbia Records and then for Aristocrat Records, a newly formed label run by brothers Leonard and Phil Chess. Waters’ career took off once Aristocrat became Chess Records.
In the early 1950s, Muddy Waters and his band recorded several blues classics, some with bassist and songwriter Willie Dixon. Many of Waters’ most famous songs such as, “I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man,” “I Just Want to Make Love to You,” and “I’m Ready” were written by Dixon. Still, Waters is also credited with writing numerous songs and updated renditions of older blues recordings, often using his birth name. In 1957, Waters released his rendition of Preston Foster’s “Got My Mojo Working.” Waters used many of Foster’s lyrics, originally sung by R&B singer Ann Cole. He brilliantly changed up some lyrics and music arrangements. The song “Mannish Boy,” a popular blues standard performed by Muddy Waters, was co-written with Mel London and Bo Diddley. Some of the many songs written by Waters include “Honey Bee,” “I Feel Like Going Home,” “Louisiana Blues,” “Still a Fool,” and “Trouble, No More.”
In 1958, Muddy Waters traveled to England, laying the foundations for the resurgence of interest in the blues there. Waters is credited by many artists, such as Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, and Jimmy Page, as a pivotal influence on their careers. Waters’ song “Rolling Stone,” his blues interpretation of “Catfish Blues,” was the basis for the name taken by the English blues rock group The Rolling Stones, who recorded their version of the song on their 2023 album Hackney Diamonds as “Rolling Stone Blues.”
Muddy Waters has received many accolades and honors, including inductions into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. During his illustrious musical career, Muddy Waters received six competitive Grammy awards and, in 1992, received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Muddy Waters has also been honored by the U.S. Postal Service with his own stamp. He has two Mississippi Blues Trail markers, one in Clarksdale and the second in Rolling Fork, which was replaced in November 2023, when the original marker was destroyed by a devastating tornado six months earlier. The city of Chicago has paid tribute to the master bluesman with murals and sections of the town named in Muddy Waters’ honor. More recently, in 2017, Waters was inducted into the Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Experience Hall of Fame.
Muddy Waters died in his sleep from heart failure at his home in Westmont, Illinois, on April 30, 1983. Legions of blues musicians and fans attended his funeral, held on May 4, 1983, at Restvale Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois.
Following Waters’ death, fellow blues musician and Mississippian B.B. King said, “It’s going to be years and years before most people realize how greatly he contributed to American music.” We can all agree with Mr. King’s comments. A hundred years from now, people will still be discovering Muddy Waters. His influence on music goes without saying, and no one can deny his legendary status.
William “Willie” James Dixon, born on July 1, 1915, in Vicksburg, Mississippi, is recognized for helping shape the post-World War II sound of the Chicago blues. Along with being an acclaimed musician, record producer, and arranger, Dixon is also one of the most prolific songwriters in music history. He is often called the “Poet Laureate of the Blues.”
From an early age, Dixon was drawn to music, learning a great deal about rhyming words from his mother and singing in the church. Dixon was first introduced to the blues when he served time on prison farms in Mississippi as a young teenager. Before moving to Chicago in 1936, he sang bass for the Union Jubilee Singers, a gospel quintet that regularly performed on a local Vicksburg radio station. During this time, Dixon also began writing songs and selling some to local music groups.
In the 1930s, Dixon, a man of considerable stature, standing 6 feet 6 inches tall and weighing over 250 pounds, won the Illinois Golden Glove amateur heavyweight boxing championship. In 1939, Dixon became a professional boxer and briefly worked as a sparring partner for Heavyweight champion Joe Louis. After leaving boxing due to a dispute with his manager, Dixon performed in several vocal groups in Chicago. He furthered his appreciation for music by playing the bass, and later guitar. After serving a brief jail sentence for not going to war, Dixon performed with Four Jumps of Jive and later, the Big Three Trio, who received a deal with Columbia Records.
Chicago was the epicenter of the blues movement of the mid-twentieth century, and no other record label best represented it than Chess Records. Dixon signed with Chess Records in 1948 as a recording artist but quickly began working as a producer, talent scout, session musician, and staff songwriter. He also worked with its subsidiary Checker Records and later became the artistic vision behind the independent label Cobra Records. Dixon later recorded for several other labels, including Bluesville Records, and ran his own label.
Many artists have recorded Dixon’s timeless classics. Muddy Waters recorded such Dixon songs as “I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man” and “I’m Ready.” Meanwhile, Howlin’ Wolf recorded Dixon’s “I Ain’t Superstitious,” “Back Door Man,” and “Little Red Rooster,” a song deeply rooted in blues history using elements from earlier renderings by other blues artists. The Rolling Stones’ 1964 version of “Little Red Rooster” became their first U.K. chart-topper. Little Walter recorded Dixon’s “My Babe,” Sonny Boy Williamson II recorded “Bring It on Home,” and the great Bo Diddley recorded “You Can’t Judge a Book by the Cover,” another classic written by Willie Dixon.
In the 1960s, Dixon toured with the American Folk Blues Festival and formed the Chicago Blues All-Stars which traveled throughout the United States and Europe. These tours introduced the blues to millions of new fans, while impacting the future and evolution of rock and roll. As Dixon said, “The blues are the roots, and the other musics are the fruits. It’s better keeping the roots alive because it means better fruits from now on. The blues are the roots of all American music. As long as American music survives, so will the blues.”
In his later years, Dixon advocated for blues musicians by founding the Blues Heaven Foundation. This nonprofit organization works to secure the copyrights and royalties of blues musicians and provides scholarships to young musicians. In 1989, Dixon wrote his autobiography, “I Am the Blues.”
For the past seventy years, many artists have recorded and performed songs written by Willie Dixon, including Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin, The Allman Brothers Band, Eric Clapton, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner, and more.
Dixon has a long list of accolades, including inductions into the inaugural class of the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, the Chicago Blues Hall of Fame in 2013, and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2015. Dixon’s “I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man,” recorded by Muddy Waters, was selected for preservation by the U.S. Library of Congress National Recording Registry in 2004. Dixon received his own Mississippi Blues Trail marker in Vicksburg in 2007. Three years later, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Dixon as the 12th all-time greatest bass player and mentioned him as one of history’s most influential bluesmen. Prior to his passing, Willie Dixon’s Hidden Charms, produced by T-Bone Burnett, received a Grammy Award in the Traditional Blues category.
On January 29, 1992, Mr. Dixon died of heart failure in Burbank, California, and was later laid to rest at Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. As one of the true legendary giants in music history, Willie Dixon leaves behind a wealth of music cherished by millions of fans while inspiring future generations.
Glen Ballard, one of the most accomplished and gifted songwriters and record producers of the past 50 years, was born in Natchez, Mississippi in 1953. Ballard’s love for music came early. From a young age, he developed an interest in the piano and later the guitar. He was only ten when he wrote his first song. Just three hours north of New Orleans, with its deep musical heritage, and a few hours south of the Mississippi Delta and soulful Memphis, Tennessee, growing up in Natchez provided Ballard with a music education unlike any other.
When Ballard was younger, he enjoyed seeing the already successful Jerry Lee Lewis, who lived within ten miles of his home, perform for locals. Many of his early favorites were the great blues and jazz singers emerging from New Orleans and from across the region. When the Beatles arrived in America in 1964, the influence could not have been greater on Ballard as it was for millions of others with a passion for music.
After studying English, political science, and journalism and graduating with honors from the University of Mississippi, Ballard opted out of attending either graduate or law school to pursue his dream of becoming a successful songwriter. He packed up and headed west to Los Angeles within days of graduation.
Things could not have been more rewarding when Ballard landed a job for Elton John’s music organization within one week of arriving in L.A. when John was at the height of his popularity. Ballard went from an entry-level job within the company to eventually playing piano for Kiki Dee, known for her popular duet with Elton John, “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart.” In 1978, “One Step,” one of Ballard’s songs, was recorded by Dee, furthering his place and confidence as a songwriter. By the late ’70s to early ’80s, Ballard was busy writing songs for others, eventually catching the eye of the legendary producer Quincy Jones. While working with his mentor, Jones, Ballard wrote songs for George Benson, James Ingram, Patti Austin, and others. Popular record producer Richard Perry also helped guide Ballard in the music industry during these early years.
Showing his diversity as a songwriter, Ballard wrote George Strait’s “You Look So Good in Love,” which reached #1 on Billboard’s country singles chart in 1984. As the ’80s progressed, Ballard and the great Siedah (pronounced sigh-E-dah) Garrett wrote “Man in the Mirror,” the #1 hit from Michael Jackson’s Bad, the successful follow-up to Thriller. In 1990, Ballard also produced and co-wrote several tracks on Wilson Phillips’ debut album, including a co-songwriting credit on the chart-topping “Hold On,” a single that topped Billboard’s year-end singles chart.
In 1995, Ballard produced Alanis Morissette’s Grammy-winning Jagged Little Pill, which sold over 35 million copies worldwide. The album featured songs such as “You Oughta Know,” “Hand in My Pocket,” “You Learn,” “Head Over Feet,” and “Ironic,” all co-written by Ballard and Morissette. A musical stage production based on the album premiered on Broadway in 2019 and received multiple Tony Award nominations.
Ballard has contributed to many films, television shows, and stage productions, including co-writing the Grammy-winning “Believe” from Polar Express in 2004, co-writing the music for Ghost the Musical with Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart in 2011, and scoring the music for the 2020 Netflix series The Eddy. Recently, Ballard co-wrote the original songs for Back to the Future: The Musical, the 2022 Olivier Award winner for Best New Musical.
Ballard’s songwriting and producing credits feature names of some of the music industry’s top artists, including the names already mentioned, and others such as Aerosmith, Dave Matthews Band, Christina Aguilera, Katy Perry, Anastacia, Shakira, The Corrs, The Goo Goo Dolls, Idina Menzel, The Pointer Sisters, Kelly Clarkson, Lisa Marie Presley, and many more!
In an interview, Ballard stated “My passion from an early age was really about writing songs, so everything that’s happened in my career as an arranger and as record producer really is predicated on what I learned in terms of how to write songs and how to create material.” Clearly, Ballard believes the importance of songwriting is what shaped his career.
In 2023, the six-time Grammy-winning Glen Ballard joined fellow Mississippians and past inductees Sam Cooke, Jimmie Rodgers, Willie Dixon, and Jim Weatherly with an induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, an American institution founded in 1969. The Mississippi Songwriters’ Hall of Fame, Class of 2024, is pleased to induct Mr. Glen Ballard, who has truly earned his place in modern music history.
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The Southland Music Line is an educational website and non-profit organization. Photo credits:
● Howlin’ Wolf: photo by Public Domain from BlackPast.org; photo courtesy of Brian Smith.
● Muddy Waters: photo tvtropes.org; photo Kirk West.
● Willie Dixon: photo from Wikipedia; photo from “Everything Blues: The Singer, The Writer, The Producer 1954-1962” (CD) – Willie Dixon
● Glen Ballard: photo from (TBMD) The Movie Database; photo from Songwriting Magazine (Sept 2015)
