Don Nix
Born (1941-09-27) September 27, 1941 (age 82)
Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Musician
  • songwriter
  • producer
Instrument(s)
  • Guitar
  • vocals
  • saxophone
Years active1961–present
Formerly ofThe Mar-Keys

Don Nix (born September 27, 1941) is an American musician, songwriter, and prouducer.[1] Nix, who is best known for his song "Going Down," was described by Allmusic as "one of the more obscure figures in Southern soul and rock."[2]

Career

Nix was born into a musical family in Memphis, Tennessee. His brother Larry became a mastering engineer for Stax Records and for the Ardent Studios in Memphis.[3] Nix began his career playing saxophone for the Memphis-based Mar-Keys, alongside Steve Cropper and Duck Dunn. The group scored a hit single with "Last Night" in 1961.[2] After leaving the Mar-Keys, Nix worked as a session musician for Stax.[2]

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.[1][2] Nix's best known composition, "Going Down," was originally released by the band Moloch on their eponymous album in 1969, has become a blues-rock standard, having been covered by Freddie King, the Who, and the Rolling Stones.[4] In 1971, Nix made the acquaintance of George Harrison, leading to Nix organizing the backup vocalists for the Concert for Bangladesh.[5]

As a solo artist, Nix released nine albums between 1971 and 2008, and has published three books.

Discography

Bibliography

References

  1. ^ a b Colin Larkin, ed. (1995). The Guinness Who's Who of Blues (Second ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 282. ISBN 0-85112-673-1.
  2. ^ a b c d "Don Nix | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  3. ^ "Memphis Man" Living High, Laying Low (1997, 2015) Sartoris Literary Group, Jackson, Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-941644-39-3 p. 100
  4. ^ "Newark 15th December, Prudential Center". Rollingstones.com. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
  5. ^ O'Dell, Chris; Ketcham, Katherine (2009). Miss O'Dell: My Hard Days and Long Nights with The Beatles, The Stones, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, and the Women They Loved. New York: Touchstone. p. 197. ISBN 978-1-4165-9093-4.
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