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Born in Spring
City, Tennessee, Hargus Melvin Robbins fashioned a career for himself
that spanned four decades. As a
child, he accidentally poked one of his eyes out with his father's
knife. By the age of four, he
was totally blind. He attended Nashville's Tennessee school for the blind where he
studied classical piano, although his early influences were Ray Charles,
Floyd Cramer, and singing cowboy Tex Ritter. For better or worse, this was where
he earned the nickname "Pig". Regarded
as one of the greatest session musicians
in country music history, and certainly one of the most exhaustively prolific,
he has played piano and/or keyboards for such notables as Bobby
Bare, Kathy Barnes, Mark Chesnutt, Patsy Cline, Crystal
Gayle ("Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue"), Vince Gill, Merle
Haggard, Tom T. Hall, Alan Jackson, Waylon Jennings, George Jones, Loretta
Lynn, Reba McEntire, Roger Miller ("King of
the Road") Ronnie Milsap, Willie Nelson, Dolly
Parton, Charlie Rich ("Behind Closed Doors"),
Kenny Rogers, The Statler Brothers, Randy Travis,
Travis Tritt, Ernest Tubb,
Tanya Tucker, and Tammy Wynette. His collaborations were not limited
to country music, however. In
1966, he appeared on the Bob Dylan album Blonde on Blonde, opening doors for himself into the folk and
pop music scene, including stints with Joan Baez, Ray Charles, John Denver,
The Everly Brothers, Mark Knopfler,
Tom Jones, Roy Orbison, and Neil Young. He's even teamed up with alternative-rock
group Ween.
The bulk of Robbins' solo output was between 1977 and 1979,
when he released three albums for Elektra: the Grammy-winning Country Instrumentalist of the Year,
Pig in a Poke, and Unbreakable Hearts. Releases from these albums include
the good-natured "Chunky People" and a remake of the rock and
roll classic "Little Bitty Pretty One". In 2000, he received the coveted
ROPE (Reunion of Professional Entertainers) award, as well as the Country
Music Association's Musician of the Year award, his second, and the
first such accolade to be given to a pianist. Unfortunately, nerve damage suffered
from chemotherapy treatments forced him to retire the same year.
Kathy Barnes
recordings
Something's Burning (Mac
Davis)
Hargus "Pig"
Robbins recordings
Chunky People (David
Chamberlain/Jim Vest)
Forever (Buddy
Killen)
Little Bitty
Pretty One (Robert Byrd)
Love, Love,
Love (Terry Franks)
Unbreakable
Hearts (Dennis Morgan/Ann J. Morton)
Whatever
Happened to the Girls I Knew (Larry Cheshier/Murray
Kellum)
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