J. Russell Robinson
Encyclopedia
Joseph Russel Robinson (July 8, 1892 – September 30, 1963) was a United States
ragtime
and dixieland
jazz
pianist
and a composer of jazz, blues, and popular tunes.
Robinson, whose name appeared as "J. Russel Robinson", was born in Indianapolis, Indiana
. He started publishing ragtime compositions in his teens; his early hits included "Sapho Rag" and "Eccentric". With his drummer brother John he toured the Southern United States
in the early 1910s including an extended stay in New Orleans. He also turned out hundreds of piano roll
recordings for the US Music Company in Chicago
and later the QRS Company in New York
. He was known for his heavily blues and jazz influenced playing style. His style has been described as having a swinging, shimmying style with many right hand only blues breaks.
Robinson joined the Original Dixieland Jazz Band
when pianist Henry Ragas
died in the Spanish Flu Pandemic in 1919. He then went to work with W. C. Handy
's publishing company, supplying new arrangements and lyrics for popular editions of tunes like "The Memphis Blues
" in the 1920s. In 1919, Robinson co-wrote the song "Though We're Miles and Miles Apart" with W.C. Handy and Charles H. Hillman. He also played piano with various popular and blues
singers in phonograph
recording sessions, accompanying singers such as Annette Hanshaw
, Lucille Hegamin
, Marion Harris
, and Lizzie Miles
. On some of his accompaniment
s to African American
singers the accompaniment was listed on the record labels as being by Spencer Williams
(with Williams' permission).
", "Singin' the Blues", "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" in 1933, "Yeah Man!", "Pan Yan (And His Chinese Jazz Band)", "Hopeless Blues", "Mary Lou", "How Many Times?", "Aggravatin' Papa (Don't Try to Two-Time Me)", "Reefer Man" for Cab Calloway in 1932, "Dynamite Rag", "Cornfield Rag", "Minstrel Man Rag", "Meet Me at No Special Place", "Alhambra Syncopated Waltzes", "Te-na-na", and "Palesteena". In 1916, he co-wrote the song "Ole Miss Rag" with W.C. Handy.
Robinson's compositions for the ODJB in 1920, "Margie", "Singin' the Blues", and "Palesteena", released as a 78, were among the most popular and best-selling hits of 1920. "Aggravatin' Papa" was composed with Roy Turk and Addie Britt and was recorded by Alberta Hunter
in 1923 with Fletcher Henderson
's Dance Orchestra and also by Bessie Smith
and Pearl Bailey
. Robinson was a member of the ODJB until it broke up in 1923 and rejoined the band when it reformed in 1936.
Other popular compositions included the jazz standard "Eccentric" ("That Eccentric Rag" from 1912), "Jazzola" (1919), "I Got a New Deal in Love", "Swing, Mr. Charlie", "Sapho Rag", "Two Time Dan", "Mary Jane" with Andy Razaf, "Beale Street Mama", "I'll Be in My Dixie Home Again Tomorrow", "Aggravatin' Papa", recorded in 1923 by Bessie Smith and Alberta Hunter with the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra, Florence Mills, Pearl Bailey, and Sophie Tucker, "Palesteena
", the classic "Margie", "Mary Lou
", "Singin' the Blues
", "Meet Me in No Special Place (And I'll Be There at No Particular Time)", recorded by Nat King Cole
, and the title song for the movie Portrait of Jennie
(1948). He also composed the blues classic "St. Louis Gal", which was recorded by Bessie Smith. Movies were also released based on his two compositions "Margie" ("My Little Margie") and "Mary Lou". The Margie television series which ran from 1961 to 1962 used his music as the theme. He composed "Rhythm King" with Jo Trent, under the pseudonym Joe Hoover, a song recorded by Bix Beiderbecke and His Gang.
The classic "Margie", written when Robinson was in the ODJB, has been recorded by Louis Armstrong
, Ray Charles
, Benny Goodman
, Jim Reeves
, Al Jolson
, Cab Calloway
, Gene Krupa
, and Fats Domino
, among others. According to Lewis Porter in John Coltrane: His Life and Music (1999), "Margie" was also a "specialty" of John Coltrane.
