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reverend robert wilkins

Biography

Robert Timothy Wilkins (January 16, 1896 – May 26, 1987) was an American country blues guitarist, singer, and later gospel minister whose career bridged the rural blues of the 1920s and the folk-blues revival of the 1960s.[1][2] Born in Hernando, Mississippi, he was raised on a farm and took his stepfather’s surname, Oliver, at one point in his youth.[1][2] Of African American and Cherokee descent, he moved to nearby Memphis during World War I and soon became part of the vibrant Beale Street scene, performing in cafés, dance halls, and at house parties.[1][2][3] In the late 1920s and early 1930s he recorded for Victor, Brunswick, and later Vocalion, cutting now-classic sides such as “Rolling Stone,” “Old Jim Canan’s,” and “That’s No Way To Get Along,” some of them issued under the name Tim Wilkins.[1][2][3] These records showcased his careful, varied fingerpicking and a repertoire that ranged from blues and ragtime to minstrel pieces, setting him apart as one of the most versatile Memphis bluesmen of his generation.[1][2][3]

During the Roaring Twenties Wilkins worked regularly around Memphis, sharing bills with artists like Furry Lewis, Memphis Minnie, and Son House, and even organizing his own jug band to capitalize on the popular jug-band craze.[1] A teetotaler uneasy with the violence that sometimes erupted at blues parties, he experienced a crisis of conscience in the mid‑1930s after witnessing a killing at a house party; around the same time his wife fell gravely ill.[1][2][4] Wilkins pledged his life to God if his wife recovered, and, after her survival, he kept that vow: by 1936 he had quit playing secular blues, joined the Church of God in Christ, and turned his skills entirely toward gospel music, eventually being ordained a minister in 1950.[2][4] When blues researchers Dick and Louisa Spottswood located him during the 1960s blues revival, Wilkins agreed to perform again only on the condition that he play sacred material.[2][4] He appeared at major folk events, including the 1964 Newport Folk Festival, and recorded albums such as “Rev. Robert Wilkins: Memphis Gospel Singer,” reworking his earlier blues “That’s No Way To Get Along” into the biblical narrative “Prodigal Son,” a song later popularized by the Rolling Stones.[2][3][4] Remembered for his supple guitar work, stylistic breadth, and seamless fusion of blues feeling with gospel message, Wilkins remained active into old age and died in Memphis on May 26, 1987, leaving a legacy continued by his son, Reverend John Wilkins.[1][2][3][4]

Fun Facts

  • Wilkins’s 1928 Victor recording “Rolling Stone” is frequently cited as a precursor in title, if not in musical structure, to Muddy Waters’s later song “Rollin’ Stone,” which in turn inspired the name of both the band the Rolling Stones and the magazine Rolling Stone.[1]
  • Unlike many blues contemporaries, Wilkins was a lifelong teetotaler and already questioning his path even at the height of his secular career; writer Francis Davis described his early songs as those of a man wondering whether he was on the right road, foreshadowing his eventual move into the ministry.[1][4]
  • Some of Wilkins’s original 78‑rpm records were released under his middle name, Tim, leading later collectors to realize that “Tim Wilkins” and “Robert Wilkins” were in fact the same artist.[3][6]
  • When blues enthusiasts went looking for him during the 1960s revival, Wilkins turned out to be one of the easiest ‘rediscoveries’: according to later recollections, a researcher simply checked the Memphis phone book and found his number listed, a rarity among his reclusive peers.[3]

Musical Connections

Mentors/Influences

  • Memphis Beale Street blues scene (Furry Lewis, Memphis Minnie, Son House and peers) - Wilkins developed his style within the Memphis scene, working the same venues and bills as leading country blues artists, which shaped his repertoire and performance approach even if they were more colleagues than formal teachers. (Early recordings for Victor and Brunswick, including “Rolling Stone,” “Old Jim Canan’s,” and “That’s No Way To Get Along,” reflect the country blues and jug-band aesthetics common on Beale Street at the time.) [1920s–early 1930s[1][2][3]]

Key Collaborators

  • Unnamed Memphis jug band organized by Wilkins - Wilkins formed and led a jug band to tap into the jug-band craze, performing locally in Memphis; this required coordination with other instrumentalists similar to groups like Sleepy John Estes’s Three J’s Jug Band and Will Batt’s string band. (Live performances in Memphis during the late 1920s; specific recording credits for this jug band are not documented in major discographies.) [Late 1920s–early 1930s[1]]
  • Unidentified second guitarist and spoons player - On his 1935 Vocalion session he was backed by another guitarist and a spoons player, adding rhythmic texture to his blues recordings. (Five blues titles recorded for Vocalion in 1935 (exact accompanists not reliably named in primary sources).) [1935[3]]
  • Dick and Louisa Spottswood - Blues researchers and producers who ‘rediscovered’ Wilkins during the 1960s revival and facilitated his return to performing and recording gospel blues. (Helped arrange appearances such as the 1964 Newport Folk Festival and sessions that led to albums like “Rev. Robert Wilkins: Memphis Gospel Singer.”) [1964 onward[2][4]]

Artists Influenced

  • The Rolling Stones - The band adapted Wilkins’s gospel piece “Prodigal Son,” itself a rewrite of his earlier blues “That’s No Way To Get Along,” introducing his composition to an international rock audience. (“Prodigal Son” (recorded by the Rolling Stones after Wilkins’s Newport-era revival, based on his Piedmont/Origin-era gospel version).) [Late 1960s and after[2][3][4]]
  • Reverend John Wilkins - Wilkins’s son absorbed his father’s gospel‑blues guitar style and repertoire and went on to record and perform in a similar vein, explicitly carrying forward Robert Wilkins’s musical and spiritual legacy. (Album “You Can’t Hurry God,” which includes a version of Robert Wilkins’s “Prodigal Son.”) [1980s–2010s[3][4][5]]
  • 1960s folk and blues revival musicians and audiences - Wilkins’s Newport Folk Festival performances and later recordings influenced how younger revivalists and scholars understood country blues and gospel blues guitar, particularly his blend of intricate fingerpicking with sacred lyrics. (Performances on compilation albums such as “Blues at Newport, Volume 2” and the live set “…Remember Me,” recorded at the 1969 Memphis Country Blues Festival.) [Mid‑1960s–1970s[2][4]]

Connection Network

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Discography

Albums

Title Release Date Type
Prodigal Son 2014-03-28 Album
Worried Blues 2017-07-21 Album
Prodigal Son 2014-03-28 Album

Top Tracks

  1. The Prodigal Son (Prodigal Son)
  2. I Wish I Was in Heaven Sitting Down (Prodigal Son)
  3. Jesus Will Fix Ii Alright (Prodigal Son)
  4. Just a Closer Walk with Thee (Prodigal Son)
  5. Old Time Religion (Prodigal Son)
  6. Thank You, Jesus (Prodigal Son)
  7. It Just Suits Me (Prodigal Son)
  8. Jesus Said If You Go (Prodigal Son)
  9. Do Lord Remember Me (Prodigal Son)
  10. Here Am I, Send Me (Prodigal Son)

Heard on WWOZ

reverend robert wilkins has been played 3 times on WWOZ 90.7 FM, New Orleans' jazz and heritage station.

DateTimeTitleShowSpotify
Dec 18, 202520:22i wish i was in heaven sitting downR&Bw/ Your Cousin Dimitri
Nov 24, 202520:20OLD JIM CANAN'SBlues and R&Bw/ Gentilly Jr.
Nov 15, 202516:08make it fast, make it slowfrom make it fast, make it slowWorld Journeyw/ Logan