William Donald Nix (September 27, 1941 – December 31, 2024) was an American musician, songwriter, and producer. Nix, who was best known for his song "Going Down," was described by

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

as "one of the more obscure figures in Southern soul and rock."

Biography

William Donald Nix was born into a musical family in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

, on September 27, 1941. His brother Larry became a mastering engineer for Stax Records and for the Ardent Studios in Memphis. Nix began his career playing saxophone for the Memphis-based

Mar-Keys The Mar-Keys, formed in 1958, were an American recording studio, studio session musician, session musical ensemble, band for Stax Records, in Memphis, Tennessee, in the 1960s. As the first house band for the label, their backing music formed the ...

, alongside Steve Cropper and Duck Dunn. The group scored a hit single with " Last Night" in 1961. After leaving the Mar-Keys, Nix worked as a

session musician A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a reco ...

for Stax. After relocating to Los Angeles in the mid-1960s, Nix worked as a producer and songwriter with such acts as Leon Russell, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, and Freddie King, among others. Nix's best known composition, "Going Down," was originally released by the band Moloch on their eponymous album in 1969, and has become a blues-rock standard, having been covered by Freddie King, J.J.Cale the Jeff Beck Group, the Who, and the Rolling Stones. In 1971, Nix made the acquaintance of George Harrison, leading to Nix organizing the backup vocalists for the Concert for Bangladesh. As a solo artist, Nix released nine albums between 1971 and 2008, and published three books. Nix died at his home in Germantown, Tennessee, on December 31, 2024, at the age of 83.

Discography

*''In God We Trust'' (Shelter, 1971) *''Living by the Days'' (Elektra, 1971) *''Hobos, Heroes and Street Corner Clowns'' (Enterprise, 1973) *''Gone Too Long'' (Cream, 1976) *''Skyrider'' (Cream, 1979) *''Back to the Well'' (Appaloosa, 1993) *''Goin' Down: The Songs of Don Nix'' (Evidence, 2002) *''I Don't Want No Trouble!'' (Section Eight, 2006) *''Passing Through'' (Section Eight, 2008)

Bibliography

* ''Road Stories and Recipes'' (1997), Schirmer Books/

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

, New York. * ''Who's That with Don Nix?'' – A photojournal of Don Nix's personal experiences. * ''Memphis Man: Living High, Laying Low'' (1997, 2015) Sartoris Literary Group, Jackson, Mississippi.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nix, Don 1941 births 2024 deaths American male saxophonists American session musicians Musicians from Memphis, Tennessee 21st-century American saxophonists 21st-century American male musicians Shelter Records artists