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Artist
Rockin Robin Roberts
12+ albums
about
Lawrence Fewell Roberts II (November 23, 1940 – December 22, 1967), known as Robin Roberts and in his music career as "Rockin' Robin" Roberts, was an American singer best known for his performances in the early 1960s with The Wailers, a rock and roll band based in Tacoma, Washington. His best known record was the earliest cover version of Richard Berry's "Louie Louie", recorded in 1960 and released the following year. Born in New York City, Roberts moved to the Pacific Northwest as a child after his father died, settling with his mother in Tacoma. While at Mason Junior High School he started listening to rhythm and blues music and buying records in Tacoma's black district. At the Puyallup Fair in 1957 he stood up and began singing Little Richard songs unaccompanied, and was heard there by members of a local band, the Bluenotes. He joined the band, who already had a regular lead singer in "Little Bill" Engelhart, and performed with them as an occasional guest singer at weekend dances. One of the R&B songs he started performing with the group was "Louie Louie", the B-side of a 1957 single by Richard Berry; another was "Rockin' Robin" by Bobby Day, which gave him his new stage name. In 1959, the Bluenotes - without Roberts, who was a full-time student at the time - recorded a ballad, "I Love An Angel", sung by Englehart. Credited to Little Bill and the Bluenotes, the single was issued by Dolton Records and rose to no. 66 on the Billboard Hot 100. Sidelined by the Bluenotes, Ro