The original song was covered by Boz Scaggs and later re-recorded by Fenton Robinson for Alligator Records and it is one of the best albums for that label.
Fenton Robinson
Robinson was born in LeFlore County, MS on Sept. 23, 1935. He began performing as a teenager in Memphis and made his recording debut there at the age of 22 with his original song “Tennessee Woman,” which became an often-covered blues standard. The success of this single won him a contract with R & B giant Duke Records. For Duke, Fenton recorded a series of singles that won airplay across the south, including the seminal version of “As The Years, Go Passing By” (later a hit for Albert King), “You’ve Got To Pass This Way Again” and “Mississippi Steamboat.” As a guitarist, he backed Larry Davis on the original version of “Texas Flood,” later a hit for Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Moving to Chicago in the 1960s, he played with Junior Wells, Otis Rush, and others while establishing a strong local following in the south and west side blues clubs, and put out one excellent 45 after another on various independent labels before scoring a major national blues hit with the original version of “Loan Me A Dime,” released in 1967. Signing with Nashville-based Seventy-Seven Records, he scored R & B radio hits with “The Getaway” and “The Sky Is Crying,” both of which appeared on the “Monday Morning Boogie & Blues” album on that label. Meanwhile, Boz Scaggs, accompanied by Duane Allman, recorded a version of “Somebody Loan Me A Dime” on Scaggs’ debut album that became a standard cut on FM rock stations.
Robinson’s fortunes as a touring artist never reached the same level as his critical acclaim. His introspective, jazzy style and melodic approach didn’t find favor with the party audiences, though he was well received by blues festival crowds and international audiences.
(source: bluesginza.web.fc2.com/fenton/bio_e.html)
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