Fenton Robinson
His Japanese fans reverently dubbed Fenton Robinson "the mellow blues genius" because of his ultra-smooth vocals and jazz-inflected guitar work. But beneath the obvious subtlety resides a spark of constant regeneration -- Robinson tirelessly strives to invent something fresh and vital whenever he's near a bandstand. The soft-spoken Mississippi native got his career going in Memphis, where he'd moved at age 16. First, Rosco Gordon used him on a 1956 session for Duke that produced "Keep on Doggin'." The next year, Fenton made his own debut as a leader for the Bihari Brothers' Meteor label with his first reading of "Tennessee Woman." His band, the Dukes, included mentor Charles McGowan on guitar. T-Bone Walker and B.B. King were Robinson's idols.
1957 also saw Fenton team up with bassist Larry Davis at the Flamingo Club in Little Rock. Bobby Bland caught the pair there and recommended them to his boss, Duke Records prexy Don Robey. Both men made waxings for Duke in 1958, Robinson playing on Davis' classic "Texas Flood" and making his own statement with "Mississippi Steamboat." Robinson cut the original version of the often-covered Peppermint Harris-penned slow blues "As the Years Go Passing By" for Duke in 1959 with New Orleans prodigy James Booker on piano. The same date also produced a terrific "Tennessee Woman" and a marvelous blues ballad, "You've Got to Pass This Way Again." Fenton moved to Chicago in 1962, playing Southside clubs with Junior Wells, Sonny Boy Williamson, and Otis Rush and laying down the swinging "Say You're Leavin'" for USA in 1966. But it was his stunning slow blues "Somebody (Loan Me a Dime)" cut in 1967 for Palos, that insured his blues immortality. Boz Scaggs liked it so much that he covered it for his 1969 debut LP. Unfortunately, he initially also claimed he wrote the tune; much litigation followed.
John Richbourg's Sound Stage 7/Seventy 7 labels, it's safe to say, didn't really have a clue as to what Fenton Robinson's music was all about. The guitarist's 1970 Nashville waxings for the firm were mostly horrific: he wasn't even invited to play his own guitar on the majority of the horribly unsubtle rock-slanted sides. His musical mindset was growing steadily jazzier by then, not rockier.
Robinson fared a great deal better at his next substantial stop: Chicago's Alligator Records. His 1974 album Somebody Loan Me a Dime remains the absolute benchmark of his career, spotlighting his rich, satisfying vocals and free-spirited, understated guitar work in front of a rock-solid horn-driven band. By comparison, 1977's I Hear Some Blues Downstairs was a trifle disappointing despite its playful title track and a driving T-Bone tribute, "Tell Me What's the Reason." Alligator issued Nightflight, another challenging set, in 1984, then backed off the guitarist. His 1989 disc Special Road, first came out on the Dutch Black Magic logo and was reissued by Evidence Music. Robinson passed away on November 25, 1997 at the age of 62 due to complications from brain cancer.
© Bill Dahl /TiVo
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Discography
21 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Monday Morning Boogie & Blues (Remastered)
R&B - Released by Sunset Blvd Records on Jun 24, 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Somebody Loan Me A Dime (Remastered)
Blues - Released by Alligator Records on Sep 1, 1974
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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I Hear Some Blues Downstairs
Blues - Released by Alligator Records on Jan 1, 1977
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Out of Chicago the Chicago Blues Master Live and Studio Sessions 1989/92
Blues - Released by JSP ORIGINALS on Apr 13, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Monday Morning Boogie & Blues
Blues - Released by Seventy Seven Records on May 6, 1972
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Fenton's Blues - [The Dave Cash Collection]
Blues - Released by The Dave Cash Collection - OMP on May 9, 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Blues Jam Live Audio: Fenton Robinson
Blues - Released by Creative Sounds, Inc. on Jan 1, 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Best of Fenton Robinson
Blues - Released by Carter Lane - OMiP on Nov 18, 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mellow Fellow
Blues - Released by Charly Records on Apr 14, 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Nightflight
Blues - Released by Alligator Records on Jan 1, 1984
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mellow Fellow
Progressive Rock - Released by Charly Records on Apr 14, 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Fenton Robinson: The Ultimate Collection
Blues - Released by Carter Lane - OMiP on Nov 18, 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mellow Fellow (Remastered)
R&B - Released by Sunset Blvd Records on Jun 21, 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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The Sky is Crying / Let Me Come on Home
Blues - Released by Seventy Seven Records on Apr 1, 1970
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
She's a Wiggler
Funk - Released by Seventy Seven Records on Apr 1, 1973
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Somebody Loan Me A Dime (Remastered)
R&B - Released by Sunset Blvd Records on Jun 14, 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Say You're Leavin' / From My Heart
Soul - Released by Usa Records on Aug 8, 1966
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Somebody Loan Me a Dime (Live)
R&B - Released by Transatlantic Blues on May 20, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo