J. Russel Robinson (with only one "L") was a pianist and songwriter from Indianapolis. Robinson began his career in vaudeville around 1908 as part of an act called the Robinson Brothers; his first published composition was Dynamite Rag, which appeared in 1910. Robinson's first hit was in 1912 with That Eccentric Rag, and in 1916 he earned a co-writing credit with W.C. Handy on Ole Miss Rag. Although white, J. Russel Robinson collaborated a great deal with African-American musicians and performers throughout his career, including Noble Sissle, Jo Trent, James P. Johnson, Fats Waller, and Cab Calloway, and as an accompanist to blues singers Lucille Hegamin and Lizzie Miles. Extraordinarily prolific, Robinson was capable of writing lyrics and music, scoring more than two dozen hits in his four decades as a pop songwriter. From about 1916, Robinson was also a staff arranger for the QRS Company and ultimately cut a countless number of piano rolls for them.

In early 1919 Henry Ragas, pianist for the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, died of influenza on the eve of the band's first European tour. Robinson elected to fill in and wound up staying in the ODJB until it dissolved under acrimonious circumstances in 1923. In 1920 the ODJB made a two-sided record for Victor of Margie with the tune Singin' the Blues inserted in the middle of it and Palesteena on the flip. All three songs were written by Robinson, and this was by far and away the most popular record issued in 1920, selling nearly a million copies. Even before the ODJB broke up, Robinson was recording with Rudy Wiedoeft in the Wiedoeft-Wadsworth Quartet, and later he would team up with singer Al Bernard on records, mostly for Pathé, as an act called the Dixie Stars. Although Robinson contributed songs for use on the London stage, he seems to not have met with much success as a Broadway songwriter -- one of his biggest hits, Aggravatin' Papa (Don't You Try to Two-Time Me), was introduced in +Plantation Revue, an all-black cast musical that died in less than a month in the summer of 1922.

It was with lyricist Roy Turk that Robinson enjoyed his biggest successes, but he also worked with Bernard, Sissle, Con Conrad, and others. Two of Robinson's 1920s hits, Margie and Mary Lou, were used as the jumping-off point for a couple of sentimental feature films made under those titles shortly after World War II. In the 1930s Robinson worked in radio and in 1932 wrote the notorious song Reefer Man for Cab Calloway. Robinson's last hit was Meet Me at No Special Place (And I'll Be There at No Particular Time) in 1944. He also rejoined the Original Dixieland Jazz Band when it began its ill-fated reunion in 1936. Although Robinson never led a record date under his own name, he recorded eight ragtime piano solos for Rudi Blesh's Circle label in 1947. ~ Uncle Dave Lewis, Rovi