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Fenton Robinson & Larry Davis - Texas Guitar Blasters!
By John Holmes
The names of Fenton Robinson and Larry Davis are, these days, not particularly well
known, although at least one song from each of them IS well known, as a later cover
by such names as Stevie Ray Vaughan and Boz Scaggs. I guess it is true to say that
neither quite managed to fulfil their full potential, but part of the reason for that could
simply be the circumstances of the time and places that they worked.
Although I have called them “Texas Guitar Blasters” neither was actually born in that
state, nor did they record that much there, but for some reason their names seem to
be synonymous with Texas guitar playing, as well as with each other, as a result of
appearing on each other’s records.
Fenton Robinson
The older of the two by 15 months, Robinson was born in Greenwood, Mississippi on
September 23rd 1935, or possibly somewhat earlier, according to various official
documents! Little appears to be known about his early life, other than the fact that he
was musically inspired by listening to artistes such as T-Bone Walker and B.B. King
on the radio, and he left home and moved
to Memphis around 1953, when he was
18. He paired up with guitarist Charles
McGowan, and they
performed together
in the city, prior to
moving to Little
Rock, Arkansas and
briefly to St. Louis.
It was in Memphis that he first had the
chance to record in his own name, having
previously (around 1954) contributed to
Roscoe Gordon’s hit ‘Keep On Doggin’, which
was cut for the Duke label in Houston, Texas.
In March 1957 Robinson cut ‘Tennessee
Woman’ c/w ‘Crying Out Loud’ for the
Meteor label, funnily enough with Larry
Davis on bass. The pair had struck up a
casual musical partnership, on both a live
show and recording basis. The single was not
a success, but that did not stop him being offered a
contract by Duke Records, in Houston, apparently
upon the recommendation of Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland,
who had seen the two of them playing together in
Little Rock.
