Hall of Famer Hargus “Pig” Robbins, a country music session pianist who played keyboard and piano on albums by Dolly Parton, Bob Dylan, Kenny Rogers and others, died Sunday. He was 84.
The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, which inducted Robbins into the Hall in 2012, confirmed his death, Rolling Stone reported.
Robbins’ distinctive style was evident on George Jones’ “White Lightning” and Patsy Cline’s “I Fall to Pieces” and “Crazy,” Variety reported. Other notable efforts included piano parts on Charlie Rich’s “Behind Closed Doors,” Loretta Lynn’s “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” Parton’s “Coat of Many Colors” and Rogers’ “The Gambler,” the website reported.
Robbins also joined Dylan on the singer’s 1966 “Blonde on Blonde” sessions, Rolling Stone reported. The album featured Robbins’ standout playing (and hollering) on “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35,” the website reported.
“His playing was always distinctive,” Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum said in a statement. “Pig’s left hand on the piano joined with Bob Moore’s bass to create an unstoppable rhythmic force, while the fingers on his right hand flew like birds across the keys. The greatest musicians in Nashville turned to Pig for guidance and inspiration.”
When Robbins was inducted into the Hall of Fame, session guitarist and fellow Hall of Famer Harold Bradley said, “Pig has come up with more identifiable licks than anyone. And he’s also the best rhythm piano player in town.”
Hargus Melvin Robbins was born in Rhea County, Tennessee, on Jan. 18, 1938, according to his Hall of Fame biography. A knife accident when he was 3 cost him his sight, and he went on to study classical piano at the Tennessee School for the Blind when he was 7.
“I got (the nickname) ‘Pig’ at school,” Robbins said. “I had a supervisor who called me that because I used to sneak in through a fire escape and play when I wasn’t supposed to, and I’d get dirty as a pig.”