In 1957, while living in Palmdale, California
, Robinson teamed with a young librettist/lyricist, Leo McElroy, to create the score for a musical entitled Mermaid Tavern
which enjoyed a brief flirtation off-Broadway and continues to be considered and produced in regional theatres.
Robinson died of cancer in Palmdale, California
in 1963 after a brief illness, during which he completed two new songs for Mermaid Tavern.
In 1977, Robinson's composition "Singin' the Blues" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in a 1927 recording by Frankie Trumbauer
and His Orchestra featuring Bix Beiderbecke
on cornet as Okeh 40772-B.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
ragtime
Ragtime
Ragtime is an original musical genre which enjoyed its peak popularity between 1897 and 1918. Its main characteristic trait is its syncopated, or "ragged," rhythm. It began as dance music in the red-light districts of American cities such as St. Louis and New Orleans years before being published...
and dixieland
Dixieland
Dixieland music, sometimes referred to as Hot jazz, Early Jazz or New Orleans jazz, is a style of jazz music which developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century, and was spread to Chicago and New York City by New Orleans bands in the 1910s.Well-known jazz standard songs from the...
jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
and a composer of jazz, blues, and popular tunes.
Robinson, whose name appeared as "J. Russel Robinson", was born in Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
. He started publishing ragtime compositions in his teens; his early hits included "Sapho Rag" and "Eccentric". With his drummer brother John he toured the Southern United States
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
in the early 1910s including an extended stay in New Orleans. He also turned out hundreds of piano roll
Piano roll
A piano roll is a music storage medium used to operate a player piano, piano player or reproducing piano. A piano roll is a continuous roll of paper with perforations punched into it. The peforations represent note control data...
recordings for the US Music Company in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and later the QRS Company in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. He was known for his heavily blues and jazz influenced playing style. His style has been described as having a swinging, shimmying style with many right hand only blues breaks.
Robinson joined the Original Dixieland Jazz Band
Original Dixieland Jass Band
The Original Dixieland Jass Band were a New Orleans, Dixieland jazz band that made the first jazz recordings in early 1917. Their "Livery Stable Blues" became the first jazz single ever issued. The group composed and made the first recordings of many jazz standards, the most famous being Tiger Rag...
when pianist Henry Ragas
Henry Ragas
Henry Ragas was a jazz pianist who played with the Original Dixieland Jass Band on their earliest recording sessions. As such, he is the very first jazz pianist to be recorded , although his contributions are barely audible due to the primitive recording equipment available...
died in the Spanish Flu Pandemic in 1919. He then went to work with W. C. Handy
W. C. Handy
William Christopher Handy was a blues composer and musician. He was widely known as the "Father of the Blues"....
's publishing company, supplying new arrangements and lyrics for popular editions of tunes like "The Memphis Blues
The Memphis Blues
"The Memphis Blues" is a song described by its composer, W.C. Handy, as a "Southern Rag." It was self-published by Handy in September, 1912 and has been recorded by many artists over the years.-"Mr. Crump":...
" in the 1920s. In 1919, Robinson co-wrote the song "Though We're Miles and Miles Apart" with W.C. Handy and Charles H. Hillman. He also played piano with various popular and blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
singers in phonograph
Phonograph
The phonograph record player, or gramophone is a device introduced in 1877 that has had continued common use for reproducing sound recordings, although when first developed, the phonograph was used to both record and reproduce sounds...
recording sessions, accompanying singers such as Annette Hanshaw
Annette Hanshaw
Catherine Annette Hanshaw was born at her parents' residence in New York City on October 18, 1901. [Ed. While Annette sometimes gave her birth date as 1910, nephew Frank W. Hanshaw III confirms 1901 as the date on Annette's birth certificate.]-Biography:...
, Lucille Hegamin
Lucille Hegamin
Lucille Nelson Hegamin was an American singer and entertainer, and a pioneer African American blues recording artist.-Life and career:...
