Happy Birthday to one of my favorite pre-war blues greats…Robert Wilkins! Born on January 16, 1895 in Hernando (or perhaps Nesbit), Mississippi, Robert Timothy Wilkins began playing guitar early. He moved to Memphis in his early 20s and soon became a central figure in the city’s music scene. Wilkins first recorded for Vocalion in Memphis in 1928. Although only 17 sides were released on him, his impact on the Memphis blues sound is huge. His son, Rev. John Wilkins is a wonderful performer and currently plays blues in his father’s style, and his own, and is also the pastor at Hunter’s Chapel Church in Como, Mississippi…the same church that Mississippi Fred McDowell was a guitarist for. Robert Wilkins recorded several times as a “rediscovered” bluesman in the 1960s-80s. Wilkins died on May 26, 1987. youtube/watch?v=ki_Jcxv2nRg
Posted on: Fri, 17 Jan 2014 00:39:34 +0000
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