Robert Wilkins

Prodigal Son Robert Wilkins

Includes Wilkins' fabulous blues Prodigal Son, recorded by the Rolling Stones on their classic 'Beggars' Banquet' LP. A true giant of pre-War blues, Wilkins sounded just as good - maybe better - after his rediscovery in the 1960s! These ultra-rare recordings were only issued on limited edition LPs in the 1960s and haven't been heard since. Memphis bluesman Robert Wilkins recorded between 1928 and 1935 - and then disappeared. Researcher Dick Spottswood rediscovered him in 1964 and gave him a new career. Of all the rediscovered pre-War blues singers, Wilkins was among the finest. His vocals and guitar playing were still very strong and confident. But Wilkins had become a preacher and wouldn't do blues as he had recorded them before the War. Instead, he recorded gospel songs with the fire and passion with which he'd recorded blues. Spottswood issued some of the Wilkins songs on 'Memphis Gospel Singer' (Piedmont Records) and another four songs on 'The Old World's In A Hell Of A Fix' (Biograph Records). Now all are gathered together, remastered and restored together with Spottswood's detailed remembrance of his friend Robert Wilkins. At one time, we took rediscovered blues men for granted, but of course they passed one by one. Robert Wilkins died in 1987. The Rolling Stones royalties from their cover of Prodigal Son made the last years good for him. Now, no pre-War blues singers remain alive, and the ranks of post-War bluesmen are thinning fast. That makes these recordings, quickly passed over at the time of release, more valuable than ever. A tangible reminder of the blues in it's infancy as a great American art form.