Abu Talib (born Fred Leroy Robinson; February 24, 1939 – October 8, 2009) was an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

and R&B guitarist.

Career

Born in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, he was raised in the state of

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

and moved to

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, in 1956. Inspired as a guitarist by

Joe Willie Wilkins Joe Willie Wilkins (January 7, 1921 or 1923O'Neal, Jim (1979). "Joe Willie Wilkins – 1923–1979". ''Living Blues'' 42 (January–February 1979), pp. 8–9. – March 28, 1979)Huggins, Cilla (1979). "Joe Willie Wilkins". '' Blues Unlimited'' ...

, he first recorded that year, backing

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

player Birmingham Jones. In 1958, he began touring with

Little Walter Marion Walter Jacobs (May 1, 1930 – February 15, 1968), known as Little Walter, was an American blues musician, singer, and songwriter, whose revolutionary approach to the harmonica had a strong impact on succeeding generations, earning him ...

, and after seeing a jazz band perform was inspired to learn music formally at the Chicago School of Music. He also began working with

Howlin' Wolf Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910January 10, 1976), better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer and guitarist. He is regarded as one of the most influential blues musicians of all time. Over a four-decade care ...

, recording with him such notable blues classics as "

Spoonful "Spoonful" is a blues song written by Willie Dixon and first recorded in 1960 by Howlin' Wolf. Called "a stark and haunting work", it is one of Dixon's best known and most interpreted songs. Etta James and Harvey Fuqua had a pop and R&B reco ...

", "

Back Door Man "Back Door Man" is a blues song written by Willie Dixon and recorded by Howlin' Wolf in 1960. The lyrics draw on a Southern U.S. cultural term for an extramarital affair. The song is one of several Dixon-Wolf songs that became popular among roc ...

" and "

Wang Dang Doodle "Wang Dang Doodle" is a blues song written by Willie Dixon. Music critic Mike Rowe calls it a party song in an urban style with its massive, rolling, exciting beat. It was first recorded by Howlin' Wolf in 1960 and released by Chess Records i ...

". In the mid-1960s, he played with R&B singers

Jerry Butler Jerry Butler Jr. (born December 8, 1939) is an American soul singer-songwriter, producer, musician, and retired politician. He was the original lead singer of the Rhythm and blues, R&B vocal group the Impressions, inducted into the Rock and Rol ...

and

Syl Johnson Sylvester Johnson (born Sylvester Thompson; July 1, 1936 – February 6, 2022) was an American blues and soul singer, musician, songwriter and record producer. His most successful records included "Different Strokes" (1967), " Is It Because I' ...

, before joining

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

' band in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. Obituary, ''The Guardian'', 28 October 2009
/ref> While there, he recorded the instrumental "Black Fox", which became a minor pop hit reaching #56 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

and # 29 on the

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

. In the early 1970s, he worked with

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

blues bandleader

John Mayall John Mayall, OBE (born 29 November 1933) is an English blues singer, musician and songwriter, whose musical career spans over sixty years. In the 1960s, he was the founder of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band that has counted among it ...

, playing on the album '' Jazz Blues Fusion'', and recorded LPs with

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

Blue Mitchell Richard Allen "Blue" Mitchell (March 13, 1930 – May 21, 1979) was an American trumpeter and composer who worked in jazz, rhythm and blues, soul, rock and funk. He recorded albums as leader and sideman for Riverside, Mainstream Records, and Blu ...

. He also recorded two albums in his own name - ''At The Drive In'' and ''Off The Cuff'', on which he was supported by

Joe Sample Joseph Leslie Sample (February 1, 1939 – September 12, 2014) was an American keyboardist and composer. He was one of the founding members of The Jazz Crusaders in 1960, the band which shortened its name to "The Crusaders" in 1971. He remained ...

and

Wilton Felder Wilton Lewis Felder (August 31, 1940 – September 27, 2015) was an American saxophone and bass player, and is best known as a founding member of the Jazz Crusaders, later known as The Crusaders. Felder played bass on the Jackson 5's hits "I Wan ...

of The Crusaders - for Enterprise, a subsidiary of

Stax Records Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the label changed its name to Stax Records in 1961. It also shared its operations with sister label Volt Records. Stax was ...

. He also worked with

Earl Gaines Earl Gaines, Jr. (August 19, 1935 – December 31, 2009) was an American soul blues and electric blues singer. Born in Decatur, Alabama, he sang lead vocals on the hit single " It's Love Baby (24 Hours a Day)", credited to Louis Brooks and ...

and

Jimmy Rogers Jimmy Rogers (June 3, 1924December 19, 1997) was an American Chicago blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player, best known for his work as a member of Muddy Waters's band in the early 1950s. He also had a solo career and recorded several popu ...

in the 1950s and 1960s,

Monk Higgins Milton Bland (October 3, 1930 – July 3, 1986) better known as Monk Higgins, was an American musician and saxophonist who was born in Menifee, Arkansas. Biography Higgins's biggest hits were the instrumental tracks "Who Dun It" (which reached # ...

