Research Guru / Moderator
Posted:
Oct 27, 2009, 9:50 AM
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"Sixteen Candles" songwriter Luther Dixon dies, 78
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Producer and songwriter Luther Dixon, co-composer of the pop classic "Sixteen Candles," died Thursday, said Beverly Lee, an original member of the Shirelles. He was 78.
Co-written with Alysson Khent, "Sixteen Candles" was recorded by the Crests, charting at #2 in late 1958. The Jackson Five's version of "Sixteen Candles" on Motown Records was heard on the soundtrack of Mistaken Identity, a 1971 episode of the Rankin-Bass cartoon Jackson 5ive.
Other versions were featured in the 1984 movie of the same name and 1973's American Graffiti.
Dixon was best remembered for his work at Scepter as a producer with the Shirelles, Chuck Jackson and Tommy Hunt, among others. He was also responsible for such famed tunes as "Big Boss Man," "A Hundred Pounds of Clay," "Soul Serenade" and "Mama Said."
"Boys," a tune he had written for the Shirelles, was covered on the Beatles debut album Please Please Me.
Before working at Scepter, he had written pop hits performed by such artists as Pat Boone, Perry Como and Bobby Darin.
Born in Jacksonville, Florida on August 7, 1931, Dixon grew up on the East Coast. He had joined the vocal group The Four Buddies by 1954, becoming its 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.
Soon after the group split up in 1955, Dixon and Larry Harrison teamed up writing songs. Their "Why Baby Why," for Boone, peaked at #5 in the spring of 1957.
Although the Dixon-Harrison duo soon split up, Dixon nearly always wrote songs with a partner. With Otis Blackwell, he wrote "All the Way Home" for Darin. Recorded in January 1958, it wasn't heard until the For Teenagers Only LP was released in 1960.
He was approached in 1960 by Shirelles manager Florence Greenberg, who had started her own New York record label, Scepter Records, the previous year. Dixon readily agreed to work with the girl group.
Dixon's first song for the Shirelles was "Tonight's the Night," which he wrote with Shirley Owens, the group's lead singer. It reached #39 in the autumn of 1960. Dixon produced the Shirelles' #1 hit "Will You Love Me Tomorrow," written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin; his own song, "Boys," appeared on the B-side.
Dixon left Scepter after Capitol Records invited him to set up his own label, Ludix Records. The venture wasn't a success, however.
By 1966, he was working with a later version of the Platters. He co-wrote and produced their "I Love You 1000 Times" (#31, 1966) and "With This Ring" (#14, 1967), both on the Musicor label. Dixon's "Soul Serenade" was written with King Curtis, whose 1964 version of the song charted at #51.
Dixon was nominated to the Songwriters Hall of Fame just last week.
(This post was edited by eminovitz on Oct 27, 2009, 10:52 AM)
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