His Japanese fans reverently dubbed Fenton Robinson "the mellow blues genius" because of his ultra-smooth vocals and jazz-inflected guitar work. But beneath the obvious subtlety resides a spark of constant regeneration -- Robinson tirelessly strives to invent something fresh and vital whenever he's near a bandstand. The soft-spoken Mississippi native got his career going in Memphis, where he had moved at age 16. First, Rosco Gordon used him on a 1956 session for Duke that produced "Keep on Doggin'." The next year, Fenton made his own debut as a leader for the Bihari Brothers' Meteor label with his first reading of "Tennessee Woman." His band, the Dukes, included mentor Charles McGowan on guitar. T-Bone Walker and B.B. King were Robinson's idols.
1957 also saw Fenton team up with bassist Larry Davis at the Flamingo Club in Little Rock. Bobby Bland caught the pair there and recommended them to his boss, Duke Records prexy Don Robey. Both men made waxings for Duke in 1958, Robinson playing on Davis' classic "Texas Flood" and making his own statement with "Mississippi Steamboat." Robinson cut the original version of the often-covered Peppermint Harris-penned slow blues "As the Years Go Passing By" for Duke in 1959 with New Orleans prodigy James Booker on piano. The same date also produced a terrific "Tennessee Woman" and a marvelous blues ballad, "You've Got to Pass This Way Again." Fenton moved to Chicago in 1962, playing Southside clubs with Junior Wells, Sonny Boy Williamson, and Otis Rush and laying down the swinging "Say You're Leavin'" for USA in 1966. But it was his stunning slow blues "Somebody (Loan Me a Dime)" cut in 1967 for Palos, that insured his blues immortality. Boz Scaggs liked it so much that he covered it for his 1969 debut LP. Unfortunately, he initially also claimed he wrote the tune; much litigation followed.
John Richbourg's Sound Stage 7/Seventy 7 labels, it's safe to say, didn't really have a clue as to what Fenton Robinson's music was all about. The guitarist's 1970 Nashville waxings for the firm were mostly horrific: he wasn't even invited to play his own guitar on the majority of the horribly unsubtle rock-slanted sides. His musical mindset was growing steadily jazzier by then, not rockier.
Robinson fared a great deal better at his next substantial stop: Chicago's Alligator Records. His 1974 album Somebody Loan Me a Dime remains the absolute benchmark of his career, spotlighting his rich, satisfying vocals and free-spirited, understated guitar work in front of a rock-solid horn-driven band. By comparison, 1977's I Hear Some Blues Downstairs was a trifle disappointing despite its playful title track and a driving T-Bone tribute, "Tell Me What's the Reason." Alligator issued Nightflight, another challenging set, in 1984, then backed off the guitarist. His 1989 disc Special Road, first came out on the Dutch Black Magic logo and was reissued by Evidence Music. Robinson passed away on November 25, 1997 at the age of 62 due to complications from brain cancer.
You Don't Know What Love Is
Fenton Robinson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
'Til you've learned the meaning of the blues
Until you've loved a love you've had to lose,
You don't know what love is.
You don't know how lips hurt
Until you've kissed and had to pay the cost,
Until you've flipped your heart and you have lost,
Do you know how a lost heart fears
At the thought of reminiscing,
And how lips that taste of tears
Lose their taste for kissing?
You don't know how hearts burn
For love that can, not live yet never dies.
Until you've faced each dawn with sleepless eyes,
You don't know what love is.
Fenton Robinson's song "You Don't Know What Love Is" is a classic blues ballad that explores the depth and complexity of love. The first verse states that one cannot truly understand what love is until they have experienced the pain and heartbreak that comes with losing someone you love. The singer is emphasizing the idea that love is not just a feeling of happiness but also of loss and pain. This is an essential aspect of love that people who have not experienced it, do not know.
The second verse reinforces the idea that love hurts. The singer describes how kissing someone can hurt when you have to pay the cost of losing them. Losing someone that you love causes heartbreak, and the pain can stay with you for a long time. In the final verse, Robinson explains the fear and hurt that comes with having a lost heart. The singer describes how it feels to remember someone you love, and how even the idea of kissing someone who causes tears can become unbearable. It is also emphasized how love can burn your heart, and the impact it has on your life.
In conclusion, Robinson's song is a warning to people who think love is only sunshine and rainbows. The song advises people not to take love for granted and to be aware of the pain and hurt that can come with it. In essence, true love is worth the pain and heartbreak that come with it.
Line by Line Meaning
You don't know what love is
You cannot truly understand the concept of love
'Til you've learned the meaning of the blues
You need to experience heartbreak and pain to truly understand what love is
Until you've loved a love you've had to lose,
You must have loved someone who you eventually lost in order to comprehend what love is
You don't know how lips hurt
You cannot fathom the pain of kissing someone who is not good for you
Until you've kissed and had to pay the cost,
You need to have suffered severe consequences for your actions to know what love is
Until you've flipped your heart and you have lost,
You must have taken a risk in love and suffered defeat to truly know what love is
You don't know what love is.
You still do not understand what love is
Do you know how a lost heart fears
Do you understand the fear that comes with a broken heart
At the thought of reminiscing,
When thinking about past memories
And how lips that taste of tears
The lips that have cried from heartbreak
Lose their taste for kissing?
Do not desire or want to kiss again
You don't know how hearts burn
You cannot conceive the intense feeling of love
For love that can, not live yet never dies.
For love that cannot exist but still never ceases to exist
Until you've faced each dawn with sleepless eyes,
You need to have gone through sleepless nights thinking about someone you love to know what love is
You don't know what love is.
You still do not fully comprehend what love is
Lyrics © Exceleration Music Partners, LLC
Written by: FENTON ROBINSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@derekmtheriault
#ugottalisten2b4udie #FentonRobinson #ChicagoBlues
Oh, from sun-up until sun-down
She kept my nose right on the ground
Oh she even chill out my life Around a ball and chain
And now I know I will never be the same
@konnyturtle
Robinson Fenton! The best known unknown Jazz 'n' Blues giant ever!
@lucasdouma7100
Perfect example of how blues can put a smile on a sad man's face.
@davespears2241
Love Mr Robinson.
@skunkadelicmc
Don't think I'd ever get enough of this! Timeless
@gerardgeer642
The brass in the guitar solo is perfect.
@nona88NYC
heard this at work today, Boss had WBGO on. This song is a heavy weight
@corysmith5228
My favorite version ♡
@angelshadowofficial9218
Beautiful!
@peteandrews7169
Fantastic the mellow monster Fenton Robinson
@valentingonzalez6721
Tim deluxe brought me here