and

Stanley Turrentine Stanley William Turrentine (April 5, 1934 – September 12, 2000) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. He began his career playing R&B for Earl Bostic and later soul jazz recording for the Blue Note label from 1960, touched on jazz fusion dur ...

in the 1970s, and

Bobby Bland Robert Calvin Bland (born Robert Calvin Brooks; January 27, 1930 – June 23, 2013), known professionally as Bobby "Blue" Bland, was an American blues singer. Bland developed a sound that mixed gospel with the blues and R&B. He was descr ...

in the 1980s. In addition to his studio and touring

collaboration Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. Most ...

s, Talib also recorded solo, re-emerging in 1994 with an album of his own compositions, ''The Real Thing at Last''.

Personal life

Talib converted to

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

in 1975 and changed his name to Abu Talib. After his first wife died, Talib remarried and fathered seven children in his two marriages. On October 8, 2009, Talib died of cancer in

Lancaster, California Lancaster is a charter city in northern Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, in the Antelope Valley of the western Mojave Desert in Southern California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 173,51 ...

. He was 70.

Discography

Singles

* 1962: "The Buzzard/The Hawk" -

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

* 1966: "The Creeper/Go-Go-Girl" - Checker * 1968: "The Coming Atlantis/Before Six" -

World Pacific Pacific Jazz Records was a Los Angeles-based record company and label best known for cool jazz or West coast jazz. It was founded in 1952 by producer Richard Bock (1927–1988) and drummer Roy Harte (1924–2003). Harte, in 1954, also co-founded ...

* 1968: "The Oogum Boogum Song/Black Fox" - World Pacific * 1968: "I Likes Yah/Stinger" -

Cobblestone Cobblestone is a natural building material based on cobble-sized stones, and is used for pavement roads, streets, and buildings. Setts, also called Belgian blocks, are often casually referred to as "cobbles", although a sett is distinct fro ...

* 1970: "Carmalita/Stone Stallion" -

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

* 1977: "I Like to Dance/Kneebone" - ICA

Albums

* 1968: ''The Coming Atlantis'' (later entitled ''Black Fox'') World Pacific * 1968: ''Hot Fun in the Summertime'' World Pacific/Liberty * 1971: ''At the Drive-In'' -

Enterprise Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to: Business and economics Brands and enterprises * Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company * Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company * Enterprise ...

Polydor Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

P-Vine P-Vine Records is an independent record label based in Tokyo, Japan. History It was started in 1976 by Blues Interactions, a firm founded in 1975 by Yasufumi Higurashi and Akira Kochi, as a record label focused on black music. The label name c ...

* 1973: ''Off the Cuff'' - Enterprise/P-Vine * 1994: ''The Real Thing at Last'' - Son Pat * 1999: ''Bluesology'' -

Ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...

Collaborations

;With

*1968: '' Extra Soul Perception'' - Solid State With

Milt Jackson Milton Jackson (January 1, 1923 – October 9, 1999), nicknamed "Bags", was an American jazz vibraphonist, usually thought of as a bebop player, although he performed in several jazz idioms. He is especially remembered for his cool swinging solo ...

* 1969: ''

Memphis Jackson ''Memphis Jackson'' is an album by American jazz vibraphonist Milt Jackson featuring performances with the Ray Brown Big Band recorded in 1969 for the Impulse! label.

'' - Impulse! With

* 1972: '' Jazz Blues Fusion'' - Polydor 1973: Moving On - Polydor * 1973 '' Ten Years are Gone'' With

* 1972: '' Blues' Blues'' - Mainstream * 1973: '' Graffiti Blues'' - Mainstream

Filmography

* ''

Moon Over Harlem ''Moon Over Harlem'' is a 1939 American race film directed by Edgar G. Ulmer. Plot summary A gangster, Dollar Bill Richards, seduces a wealthy widow, Minnie, to get his hands on her money. Cast * Bud Harris as Dollar Bill * Cora Green as M ...

'' (1939) * ''

Boarding House Blues ''Boarding House Blues'' is a 1948 American race film directed by Josh Binney which featured the first starring film role by Moms Mabley. It was the penultimate feature film of All-American News, a company that made newsreels for black Americans. ...

'' (1948) * '' Killer Diller'' (1948)

References

Bibliography

*''The Freddy Robinson - Abu Talib Story'' by Bill Dahl. Blues & Rhythm - The Gospel Truth No. 145 (Christmas 1999), pp. 8 – 13

External links

Illustrated Abu Talib / Freddy Robinson discography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Talib, Abu 1939 births 2009 deaths Musicians from Memphis, Tennessee American blues guitarists American male guitarists African-American guitarists American blues harmonica players American blues singer-songwriters Mainstream Records artists Deaths from cancer in California American Muslims 20th-century American guitarists Singer-songwriters from Tennessee Guitarists from Tennessee African-American male singer-songwriters 20th-century African-American male singers