, Marion Harris
Marion Harris
Marion Harris was an American popular singer, most successful in the 1920s. She was the first widely known white singer to sing jazz and blues songs....
, and Lizzie Miles
Lizzie Miles
Lizzie Miles was the stage name taken by Elizabeth Mary Landreaux , an African American blues singer.-Career:...
. On some of his accompaniment
Accompaniment
In music, accompaniment is the art of playing along with an instrumental or vocal soloist or ensemble, often known as the lead, in a supporting manner...
s to African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
singers the accompaniment was listed on the record labels as being by Spencer Williams
Spencer Williams
Spencer Williams was an American jazz and popular music composer, pianist, and singer. He is best known for his hit songs "Basin Street Blues", "I Ain't Got Nobody", "Royal Garden Blues", "I've Found a New Baby", "Everybody Loves My Baby", "Tishomingo Blues", "Careless Love", and many...
(with Williams' permission).
Compositions
Robinson composed the jazz standard "Eccentric" ("That Eccentric Rag"), the classic "MargieMargie (song)
"Margie", also known as "My Little Margie", is a 1920 popular song. It was composed in collaboration by vaudeville performer and pianist Con Conrad and ragtime pianist J. Russel Robinson, a member of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. Lyrics were written by Benny Davis, a vaudeville performer and...
", "Singin' the Blues", "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" in 1933, "Yeah Man!", "Pan Yan (And His Chinese Jazz Band)", "Hopeless Blues", "Mary Lou", "How Many Times?", "Aggravatin' Papa (Don't Try to Two-Time Me)", "Reefer Man" for Cab Calloway in 1932, "Dynamite Rag", "Cornfield Rag", "Minstrel Man Rag", "Meet Me at No Special Place", "Alhambra Syncopated Waltzes", "Te-na-na", and "Palesteena". In 1916, he co-wrote the song "Ole Miss Rag" with W.C. Handy.
Robinson's compositions for the ODJB in 1920, "Margie", "Singin' the Blues", and "Palesteena", released as a 78, were among the most popular and best-selling hits of 1920. "Aggravatin' Papa" was composed with Roy Turk and Addie Britt and was recorded by Alberta Hunter
Alberta Hunter
Alberta Hunter was an American blues singer, songwriter, and nurse. Her career had started back in the early 1920s, and from there on, she became a successful jazz and blues recording artist, being critically acclaimed to the ranks of Ethel Waters and Bessie Smith...
in 1923 with Fletcher Henderson
Fletcher Henderson
James Fletcher Hamilton Henderson, Jr. was an American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer, important in the development of big band jazz and swing music. His was one of the most prolific black orchestras and his influence was vast...
's Dance Orchestra and also by Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith was an American blues singer.Sometimes referred to as The Empress of the Blues, Smith was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s...
and Pearl Bailey
Pearl Bailey
Pearl Mae Bailey was an American actress and singer. After appearing in vaudeville, she made her Broadway debut in St. Louis Woman in 1946. She won a Tony Award for the title role in the all-black production of Hello, Dolly! in 1968...
. Robinson was a member of the ODJB until it broke up in 1923 and rejoined the band when it reformed in 1936.
Other popular compositions included the jazz standard "Eccentric" ("That Eccentric Rag" from 1912), "Jazzola" (1919), "I Got a New Deal in Love", "Swing, Mr. Charlie", "Sapho Rag", "Two Time Dan", "Mary Jane" with Andy Razaf, "Beale Street Mama", "I'll Be in My Dixie Home Again Tomorrow", "Aggravatin' Papa", recorded in 1923 by Bessie Smith and Alberta Hunter with the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra, Florence Mills, Pearl Bailey, and Sophie Tucker, "Palesteena
Palesteena
"Palesteena", or, "Lena from Palesteena", was a 1920 song, with lyrics by Con Conrad, and music by J. Russell Robinson.It was originally recorded and performed by the Original Dixieland Jass Band, a band of New Orleans jazz musicians, who released it as an instrumental as a Victor 78, 18717-B, in...
