Ballad of Jimmie Lee Robinson
Steve B.
by Steve Balkin <oi...@pobox.com>, July 12, 2002
(read at the funeral of Jimmie Lee Robinson at the A.R. Leak and Sons
Funeral Home, Cottage Grove and 79th Street, Chicago.)
With spurs jangling,
A fighter was he,
This Lonely Traveler
Wrestled with UIC.
Moaning his tunes,
Stomping a beat,
He hoped to save
Beloved Maxwell Street.
He twanged the Blues,
Guitar in hand,
Hoping the Trustees
Would not demolish his land.
Confronting the mighty
He made his Blues plea,
Save the people,
The buildings, the culture, all three.
He sang in the streets
Wherever he went,
Fighting for Jewtown,
Heavenly sent.
Little Sonny, Little Scotty,
Top Hat, H, and Johnnie Mae
Joined in his army;
Gave support in the fray.
There was the Reverend, Tyner,
Too Tough, Perkins, Red, Rose, Sammy, Sugar Baby, Shirley, Charlotte,
Six Pack, Cut Rate, Joe, Jimmy, Jimmi, Wolf, Motivation, Al, Tom, Noa,
John, Paul, Luke, LaJune, Bubba, Bilbo, Barkin, Bill, Bonnie, George,
James, Scott, Shirley, Ruby, Ray, Regina, Rene, Patrick, LT, Lindsey,
Huck, Iceman, IceMike, Dollar, Big Daddy, Big Eyes, Bluntnose,
Toronzo, Taildragger, Sambo, Little Willie, Big Willie, and Jumpin
Willie just to name a few. (Pause and take a breath.)
They performed on the corner,
Like Blues soldiers do.
Original Jim's
And Juketown Stand were the stage.
They sang for the people.
They expressed the deep rage.
Becoming a King,
Was not even the least.
He led us in battle
Against Daley the Beast.
This he would say
With power to foresee,
Remember the lost Bluesmen,
And keep memories of me.
-00-
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FULL NAME LIST FROM STANZAS SIX and SEVEN
Frank Little Sonny Scott Jr., Clarence Little Scotty Scott, Bobby Top
Hat Davis, Mr. H-Baron of the Blues and the Blueskeepers, Johnnie Mae
Dunson Smith.
Reverend John Johnson (owner of the blues bus), Tyner White (inventor
of the Stratazuki), Bobby Too Tough, Dancin Robert Scott Perkins,
Piano C. Red, Neil Rose, Sammy Fender, Sugar Baby Irma Minzie, Shirley
King, Charlotte Miller, Six Pack Band, Cut Rate Band, Joe Peterson,
Jimmy Isit, Jimmi Prime Time Smith, Morides Howlin Wolf, Motivation
Band, Al Harris, Tom Shaka, Jody Noa, John Primer, Paul Patratis, Luke
Pytel, Louis LaJune Emory, Bubba Tucker, Bilbo Walker, Barkin Bill,
Bill Langlotz, Barrelhouse Bonnie McKeown, Harmonica George, James
Washington, Scott Maddon, Ruby Harris, Ray Scott, Lady Regina, Rene
Maxwell, Patrick Reninger, LT McGee, David Lindsey, Huck, Iceman
Robinson, Ice Mike, Johnny Dollar, Big Daddy Rich, Willie Big Eyes
Smith, Robert Bluntnose Osborne, Toronzo Cannon, Taildragger, Sambo,
Little Willie James, Big Willie James, and Jumpin Willie Cobbs and the
Fireballs. My apologies to those musicians I inadvertently missed.
-00-