''Wake Up and Live!'' is an album by the American musician
Floyd Dixon
Floyd Dixon (February 8, 1929 – July 26, 2006) was an American rhythm-and-blues pianist and singer.
Life and career
Dixon was born in Marshall, Texas. Some sources give his birth name as Jay Riggins Jr., although Dixon himself stated that F ...
, released in 1996. He was backed by the Full House band.
[ Dixon supported the album with a North American tour. In recognition of ''Wake Up and Live!'', '' Living Blues'' bestowed on Dixon its "Most Outstanding Blues Musician (Keyboards)" award. The album also won the W. C. Handy Award for "Comeback Blues Album".
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Production
The album was produced by Dixon's guitarist, Port Barlow, who used vintage recording equipment to achieve a 1950s sound. Dixon wrote or cowrote all of the album's songs.[ The album liner notes are by Chip Deffaa.][
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Critical reception
The ''Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'' noted that, "unlike some of the bland revivalists now exploiting ump blues Dixon helped to develop the idiom, and his supple piano style and infectious vocals render this set irresistible."[ '']The Vancouver Sun
The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, and is the larg ...
'' stated that Dixon "plays the jazz-blues of the 1950s, with his piano and vocals leading the way, acoustic bass providing the bottom and, on most tracks, a horn section kicking in for the ride."[ The '']Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper and also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely read. It was purchased by the G ...
'' listed ''Wake Up and Live!'' among the 10 best blues albums of 1996, writing that "his slow songs, such as 'My Song Is Don't Worry', have a believable desperation." The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving Greater Pittsburgh, metropolitan Pittsburgh in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the fi ...
'' determined that the album "shows how alive and vital the music remains."[ '' The Ithaca Journal'' considered it the sixth best album of 1996.]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 ...
wrote that Dixon's "voice had not aged much, his enthusiasm is very much intact and his piano playing (whether on slow blues, medium-tempo novelties or the closing instrumental blues 'Gettin' Ready') is quite jazz-oriented."[
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Track listing
References
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1996 albums
Alligator Records albums
Floyd Dixon albums