50 YEARS LATER -- five decades after Lawrence F. "Rockin' Robin" Roberts (1940-1967) quit Tacoma's pioneering R&B band, The Blue Notes, in August, 1959, to join their cross-town rivals, Northwest rock 'n' rollers, The Wailers (as seen here in 1960) -- I figured that far too much time had passed by without his biography being written.In that essay -- just posted over at HistoryLink.org -- Roberts' tragically short life & amazing singing career are documented in detail.
Readers will be reminded of the huge impact that Roberts had on his teenaged fans as well as his fellow musicians. Being an early collector of R&B records, Roberts was the original instigator who convinced his bandmates to do their own version of Richard Berry's 1957 tune, "Louie Louie." And the rest is, well, garage-rock history...
R.I.P. ROCKIN' ROBIN!!!!!