Fenton Robinson

Though he’s generally associated with Chicago blues, guitarist Fenton Robinson was born in Mississippi on September 23, 1935, where he lived until he moved to Memphis at 18. He made his debut as a band leader in his early 20s and cut several singles for Duke Records before he moved to Chicago in the early ‘60s. He became a fixture on the local circuit, and finally struck it big in 1967 with “Somebody Loan Me a Dime”, which would become both his signature song and a staple of the blues. The song went on to be featured in The Blues Brothers, and was featured on Boz Scaggs’ 1969 debut (the song was controversially credited to Scaggs, but later corrected). The track also served as the title of his 1974 album, which was to be his first of three acclaimed albums for Chicago’s Alligator Records. His second album for the label, I Hear Some Blues Downstairs, was nominated at the 1978 Grammys for Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording. He concluded his time on Alligator with Nightflight in 1984. By this point, he had also gained significant followings in Europe and Japan, and sometimes released albums exclusive to those markets. He died of brain cancer on November 25, 1997.

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