Revered Rock Songwriter Don Nix Has Died

The Memphis musician who connected The Beatles to the blues has died at 83, leaving behind a song that became the soundtrack to HBO’s Eastbound and Down and a standard for rock’s greatest guitarists. Don Nix, a Memphis Music Hall of Famer whose blues anthem “Going Down” was covered by legends from Freddie King to Jeff Beck, died in his sleep on New Year’s Eve at his Germantown home. He had been battling macular degeneration in recent years, which had claimed his sight, according to Memphis Commercial Appeal.

“Larry and I said goodbye to our wonderful brother, Don Nix,” his sister Kitty Nix Moore shared on Facebook, per the outlet. “He died in his sleep last night and celebrated the New Year in heaven. No more suffering and he can now see again. Don had a very unique life as a musical artist, writer, producer, and photographer…. He had great friends all over the world. We will miss him immensely. We love you, big brother.”

Born in Memphis in 1941, Nix began his musical journey as a saxophone player with The Mar-Keys, Stax Records’ early house band featuring future Booker T. & the MG’s members Steve Cropper and Donald “Duck” Dunn. The group scored one of Stax’s first major hits with “Last Night” in 1961.

“I want them to remember him for his talent. He was innovative. He played baritone so raw,” Cropper recalled to the Daily Memphian after speaking with Nix just weeks ago. “He gave 100% of himself all the time. That’s what I’ll remember about him. Of all the people in the band, Don gave 100% all the time.”

His sense of humor endeared him to colleagues. “I spent time in the studio with him and personal time. He couldn’t see very well, so I’d go pick him up and we’d go to lunch,” remembered Adam Hill, former Ardent Studios producer via the outlet. “It was never just like telling a joke. It was always some humorous observation, or a good story about Freddie King. There was always a grin to it. I never heard him talk bad about people, but he had some dirty jokes.”

After military service, Nix ventured to Hollywood, collaborating with Leon Russell on projects for Gary Lewis & the Playboys and Delaney & Bonnie. His career reached international heights when George Harrison recruited him to arrange the choir for The Concert for Bangladesh at Madison Square Garden, performing alongside Ringo Starr and Bob Dylan.

His composition “Going Down,” first recorded by Memphis band Moloch in 1969, achieved iconic status through Freddie King’s 1971 cover. Over five decades, the song has been recorded by John Lee Hooker, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Deep Purple, and Sturgill Simpson, among many others.

Author Robert Gordon captured Nix’s unique role in music history, telling the Daily Memphian: “Don Nix was the connector. He was the people person, the guy who could entertain the crowd, hold the band together, and backstage could find the kindred spirit who’d appreciate Memphis and its spirit. And Don could then bring that Memphis experience, large or small. Don had a happy-go-lucky sense, like he was more surprised than us that he’d had the success he’d had.”

Beyond music, Nix was an accomplished photographer, documenting intimate moments with Beatles, bluesmen, and soul stars using skills developed from his teenage newspaper route earnings. He exhibited his work as recently as 2019 at the Stax Museum and authored two books: the 1997 memoir-cum-cookbook Road Stories and Recipes and his 2015 autobiography Memphis Man: Living High, Laying Low.

Nix made his final public appearance at his Memphis Music Hall of Fame induction in October 2023, where he was honored by British rock legend Peter Frampton. Memorial arrangements are pending.