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He recorded three singles for Duke, once again with Larry Davis on bass, one of which was
‘As The Years Go Passing By’, which he said was written by Peppermint Harris. The song
has been covered many times over the years, the best
known version of which is probably that by Albert King.

The last of his three Duke singles was a re-cut of
‘Tennessee Woman’, which had retained its popularity
on the juke boxes even though it was not a hit.

The interesting thing about his early recordings is his
guitar playing, which has a much harder edge to it than
his later work, which was often almost jazz tinged,

especially since he was, by that time, using a semi-solid
Gibson guitar that is usually more associated with jazz.

As well as his own Duke recordings, Robinson also
contributed guitar to some, or possibly all, of Larry
Davis’ work on the same label. On some of his early

work his name appears as ‘Fention’ Robinson, rather than Fenton.

In 1961 Robinson moved to Chicago, where he found work in the club scene, and eventually
a residency at the famous Pepper’s Lounge, as well as regular work at Walton’s Corner,
The Silver Moon, and Ma Bea’s, where he had a particularly strong following. He also
backed Junior Wells, ‘Sonny Boy’ Williamson (the second) and Otis Rush, and ventured
into jazz by working with the Prince James Jazz Combo.

As a solo artist he recorded tracks for such labels as USA, Giant and Palos. His 1967 Palos
recording of ‘Somebody Loan Me A Dime’ was his initial version of the song, and although
a local hit, a very severe snow storm curtailed efforts to promote the track to a national
audience. Incidentally, the backing band on the session is the B.B. King band!

The track was covered by Boz Scaggs in 1969, and many others since, and has since become
virtually a blues standard.

In 1969 a car accident landed him in prison, charged with involuntary manslaughter, but
he was paroled after 9 months, not least due to a number of letters requesting leniency
from fans of his music.

In the early 1970s he was signed to the Sound Stage 7 record label, of Nashville, which
produced his first ever album. However, the recordings were aimed much more at the
current soul market, and often featured his vocals without any of his guitar playing.

The Sound Stage 7 work was not really to his liking, but he achieved a career shot in the
arm when he was signed to Alligator in 1974, and released the highly acclaimed album
“Somebody Loan Me A Dime”. According to Robinson this was the first recording he had
truly been proud of, but I suspect he had forgotten about the quality of much of his 1950s
and 60s work!

A second, and last, Alligator album, “I Hear Some Blues Downstairs” was also well received,

and also voted into the Blues Hall of Fame. However, his career then stagnated, so he