L. C. Robinson Explained

L. C. Robinson
Background:solo_singer
Birth Name:Louis Charles Robinson
Alias:"Good Rockin'" Robinson
Birth Date:13 May 1914
Birth Place:Brenham, Texas, United States
Death Place:Berkeley, California, United States
Instrument:Vocals, steel guitar, guitar, violin
Genre:Blues
Years Active:1930s–1976

L. C. "Good Rockin'" Robinson (born Louis Charles Robinson; May 13, 1914 – September 26, 1976)[1] was an American blues singer, guitarist, and fiddle player. He played an electric steel guitar.[2]

Biography

Robinson was born in Brenham, Texas, United States.[1] He learned to play guitar at nine years of age, and was supposedly mentored by gospel blues singer-guitarist Blind Willie Johnson in the bottleneck style.[3] Later in his career, he was introduced to the steel guitar by Western swing musician Leon McAuliffe, and became a noted fiddle player, who instructed Sugarcane Harris.[3] L. C. Robinson's brother, harmonica player A. C. Robinson, collaborated with him in Texas in the 1930s, and later the two performed and recorded together in a band in California in the 1940s.[2] [4]

Oakland Blues, a studio album Robinson, Lafayette Thomas and Dave Alexander, was released in 1968 by World Pacific Records. This was followed in 1971 by the album Ups and Downs on Arhoolie, on which Robinson was accompanied by the Muddy Waters band and Dave Alexander's trio.[2] This material was later reissued, along with a previously unissued recording of a radio broadcast with his brother the Reverend A. C. Robinson, as Mojo in My Hand.[5]

Robinson played at the San Francisco Blues Festival in both 1973 and 1974. He visited Sweden the following year, but his work was never widely known in Europe.[2]

He died of a heart attack in Berkeley, California in 1976, aged 61.[6] [7]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Larkin, Colin. The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music, p. 3528, (1995), .
  2. Book: Russell , Tony . 1997. The Blues – From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray. Carlton Books Limited . Dubai. 160. 1-85868-255-X.
  3. Web site: L.C. Good Rockin' Robinson. AllMusic. October 25, 2016.
  4. Book: Encyclopedia of the Blues. Herzshaft, Gerald. University of Arkansas Press. 176. 1997. 9781610751391.
  5. Web site: Arhoolie Records: L. C. Robinson . October 12, 2007 . bot: unknown . https://web.archive.org/web/20081231110741/http://www.arhoolie.com/titles/453.shtml . December 31, 2008 .
  6. Web site: Doc Rock . The 1970s . The Dead Rock Stars Club . October 6, 2015.
  7. Web site: Musical Calendar for September 26. August 13, 2004. October 14, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20040813203405/http://nfo.net/calendar/sep26.htm. August 13, 2004.