Jimmie Lee Robinson

Jimmie Lee Robinson (April 30, 1931 – July 6, 2002), also known as Lonesome Lee, was an American blues musician who was predominantly known for his involvement in the Chicago blues scene in the 1950s and 1960s. Robinson performed with other blues musicians of the period and worked as a session musician. Following a hiatus from music, Robinson returned to the profession in the 1990s to record his own material for full-length albums.^[1]

Biography

Robinson was born on April 30, 1931 in Chicago, Illinois. In his childhood, he lived with his grandparents, and Robinson was taught to play guitar by his neighbor and fellow blues musician, Blind Percy. Percy would later accompany Robinson in local concerts in the area. In 1942, Robinson began playing in the open market area, Maxwell Street, in which he also performed with local musicians. In 1948, Robinson met Eddie Taylor and the two worked the Chicago club scene together until 1952.^[2] After the two split, Robinson formed a band with Freddie King, who he met outside a welfare center, called The Every Hour Blues Boys. The band lasted four years, and the time spent together had King later credit Robinson as one of his earliest and influential teachers. In 1955, Robinson joined a band led by Little Walter. The band became popular in Chicago, but in 1958 Walter was incapacitated by a shooting. Robinson became the vocalist of the group in Walter's absence; however, personnel issues resulted in him leaving later in the year.^[3] Throughout the 1950s, Robinson became an in-demand session musician, playing bass guitar and rhythm guitar, for acts like Howlin' Wolf, Sonny Cooper, and Magic Sam. In between his session work, Robinson produced three singles on the Bandera label, including one of his signature songs, "All of My Life" in 1960.^[4]

In 1965, Robinson toured in Europe alongside Buddy Guy, Big Mama Thornton, and John Lee Hooker as a part of Horst Lippmann and Fritz Rau's American Folk Blues Festival. Robinson continued to tour and record in the US, but, with the combination of the death of his mother, and the fading popularity of the blues, his musical activity declined in the late 1960s. During this time, Robinson opened a candy store in Chicago and toured a few more times, often with long-time friend Little Willie Anderson, and recorded, but at an inconsistent rate. In the 1980s, however, Robinson completely abandoned his musical career, and was employed as a carpenter and later a cab driver for most of the decade.^[5]

In the late 1980s, members of a local blues band called Ice Cream Men encouraged Robinson to make a comeback. Robinson returned to music, and recorded his first studio album in 1994 on the Delmark label entitled, Lonely Traveller, which included old and new tracks by Robinson. Three more albums, Guns, Gangs, and Drugs in 1996, Maxwell Street Blues in 1998, and All My Life in 2001, followed. Robinson's comeback was capped by his active protest to prevent the gentrification of Maxwell Street. He was a member of the Maxwell Street Historic Preservation Coalition, and he wrote the group's theme song, "Maxwell Street Teardown Blues". The street was marked to have the majority of its buildings demolished so the University of Illinois could expand.^[1][6] In protest, Robinson performed in 2000 on Maxwell Street, playing "Maxwell Street Teardown Blues", and fasted for 81 days. Later in the year, Robinson also changed his name to J. L. Latif Aliomar as a part of his religious conversion to Islam. Despite the protest of Robinson and others, the street was almost completely demolished by the end of the year.^[7]

Early in 2002, Robinson was diagnosed with a malignant tumor in his sinuses, which was removed in April of the same year. He began performing again four days later in celebration of his 71st birthday at the Deep Blue Club. However, the cancer had already spread to the rest of his body and his health deteriorated to the point of no recovery. On July 6, 2002, Robinson was found dead in his car in Chicago of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Robinson most likely committed suicide to avoid the suffering stemming from his failing health.^[5][8]

References