The Dixon Brothers

The Dixon Brothers

The Dixon Brothers are a United States folk and bluegrass duo made up of brothers Dorsey Dixon and Howard Dixon. They perform and record as part of the southern old-time and blues-influenced tradition, with songs closely tied to mill work and working-class life in the textile industry of North and South Carolina.

Origins and early life

Dorsey Dixon and Howard Dixon are two of seven siblings. They grow up poor and work in mills by their teenage years in North and South Carolina. Dorsey Dixon is born in 1897 in Darlington, South Carolina, and is described in his own writings as an oxygen-starved baby who survives despite serious early health problems.

Songwriting and themes

Dorsey Dixon does not begin writing his own rural folk songs until he is 32, but his writing becomes known for its direct focus on the lives of southern textile workers. Among the songs associated with the brothers are “Weaver’s Life,” “Factory Girl,” “Babies in the Mill,” “The School House Fire,” and “Spinning Room Blues.” Their material is later rediscovered by labour and song historians. One song, “I Didn’t Hear Anybody Pray” from 1938, later has a close connection to Roy Acuff’s 1942 hit “Wreck on the Highway.”

Broadcasts, recording, and later career

The brothers move from local jamborees into professional work in 1934 through the WBT Saturday Night Jamboree radio show in Charlotte, North Carolina. Their first recording session for RCA Victor takes place on 12 February 1936. Over the next two years they complete six more sessions and record almost 60 songs, including twelve tracks with Dorsey Dixon’s wife, Beatrice Dixon, joining in.

Their career ends as their contracts expire around the start of World War II, after which they return to mill work. Dorsey Dixon later says their singing success during the Great Depression is due to divine providence. After Howard Dixon dies while working in a mill in 1960, folklorists encourage Dorsey to record again for Piedmont and the Library of Congress. Dorsey then appears at the Newport Folk Festival in 1963, introduced by Pete Seeger. He dies in 1968 and is buried in East Rockingham, North Carolina.

Later reputation

After their professional period ends, the brothers rarely perform again except in their local church in the 1950s. Dorsey Dixon later speaks of wanting his life to remain private, while his songs continue to attract attention for their portrayal of hardship in the southern mills.