Fenton Robinson (September 23, 1935 — November 25, 1997[1]) was an American blues singer and exponent of the Chicago blues guitar.
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Born in Greenwood, Mississippi, United States, Robinson left his home at the age of 18 to move to Memphis, Tennessee where he recorded his first single "Tennessee Woman" in 1957.[2] He settled in Chicago in 1962.[2] He recorded his signature song, "Somebody Loan Me a Dime", in 1967 on the Palos label, the nationwide distribution of which was aborted by a freak snow storm hitting the Windy City. Covered by Boz Scaggs in 1969, the song was misattributed, resulting in legal battles. It has since become a blues standard, being "part of the repertoire of one out of every two blues artists", according to 1997's Encyclopedia of Blues.[3]
Robinson re-recorded the song for the critically acclaimed album Somebody Loan Me a Dime in 1974, the first of three he would produce under the Alligator Records label.[4][5] Robinson was nominated for a Grammy Award for the second, 1977's I Hear Some Blues Downstairs.[4]
In the 1970s he was arrested and imprisoned for manslaughter. Paroled after nine months, he continued playing in Chicago clubs and later taught guitar.
Robinson died of complications from brain cancer,[1] in Rockford, Illinois.