His distinction was his versatility; he could play ragtime, blues, minstrel songs, and gospel with equal facility.
Wilkins was born in Hernando, Mississippi, 21 miles from Memphis. He worked in Memphis during the 1920s at the same time as Furry Lewis, Memphis Minnie (whom he claimed to have tutored), and Son House. He also organized a jug band to capitalize on the "jug band craze" then in vogue. Though never attaining success comparable to the Memphis Jug Band, Wilkins reinforced his local popularity with a 1927 appearance on a Memphis radio station. Like Sleepy John Estes (and unlike Gus Cannon of Cannon's Jug Stompers) he recorded alone or with a single accompanist. He sometimes performed as Tom Wilkins or as Tim Oliver (his stepfather's name).
His best known songs are "That's No Way To Get Along" (to which he – an ordained minister since the 1930s – had changed the 'unholy' words to a biblical theme and since titled it "The Prodigal Son", covered under that title by The Rolling Stones) and also "Rolling Stone", and "Old Jim Canan's". Led Zeppelin also wrote "Poor Tom", which was believed to have been influenced by "That's No Way To Get Along".
Alarmed by fighting at a party where he was playing, he deserted secular music and he took up the twin careers of herbalist and minister in the Church of God in Christ in the 1930s, and began playing gospel music with a blues feel.
During the 1960s blues revival, the "Reverend" Robert Wilkins was "rediscovered" by blues enthusiasts Dick and Louisa Spottswood, making appearances at folk festivals and recording his gospel blues for a new audience. These include the 1964 Newport Folk Festival; his performance of "Prodigal Son" there was included on the Vanguard album Blues at Newport, Volume 2.
Wikins died on May 26, 1987 in Memphis, Tennessee, at the age of 91
Rolling Stone
Robert Wilkins Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Oh, the last time I seen her, she's standing on the station, crying
Believe she told her friend, "Yon' go that man of mine"
Believe she told her friend, "Yon' go that man of mine"
I don't mind him going, he's gone and leave me here
I don't mind him going, he's gone and leave me here
Got to go back home, sleep all night by myself
Got to go back home, sleep, friend, all night by myself
Man, don't your house feel lonesome when your biscuit roller gone?
Man, don't your house feel lonesome when your biscuit roller's gone?
You stand in your back door and cry by yourself, alone
You stand in your back door, crying by yourself, alone
Crying, ain't it enough to make a poor man wish't he's dead and gone?
Crying, ain't it enough to make a poor man wish't he's dead and gone?
'Cause that woman he loved, she's gone and left him 'lone
'Cause that woman he loved, she's gone and left him 'lone
Oh, looks like I ain't seen her since six long months, today
Oh, looks like I ain't seen her six long months, today
Ain't it enough to make a poor man graveyard walk away
Ain't it enough to make a poor man graveyard walk away
The lyrics of Robert Wilkins's song "Rolling Stone" describe the pain and loneliness of a man who has been left by his lover. The song begins with the image of the man seeing his former partner crying on the station platform, as she tells a friend to go and warn "that man of mine" of her departure. The chorus repeats the simple, haunting question: "Man, don't your house feel lonesome when your biscuit roller's gone?" A "biscuit roller" is a term used in the South for a woman who cooks and takes care of the household. The singer is left to face the night alone in his house, feeling the absence of his former lover deeply.
The second verse continues this theme, as the singer laments his loneliness and the fact that he must return home to an empty bed. The final verse brings home the sense of finality and despair in the situation, as the singer reflects on the fact that it has been six months since he last saw his former lover. The line "Ain't it enough to make a poor man graveyard walk away" suggests that the pain of heartbreak is so intense that death may seem like a release.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh, the last time I seen her, she's standing on the station, crying
The singer recalls the last time he saw his lover, who was crying at the train station
Believe she told her friend, "Yon' go that man of mine"
The singer believes his lover told her friend to go after him
I don't mind him going, he's gone and leave me here
The singer doesn't mind that his rival left, but he's left feeling lonely
Got to go back home, sleep, friend, all night by myself
The artist has to go home and sleep alone, without his lover
Man, don't your house feel lonesome when your biscuit roller's gone?
The artist asks rhetorically if anyone else feels lonely when their loved one is gone
You stand in your back door, crying by yourself, alone
The singer imagines his lover standing alone and crying at her door
Crying, ain't it enough to make a poor man wish't he's dead and gone?
The singer reflects on how painful it is to see someone cry and how it can make someone wish they were dead
'Cause that woman he loved, she's gone and left him 'lone
The artist laments that his lover has left him alone and lonely
Oh, looks like I ain't seen her six long months, today
The artist realizes it's been six months since he's seen his lover
Ain't it enough to make a poor man graveyard walk away
The artist suggests that the pain of lost love is enough to make someone want to die
Contributed by Benjamin O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.