Don Robey

Label owner, songwriter, producer Don Robey's name should be on any serious list of early pop/R&B pioneers. His Duke-Peacock family of labels boasted an impressive roster: Johnny Ace, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Big Mama Thornton, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, the Dixie Hummingbirds, O.V. Wright, Carl Carlton, the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi, Inez Andrews, Memphis Slim, Little Junior Parker, Joe Hinton, and more. Born November 1, 1903, in Houston, TX, Robey's entrepreneurial spirit was nutured while growing up around the elite of Houston's black business community. Dropping out of h...