“Losin’ Out Blues” - Robert Wilkins (1935)
Of all of the songs in my collection of American “roots” music Robert Wilkins’ “Losin’ Out Blues” is one of my all-time favorites. Although the word “blues” appears in it’s title the song is more of a “rag” tune than a true blues. It was common practice for record companies to put the tag of “blues” on a lot of songs which, in truth, had nothing to do with the blues form because in the eyes of the record companies the public were more likely to buy a record if it were a “blues” record.
Robert Wilkins, like Henry Thomas, was known for both his versatility and his virtuosity. He was one of the few “blues” musicians of his time that could tune a guitar and the fact that he played different pieces in different tunings set him even further apart from most of his contemporaries.
Robert Wilkins was born on January 16th, 1896 in Hernando, Mississippi. One of Wilkins’ most popular recordings was “Rollin’ Stone” which he recorded for the “Victor” label in 1928. In the early 1960’s Wilkins’ “Rollin’ Stone” gave a certain popular English band inspiration for it’s name. This same famous English band later covered Wilkins’ “That’s No Way To Get Along” and renamed their version “Prodigal Son” which they included on their 1968 album “Beggar’s Banquet”.
“Losin’ Out Blues” was recorded in October of 1935 in Jackson, Mississippi for the “Vocalion” label. The recording session which produced this song would be the last Wilkins’ ever held as a “blues” artist. A couple of years after this session was held Wilkins’ was playing at a house party when a violent brawl broke out. The experience so unnerved him that he quit performing to become a minister and a practitioner of herbal medicine. In 1964 Wilkins was rediscovered as part of the “Blues Revival” movement and began performing again though he refused to play traditional “blues” music. He instead played “gospel blues”. Wilkins died on May 26th, 1987.
