BIOGRAPHY AND DISCOGRAPHY

A Texas vocalist whose popularity never spread outside the Houston region despite releasing a handful of promising sides for two locally owned labels.

Robinson began his career in 1947 with a sax player named Curtis Amy but it wasn’t until a little over a year later when he made his first recording for the short-lived Eddie’s Records right before they went out of business. He had to wait a year before getting a second chance on another Houston imprint, Macy’s Records, where he was far more prolific, getting a number of releases for them as well as subsidiary Jade Records over the next year.

The personnel on those sides is not entirely clear but chances are at least some of the Freedom Records house band, led by saxophonist Conrad Johnson and featuring guitarist Goree Carter, who are present on all of his sessions.

His natural affinity for uptempo romps, good songwriting skills and an engaging vocal style should’ve resulted in a longer career but he seems to have disappeared from the scene after Macy’s Records closed shop.
 

HUBERT ROBINSON DISCOGRAPHY (Records Reviewed On Spontaneous Lunacy):

H. R. JUMPS
(Eddie’s Records 1211; January, 1949)
A crude but fairly effective uptempo lament that features some good lyrics and decent support, particularly the rhythm section, but could’ve used some polishing up to make a better impression. (4)

BOOGIE THE JOINT
(Macy’s 5005; March, 1950)
Crude, ramshackle performance that is all the better for its lack of refinement with Robinson shouting rough and rowdy lyrics as the band plows ahead without much concern for technical precision, this is the sound of rock had it never been smoothed over for mass appeal. (6)

OLD WOMAN BOOGIE
(Macy’s 5007; June, 1950)
A good story outline with a fairly galvanizing track behind Robinson’s wheezy vocals but due to the brevity of the song the plot isn’t fleshed out enough, giving us only the highlights without the more salacious details it needs to make a bigger impact. (5)

ROOM AND BOARD BOOGIE
(Macy’s 5010; August, 1950)
A decent idea that’s not fleshed out enough, giving us just one verse and no explanation as to the situation and while there’s a pretty good extended instrumental break with guitar, sax and piano all getting solos, their wild playing doesn’t adhere to the context of the song. (4)

BAD LUCK & TROUBLE
(Macy’s 5010; August, 1950)
A halfway decent idea is sunk by a far too sloppy performance by both singer and band as well as the fact that the composition itself wasn’t polished as much as it should’ve been, making this sound more like a rough first take than a finished record. (3)

GAS HAPPY BLUES
(Jade 206; November, 1950)
Though it’s a rather pedestrian effort (pardon the pun), the sexual euphemism that forms the theme of the song and the New Orleans-like rolling groove they affix to it are perfectly serviceable and Robinson rides it without ending up in the breakdown lane. (5)

HIGH CLASS WOMAN
(Macy’s 5015; January, 1951)
Typically exuberant performance even if the energy doesn’t always seem to suit the lyrics, but while Robinson could’ve delivered this slightly better by playing up the humor and tightening some lines, the band makes up for it with a really good sax solo to even it out. (5)