Sugar Chile Robinson

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Image capture by Capitol Records

Frankie "Sugar Chile" Robinson (actually Frank Isaac Robinson ; born December 28, 1938 in Detroit ) is an American blues - and boogie-woogie pianist and singer who was very popular in the United States from the mid-1940s onwards Child prodigy had.

Live and act

Robinson's father Clarence was a truck driver, his mother Elizabeth died around 1943. He began to play the piano as a toddler and was discovered at the age of three in a talent competition at the Paradise Theater in Detroit. In 1945 he appeared in this theater with Lionel Hampton , also with the Frankie Carle Orchestra, as well as in radio shows with Hampton and Harry "The Hipster" Gibson and in the Hollywood film No Leave, No Love (1946, directed by Charles Martin ) at the Page by Van Johnson , Pat Kirkwood and Keenan Wynn . In 1945, just six years old, he was making $ 10,000 a week. Life magazine devoted a report in November 1945 to “Sugar Child”, the “negro prodigy”.

In 1946 he appeared in the White House before US President Harry S. Truman with the song Caldonia, popular at the time by Louis Jordan . During the performance, the 7-year-old yelled "How'm I Doin ', Mr President?" , Which became something of a catchphrase for him. In 1947 he made a documentary about Sugar Chile , in which he played the titles Sugar Chile Boogie , Hen House Door , Robinson Boogie and Tuxedo Junction . In 1948 he moved from the Music Corporation of America to manager Joe Glaser ; In 1949 he made recordings for Capitol Records a . a. with Jimmy Richardson and Zutty Singleton after being granted an exemption for membership in the American Federation of Musicians ; with Vernon Whites Numbers Boogie (# 4) and Fleecie Moores Caldonia he entered the Billboard - R & B charts . Robinson's other titles included After School Blues , The Bases Were Loaded , Green Grass Grows All Around , Vooey Vooey Vay Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Christmas Boogie .

In West Germany, in 1951/52 Telefunken published Robinson's 78er After School Blues / Numbers Boogie ( Sugar Chile Robinson with his rhythmists, C-80094) as well as Bouncin 'Ball Boogie and Go Boy Go . In 1950 he appeared with Count Basie and starred in the short film 'Sugar Chile' Robinson, Billie Holiday , Count Basie and His Sextet . He also appeared in the television film The Star-Spangled Revue (directed by Max Liebman) and has appeared on television shows such as The Colgate Comedy Hour and Texaco Star Theater Starring Milton Berle . In 1952 he went on a ten-week tour in Great Britain, u. a. with an appearance at the London Palladium . In the field of jazz he was involved in eight recording sessions between 1946 and 1952. In 1952 he stopped recording and decided to continue his education.

Until 1956 he appeared several times as a jazz musician , under his real name Frank Robinson he played with Gerry Mulligan before he gave up his music career entirely. He studied history at Olivet College and psychology at the Detroit Institute of Technology . In the 1960s he worked for the television station WGPR-TV, supervised record labels in Detroit and opened a recording studio.

In later years he made a comeback attempt with support from the American Music Research Foundation . In 2002 he performed at a concert in Detroit; 2007 at a British rock 'n' roll festival. In 2013 he was a guest on the Dr Boogie Show.

Discographic notes

  • Blues & Rhythm Series: The Chronological Sugar Chile Robinson 1949-1952 ( Classics )
  • Junior Jump ( Charly Records , ed. 1986)

Lexical entry

  • Bob L. Eagle, Eric S. LeBlanc: Blues: A Regional Experience . 2013

Web links

Commons : Sugar Chile Robinson  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Dave Penny: Portrait of Sugar Chile Robinson at Black Cat Rockabilly
  2. ↑ a b LIFE Nov. 19, 1945
  3. ↑ Ebony - June 1971, Volume 26, No. 8, p. 178
  4. ↑ Chile is slang for child , so in German about honey child or sweet child .
  5. ↑ Freely translated into German: "How do I do that, Mr. President?"
  6. ^ Billboard Nov. 13, 1948
  7. ↑ This and other numbers such as Frustation Boogie , Whop Whop and Yancey Special appeared in 1954 on the Telefunken LP Boogie Woogie .
  8. ↑ Jet July 24, 1952
  9. ↑ Tom Lord : The Jazz Discography (online, accessed December 21, 2014)
  10. ↑ Playlist for Dr Boogie 27-12-2013
personal data
SURNAME Robinson, Sugar Chile
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Robinson, Frankie; Robinson, Frank Isaac (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American singer and pianist
DATE OF BIRTH December 28, 1938
PLACE OF BIRTH Detroit