Willard Robison

American composer and pianist, born 18 September 1894 in Shelbina, Shelby County, Missouri; died 24 June 1968 in Peekskill, New York.


A gifted songwriter, Robison directed much of his early work in line with the tradition of Negro spirituals. In all, he was credited with well over 100 such compositions, including "Religion In Rhythm", "Truthful Parson Brown" and "The Devil Is Afraid Of Music", the latter song crossing the border into acceptance as a popular song that is still performed today.

In 1917, he formed his own band, the Deep River Orchestra, with which he toured the southwest and Midwest. He never forgot his country home, something that was to be an ever-present ingredient for his songs. Even as he moved more towards contemporary popular music, he still retained the spiritual feeling, describing his compositions as "Deep River Music". One of his songs, "Peaceful Valley", was Paul Whiteman's first theme tune and it was with Whiteman's encouragement that Robison went to New York where for seven years he led the Deep River Orchestra on weekly radio shows.

Apart from Whiteman, other admirers of Robison's work included singer Mildred Bailey and songwriter Johnny Mercer. Among singers other than Bailey who have recorded his songs, sometimes memorably so, are Dardanelle, Anita Ellis, Barbara Lea, Peggy Lee (notably recording "Don't Smoke In Bed"), Daryl Sherman and Lee Wiley. Another artist who found Robison's
down-home lyricism appealing was Jack Teagarden who recorded several of his songs on his 1962 set, Think Well Of Me. Robison's work, which first became widely popular in the 20s, retained favour with the public into the 40s and some songs became standards, among them "A Cottage For Sale" (composed in collaboration with Larry Conley), "Guess I'll Go Back Home Again (This Summer)" (with Ray Mayer), "Old Folks" (with Dedette Lee Hill) and "A Woman Alone With The Blues".

These examples apart, eventually public interest in his charming and essentially down home lyrics faded as more urgent, less nostalgic themes took precedence. What many overlooked was that Robison's choice of simple, everyday themes for his lyrics was not indicative of simplistic writing. Indeed, much of his work was highly sophisticated. In Barbara Lea's liner notes to The Devil Is Afraid Of Music, her 1976 Audiophile Records selection of Robison's songs, she states of his music that in the "quintessential Robison writing . . . under a melody which is often sinuous and chromatic, the harmonies are conceived not vertically but horizontally. The effect is of a number of strands which flow along together, making a closely woven texture like the many currents of a river."