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    Blues Guitarist Freddy Robinson Dies at 70

    • Posted on Oct 12th 2009 10:30AM by John D. Luerssen
    • Comments (7)
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    Chicago bluesman Abu Talib, who performed under his given name, Freddy Robinson, has lost his battle with cancer. Robinson -- who played alongside the likes of Ray Charles, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, John Mayall, Jimmy Rogers, Monk Higgins, Bobby "Blue" Bland and Mighty Joe Young -- died last Thursday, Oct. 8, in a Lancaster, Calif. hospital at the age of 70.

    Born in Memphis, Tenn. in 1939, Robinson recorded and wrote several songs including 'Black Fox,' 'At the Drive-In,' 'Bluesology' and the instrumental 'After Hours,' before changing his name to Abu Talib in the 1970s upon his conversion to Islam. His daughter, Linda Chaplin, told the Kansas City Star that her father first heard the blues when her grandfather Otis Robinson took him to a juke joint. Although he was too young for entry, he'd watch the musicians through a window.

    Chaplin said her dad was so inspired, he built his own instrument out of bailing wire attached to the wall of a barn when he was just nine years old. He bought his first real guitar from the Sears catalog at age 13.

    "He had that guitar his whole life and still played it. It was called Bessie," his former manager Vernell Jennings added. Talib -- who was always in demand in blues venues -- played by ear until he moved to the Windy City , where he went to school to learn to read music. He fathered seven children with his first wife, Mary Robinson, and a daughter with his second wife, Zakiyyah Talib.
    • Filed under: News, R.I.P.
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    Reader Comments(1 of 1)

    vote downvote upReportHighest Ranked

    Johnny Rayat 10-12-2009

    Freddy Robinson was a true bluesman and a great human being. He will be missed. You gotta live the blues to play the blues.

    Reply
    vote downvote upReportHigh Ranked

    sueat 10-12-2009

    so true. he was one of the greats. was mary robinson, his wife, one of the original SUPREMES?

    Reply
    vote downvote upReportNeutral

    Sandyat 10-12-2009

    No, her name was Mary WILSON!

    vote downvote upReportNeutral

    sueat 10-12-2009

    aha!! foggy ole grandma here !!!!

    Reply
    vote downvote upReportLowest Ranked

    walkingman717at 10-12-2009

    Never heard of him -- that should cement his induction into the Rock Hall of Fame.

    Reply
    vote downvote upReportHighest Ranked

    Daveat 10-12-2009

    Perhaps you don't know the roots of rock-and-roll: the blues! Or perhaps you were just being snarky...

    vote downvote upReportNeutral

    HadYourPhilat 10-16-2009

    "They call me the creeper...."

    Reply

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