Fenton Robinson

by Bill DahlHis 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 hes near a bandstand.The soft-spoken Mississippi native got his career going in Memphis, where hed 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 Robinsons 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 Daviss 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, Youve Got to Pass This Way Again.Fenton moved to Chicago in 1962, playing South side clubs with Junior Wells, Sonny Boy Williamson, and Otis Rush and laying down the swinging Say Youre 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 Richbourgs Sound Stage 7/Seventy 7 labels, its safe to say, didnt really have a clue as to what Fenton Robinsons music was all about. The guitarists 1970 Nashville waxings for the firm were mostly horrific — Robinson wasnt 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: Chicagos 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, 1977s I Hear Some Blues Downstairs was a trifle disappointing despite its playful title track and a driving T-Bone tribute, Tell Me Whats the Reason.Alligator issued Nightflight, another challenging set, in 1984, then backed off the guitarist. His most recent disc, 1989s Special Road, first came out on the Dutch Black Magic logo and was reissued by Evidence Music not long ago. Robinson passed away on November 25, 1997 at the age of 62 due to complications from brain cancer.