Don Dixon (musician)

Don Dixon (born December 13, 1950) is an American record producer, songwriter, musician, bass guitarist, and very occasional actor. Dixon is considered to be one of the key producers of what is called the jangle pop movement of the early 1980s.

Early life[]

Don Dixon was born in Lancaster, South Carolina. He learned guitar at age 13, and made his first recording as a jazz bassist at age 15. He attended the University of North Carolina, where his roommate was the writer Bruce Brooks.^[1]

Dixon and several fellow UNC freshmen formed the band Arrogance, who recorded six albums and inspired others in the North Carolina music scene. Dixon spent thirteen years as a member, and learned the essence of record production during this time.^[2]

Production[]

Dixon was still playing with Arrogance in 1982 when Mitch Easter asked him to co-produce R.E.M.'s debut LP Murmur and their 1984 follow-up LP Reckoning (both Dixon and Easter are credited in the Reckoning liner notes as "Machinists").^[2]

Dixon then spent several years producing the work of artists including Chris Stamey (formerly of The dB's), The Smithereens, Fetchin Bones,^[3] Richard Barone, Guadalcanal Diary and Marshall Crenshaw.^[2] Considered to be a highlight of this period was Tommy Keene's Run Now EP.^[4]

Working with Mitch Easter at Fidelitorium Recordings in Kernersville, NC, Dixon produced Mixed Reality, the sixth studio album by American alternative rock band Gin Blossoms. It was released on June 15, 2018, on Cleopatra Records.^[5]

Recordings[]

In 1985, success as a producer led to Dixon's solo debut Most of the Girls Like to Dance But Only Some of the Boys Like To, a collection of early demos. This album reflected his love of classic pop melodies and spiky, Nick Lowe-inspired word play.^[6]

In 1987, Dixon recorded Romeo at Juilliard described as Big Star-style power pop. Chi-Town Budget Show (1988) was a recording of a Chicago's Park West nightclub broadcast. In 1989, his album EEE featured The Uptown Horns.^[6]

In 1992 Restless Records released a Don Dixon "Best Of" album entitled "(If) I'm A Ham, Well You're A Sausage".

In 1995, after taking time off to raise a family, Dixon released Romantic Depressive, a somewhat darker-themed album.^[6]

In 1996, Dixon produced the original cast recording of King Mackerel & The Blues Are Running (Songs And Stories of the Carolina Coast) which featured Bland Simpson (Red Clay Ramblers) and author/composer Jim Wann.^[7]

It was another four years before he released The Invisible Man (2000), an album about mortality, with songs from viewpoints of people of various ages.^[8]

Note Pad #38 in 2001 was an odds-and-ends collection of unreleased material from his solo career.^[6]

In 2006, Dixon released The Entire Combustible World in One Small Room, a concept album revolving around rooms in a house.^[9]

Dixon and wife Marti Jones released the download-only album Lucky Stars: New Lullabies for Old Souls in 2008. A departure from their previous sound, this project began as a request from a friend who was putting together an album of lullabies to sell in hospitals to new parents. The album featured six vocal songs and five instrumentals.^[10]

In 2008, Dixon released The Nu-Look with The Jump Rabbits, his bandmates of 20 years: Jamie Hoover of The Spongetones, and Jim Brock.^[11]

In 2009, a book of Dixon's song lyrics, Songs 101: the Lyrics of Don Dixon was published by VanZeno Press.^[12]

Although Dixon and wife Marti Jones have collaborated on each other's albums for years, in 2011 they released Living Stereo, their first proper duet album.^[13]

In 2014, Dixon released High & Filthy & Borderline, based on the lives of a male and a female assassin.^[13][14]

Personal life[]

Dixon has been married to the singer/artist Marti Jones since 1988.^[15]

Discography[]

Studio albums[]

• 1985: Most of the Girls Like to Dance but Only Some of the Boys Like To (Enigma Records)
• 1987: Romeo at Juilliard (Enigma Records)
• 1989: EEE (Restless Records / Capitol Records)
• 1995: Romantic Depressive (Sugar Hill Records)
• 2000: The Invisible Man (Gadfly Records)
• 2006: The Entire Combustible World in One Small Room (125 Records)
• 2010: Don Dixon Sings the Jeffords Brothers (Arcade Records)
• 2014: High & Filthy & Borderline (Dixon Archival Remnants Records)

Live album[]

• 1988: Chi-Town Budget Show (Restless Records)

Don Dixon and Marti Jones[]

• 2008: Lucky Stars: New Lullabies for Old Souls (Lava Head Music)
• 2011: Living Stereo (Dixon Archival Remnants Records)

Don Dixon & the Jump Rabbits[]

• 2008: Nu-Look (Dixon Archival Remnants Records)

Compilations[]

• 1992: (If) I'm a Ham, Well You're a Sausage (Restless Records) – best of
• 2001: Note Pad #38 (Dixon Archival Remnants Records) – rarities

Performs on[]

• 1985: Marti Jones – Unsophisticated Time (A&M Records)
• 1986: The Golden Palominos – Blast of Silence (Axed My Baby for a Nickel) (Celluloid)
• 1986: Various Artists – Welcome to Comboland (Making Waves)
• 1988: Marti Jones – Used Guitars (A&M Records)
• 1990: Richard Barone – Primal Dream (Line Records)
• 1993: Various Artists – Feast of the Mau Mau (Mau Mau)
• 1994: Mary Chapin Carpenter – Stones in the Road (Columbia Records)

Production credits[]

As producer[]

Selected albums[]

More complete list[]

Additional credits[]

Including co-production, engineering, etc.

Actor[]

• Played an alcoholic composer in Todd Graff's 2003 film Camp .
• Appeared onstage in the musical King Mackerel & the Blues Are Running: Songs & Stories of the North Carolina Coast, co-created with (Pump Boys and Dinettes) and Bland Simpson (of The Red Clay Ramblers).

References[]

External links[]

• Don Dixon at AllMusic
• Don Dixon discography at Discogs