Bman's Blues Report

Guitarist, bassist, and singer Jimmie Lee Robinson, active on the Chicago blues scene since the 1940s, died on Saturday, July 6th, 2002. Early this year Jimmie Lee was diagnosed with a large malignant tumor in his sinuses, which he had removed at the end of April. He began gigging again almost immediately, playing at a celebration of his 72nd birthday at the Deep Blue club in Schaumburg just four days after his surgery, but apparently the cancer had already spread to other parts of his body, and his health deteriorated rapidly over the following months. For those who aren't familiar with him or his music, Jimmie's blues resume was long and illustrious. Born in Chicago's Cook County hospital and raised in the nearby Maxwell Street neighborhood, he began playing guitar on the bustling Maxwell Street market scene when he was in his early teens in the mid 1940s. By the late '40s he was good enough to have played behind blues legends Memphis Minnie and Big Bill Broonzy amo...

Unlike many of his Chicago blues contemporaries, Jimmie Lee Robinson wasn't a Mississippi Delta emigre. The guitarist was born and raised right in the Windy City -- not far from Maxwell Street, the fabled open-air market on the near West side where the blues veritably teemed during the 1940s and '50s. Robinson learned his lessons well. He formed a partnership with guitarist Freddy King in 1952 for four years (they met outside the local welfare office), later doing sideman work with Elmore James and Little Walter and cutting sessions on guitar and bass behind Little Walter, Eddie Taylor, Shakey Jake, and St. Louis Jimmy Oden. Robinson cut three singles for the tiny Bandera label circa 1959-1960; the haunting "All My Life" packed enough power to be heard over in England, where John Mayall faithfully covered it. Another Bandera standout, "Lonely Traveller," was revived as the title track for Robinson's 1994 Delmark comeback album. Europe enjoyed a glimpse o...

Unlike many of his Chicago blues contemporaries, Jimmie Lee Robinson (Apr 30, 1931 in Chicago, IL - Jul 6, 2002 in Chicago, IL) wasn't a Mississippi Delta emigre. The guitarist was born and raised right in the Windy City -- not far from Maxwell Street, the fabled open-air market on the near West side where the blues veritably teemed during the 1940s and '50s. Robinson learned his lessons well. He formed a partnership with guitarist Freddy King in 1952 for four years (they met outside the local welfare office), later doing sideman work with Elmore James and Little Walter and cutting sessions on guitar and bass behind Little Walter, Eddie Taylor, Shakey Jake, and St. Louis Jimmy Oden. Robinson cut three singles for the tiny Bandera label circa 1959-1960; the haunting "All My Life" packed enough power to be heard over in England, where John Mayall faithfully covered it. Another Bandera standout, "Lonely Traveller," was revived as the title track for Robinson...

Jimmie Lee Robertson was part of the generation of blues performers who helped establish Maxwell Street in Chicago as a famous blues locale. He was known as "Lonesome" Jimmie Lee, or sometimes nicknamed "The Lonely Traveller". He was related to Bessie Smith on his father's side, and saw his musical roots as lying in Mississippi (his grandparents had moved north). He first played acoustic guitar, but switched to the electric blues style when he joined the harmonicist Little Walter's band. (April 30, 1931 - July 6, 2002) He recorded with musicians like Magic Sam and Jimmy Reed, made records as a leader, and took part in the American Folk Blues Festival package tour of the US and Europe in 1965. He played bass as well as guitar. He took a succession of days jobs in the 1970s and 1980s, but returned to recording in the 1990s, and made several albums for the Delmark, Amina and Apo labels. He led a protest against the proposed redevlopment of the historic...