", the classic "Margie", "Mary Lou
Mary Lou
Mary Lou is an American actress. She is known for playing Mary Ferry on the Nickelodeon television series Unfabulous.-Career:At age 8, she chose to pursue a career in television and film....
", "Singin' the Blues
Singin' the Blues
Singin' the Blues is the 1956 compilation album of blues performer B.B. King on the Bihari brothers' Crown label. Among its tracks, the album gathered together five charting singles. "Bad Luck" was the highest charting single, reaching #3 on Billboard's "Black Singles" chart...
", "Meet Me in No Special Place (And I'll Be There at No Particular Time)", recorded by Nat King Cole
Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
, and the title song for the movie Portrait of Jennie
Portrait of Jennie
Portrait of Jennie is a 1948 fantasy film based on the novella by Robert Nathan. The film was directed by William Dieterle and produced by David O. Selznick. It stars Jennifer Jones and Joseph Cotten.-Plot:...
(1948). He also composed the blues classic "St. Louis Gal", which was recorded by Bessie Smith. Movies were also released based on his two compositions "Margie" ("My Little Margie") and "Mary Lou". The Margie television series which ran from 1961 to 1962 used his music as the theme. He composed "Rhythm King" with Jo Trent, under the pseudonym Joe Hoover, a song recorded by Bix Beiderbecke and His Gang.
The classic "Margie", written when Robinson was in the ODJB, has been recorded by Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
, Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
, Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
, Jim Reeves
Jim Reeves
James Travis Reeves , better known as Jim Reeves, was an American country and popular music singer-songwriter. With records charting from the 1950s to the 1980s, he became well-known for being a practitioner of the Nashville sound...
, Al Jolson
Al Jolson
Al Jolson was an American singer, comedian and actor. In his heyday, he was dubbed "The World's Greatest Entertainer"....
, Cab Calloway
Cab Calloway
Cabell "Cab" Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City where he was a regular performer....
, Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa was an American jazz and big band drummer and composer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style.-Biography:...
, and Fats Domino
Fats Domino
Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino, Jr. is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter. He was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Creole was his first language....
, among others. According to Lewis Porter in John Coltrane: His Life and Music (1999), "Margie" was also a "specialty" of John Coltrane.
In 1957, while living in Palmdale, California
Palmdale, California
Palmdale is a city located in the center of northern Los Angeles County, California, United States.Palmdale was the first community within the Antelope Valley to incorporate as a city on August 24, 1962; 47 years later, voters approved creating a charter city in November, 2009. Palmdale is...
, Robinson teamed with a young librettist/lyricist, Leo McElroy, to create the score for a musical entitled Mermaid Tavern
Mermaid Tavern
The Mermaid Tavern was a tavern on Cheapside in London during the Elizabethan era, located east of St. Paul's Cathedral on the corner of Friday Street and Bread Street. It was the site of the so-called Friday Street Club...
which enjoyed a brief flirtation off-Broadway and continues to be considered and produced in regional theatres.
Robinson died of cancer in Palmdale, California
Palmdale, California
Palmdale is a city located in the center of northern Los Angeles County, California, United States.Palmdale was the first community within the Antelope Valley to incorporate as a city on August 24, 1962; 47 years later, voters approved creating a charter city in November, 2009. Palmdale is...
in 1963 after a brief illness, during which he completed two new songs for Mermaid Tavern.
In 1977, Robinson's composition "Singin' the Blues" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in a 1927 recording by Frankie Trumbauer
Frankie Trumbauer
Orie Frank Trumbauer was one of the leading jazz saxophonists of the 1920s and 1930s. He played the C-melody saxophone which, in size, is between an alto and tenor saxophone...
and His Orchestra featuring Bix Beiderbecke
Bix Beiderbecke
Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke was an American jazz cornetist, jazz pianist, and composer.With Louis Armstrong, Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s...
on cornet as Okeh 40772-B.