It was a composition for a forgotten band called Moloch, the blues classic "Going Down", that brought Don Nix to prominence in an eventful career. Born William Donald Nix in Memphis on September 27, 1941, he attended Stax and Ardent studios thanks to a sound engineer brother, and began learning the saxophone, the instrument he played on The Mar-Keys' 1961 instrumental hit "Last Night". Following this collaboration with his former classmates Donald "Duck" Dunn and Steve Cropper, Nix moved to Los Angeles as a producer and composer, working with Leon Russell, Gary Lewis & the Playboys, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and Freddie King. In 1969, he wrote the song "Going Down", covered by the Jeff Beck Group, The Who and The Rolling Stones, among others. In 1970, he signed with his friend Leon Russell's Shelter Records to produce the album In God We Trust, followed a year later by Living by the Days, a country-rock and soul opus. Other recordings followed on various labels, including Hobos, Heroes and Street Corner Clowns (1973), Gone Too Long (1976) and Skyrider (1979), before he moved to Nashville and continued producing and composing. He wrote his memoirs in Road Stories & Recipes and collaborated with Brian May and Steve Cropper, among others, before returning to vocals for the albums I Don't Want No Trouble (2006) and Passing Through (2008). In 2002, he brought together a host of musician friends to honor his repertoire on Going Down - Songs of Don Nix, featuring contributions from John Mayall, Bonnie Bramlette, Dan Penn, Bobby Whitlock, Billy Lee Riley, Brian May and Tony Joe White. Don Nix died in Germantown, Tennessee, on December 31, 2024, at the age of 83.
