Willard Robison

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Perfect- 78s from the 1920s by Willard Robison "Who Do You Love"

Willard Robison (born September 18, 1894 in Shelbina , Shelby County , Missouri , † June 24, 1968 in Peekskill , New York ) was an American singer, pianist, band leader and composer of popular songs.

Live and act

Willard Robison worked with various Territory bands in the Southwestern United States in the early 1920s . During this time he met Jack Teagarden , with whom he was a lifelong friend. In the late 1920s, Robison organized his Deep River Orchestra , which later appeared in the early 30s on a radio show called The Deep River Hour .

As early as the 1920s Robison recorded a large number of records for Perfect Records , both vocal recordings, in which he accompanied himself on the piano, as well as with his "Deep River Orchestra", with which he recorded mostly standardized stick arrangements . Well-known titles of this time were "The Lonesome Road", "Just the Same" or " My Melancholy Baby " (1927). In 1926/27 a series of six titles was created with the collective name of an "American Suite"; this included the composition "Tampico", which was American Suite no . Between 1928 and 1930 he recorded for Columbia, Harmony and Victor; In 1937 he had a recording session for Master Records.

Jack Teagarden recorded a highly regarded album of Robison's songs in 1962, Think Well of Me . Robison died at the age of 73.

Willard Robison's numerous compositions have often been compared to Hoagy Carmichael . Many of his songs like "A Cottage for Sale" (1930), "Round My Old Deserted Farm", "Don't Smoke in Bed" and "Old Folks" (1938) became jazz standards and were used by artists like Peggy Lee , Nina Simone , Nat King Cole , Billy Eckstine , Chris Connor , Miles Davis and Mildred Bailey recorded, there are over a hundred recordings of “A Cottage for Sale” alone. Patti Smith recorded his song "Don't smoke in bed" for the breast cancer benefit album "Ain´t nuthin´ but a she thing" .

Well-known compositions

78s by Lee Wiley & Jess Stacy with Robison's composition "Woman Alone with the Blues"
  • 'Round My Old Deserted Farm
  • 'Tain't so, honey,' Tain't so
  • A Cottage for Sale
  • Don't Smoke in Bed
  • Down to Steamboat, Tennessee
  • Guess I'll Go Back Home (This Summer)
  • Harlem Lullaby
  • I'm a Fool About My Mama
  • In A Little Waterfront Cafe
  • It's Never Too Late to Pray
  • Old folks
  • The Devil is Afraid of Music
  • Deep Elm (You Tell 'Em I'm Blue)

Remarks

  1. ^ Smith, Catherine Parsons. William Grant Still: A Study in Contradictions . University of California Press, 2000. Page 148.
  2. ↑ Bush, John. Allmusic Biography. [1]

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Robison, Willard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American musician and composer
DATE OF BIRTH September 18, 1894
PLACE OF BIRTH Shelbina , Missouri
DATE OF DEATH June 24, 1968
Place of death Peekskill , New York