Willie Dixon’s astonishing catalog of songs filled all corners of the blues—spiritual, secular, pensive, scared, and drunk—which is what makes him the icon that he is. (When he titled his autobiography “I Am The Blues,” no one said a word.) Nearly eight years after his death, Telarc follows up their acclaimed Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters tribute packages with this testimony to the Cole Porter of the blues. And while this is as hit-and-miss as the first two, it manages to drive its point home: perhaps no other songwriter has ever so completely dominated his field of music.

The main problem with this collection is the lineup and Willie’s non-idiosyncratic nature. What that means is that: a) most of Willie’s best interpreters are dead and b) Willie doesn’t have a distinct sound for these remaining artists to fall back on, leaving some of them out to sea. Willie “Big Eyes” Smith’s lubricious “The Same Thing” and Luther “Guitar Junior” Johnson’s internally bleeding “My Love Will Never Die” reveal Dixon’s genius in reducing the complexities of human nature into a few well-chosen observations. Put that next to John Ellison and Christine Ohlman’s limp “Wang Dang Doodle” or Gatemouth Brown’s surprisingly inert “I Just Want To Make Love To You.”

There are some other nice surprises here—Tab Benoit’s version of “Mellow Down Easy” is smart enough to catch the dynamics of the original, meaning it sounds like someone desperately trying not to come to orgasm—but the real winners occur when the band itself leaves the special guests behind. Willie’s “Same Thing,” the happy surprises in Doug Wainoris’ melodic “Spoonful,” and especially the torrid duet between harp and piano on Jerry Portnoy and David Maxwell’s “Shakin’ The Shack” are all high points. In other words, the backup band steals the show. Which seems somehow the most fitting tribute of all.