Fabor Allen Robison (1911–1986)

Fabor Allen Robison (mistakenly referred to as “Robinson” in some sources) was an influential record producer, label owner, and music promoter from Arkansas. Called “one of the most enigmatic figures in country music” by scholar Michael Streissguth, Robison managed prominent country acts in the 1950s, including Johnny Horton, Jim Reeves, and the Browns. But while he wielded great power in the music industry in the 1950s, his dubious and exploitative business practices—not to mention egregious personal behavior—have tarnished his legacy.

Facts about Robison are sketchy. He refused to give interviews, and he did not have a reputation for honesty. Robison was born in Beebe (White County) on November 3, 1911, though later in life he sometimes gave his birthplace as nearby El Paso (White County) or Vilonia (Faulkner County). Robison once claimed his parents were from Russia, although his father, farmer John W. Robison, was a native of Mississippi and his mother, Mary Dover Robison, was from Arkansas. Robison grew up in Eagle (Faulkner County). The 1920 federal census lists him as having seven siblings, though his father apparently had thirteen children with two different women.

Robison moved around considerably early in life. He was living in Little Rock (Pulaski County) with his brother at the time of the 1930 census. In 1932, he married Lois Willis in Vilonia, though the couple later moved to Oregon, then Kansas, and finally California. The 1940 census showed that Robison had three children. A son of his died in 1961.

Robison worked as a cook and butcher before serving in the army from 1944 to 1945 as a cook. According to one source, he returned home from the army in 1945 to find his wife “with someone else.” If true, the couple managed to get to California via Kansas before separating. It is uncertain when Robison divorced his wife. She apparently spent the rest of her life in California and never remarried.

In 1948, Robison remarried. His wife, Mary (also known as Molly), played a part in the record business with her husband. Before then, however, Robison worked as an electrician in the film industry. A man who could look good and dress well, he tried acting before deciding his talents were better suited to working with musicians. One of Robison’s first signings was an obscure steel guitar player—and Arkansan—Les “Carrot Top” Anderson.

More prominent and influential acts eventually joined his roster, among them Jimmy Reeves and Johnny Horton. In 1951, Robison started Abbott Records with Boston businessman Sid Abbott. Robison was also working at that time as a talent scout for American Music. Robison found success signing artists working on The Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport, and he used the studios at radio station KWKH to make records, enlisting the help of stellar session players such as pianist Floyd Cramer and guitarist Jimmy Day.

In 1953, Robison started Fabor Records. That same year, he had a falling out with Abbott. Robison bought Abbott out, thus giving Robison full control of the Abbott label. For several years, Robison ran two indie labels.

Robison sold Johnny Horton’s contract in 1952 to Mercury Records, where Horton rose to stardom. Robison turned his attention to managing Jim Reeves, who had hits with novelty songs such as “Bimbo” and “Mexican Joe.” Reeves had much more success with Robison than Johnny Horton had, but unfortunately for Reeves, he could not get out of his contract so easily. After years of touring and recording hit songs, Reeves had little to show for his efforts financially. He managed to sign with RCA, but when Reeves moved to Nashville in 1955, he lived in a trailer in an impoverished area of the city.

Robison was, in effect, a con man. While he could spot true talent, his methods were predatory. He would attend a concert given by aspiring musical acts and quickly get them to sign a contract that transferred the bulk of their earnings to him. They then toured for little money and recorded hits without benefit of royalties, while Robison amassed a fortune. His clients eventually discovered they had been taken advantage of, though there was little they could do legally beyond paying to get out of their contracts.

A scathing indictment of Robison appears in Maxine Brown’s memoir, Looking Back to See. “God, how we hated that SOB,” she wrote of him. Her book details Robison’s exploitative business practices, while also depicting him as a sexual predator who tried to force himself on Brown’s younger sister, Bonnie. The Browns were one of the most successful country acts of the 1950s, but as Maxine notes, Robison kept most of their money. Rick Bass, in his novel about the Browns, Nashville Chrome, takes a similarly negative view of Robison.

Robison’s shady business dealings ultimately caught up with him. He began Radio Records in 1958, but by the next year, he had sold the Fabor and Abbott labels and decided to leave the country. With his businesses gone and a string of broken relationships behind him, Robison moved to Brazil, where he lived for several years—perhaps hoping to capitalize on the emerging bossa nova trend. He started a studio in South America, but he had no success there. In 1962, Robison restarted Fabor Records, but the venture lasted only a few years. He had a hit with Ned Miller’s “From a Jack to a King,” but the revived Fabor label closed in 1966.

Robison did not stop scheming. In February 1966, he was issued a patent in Canada for an “Arch Roofed Portable Sunbathing Device.” The invention did not revive his fortunes. Robison attempted comebacks as a record producer in the late 1960s (in Hawaii) and then again in the mid-1970s. These were further failures. At some point, he ended up selling his interests—including master tapes from various artists—to Shelby Singleton, the same man who had bought out Sam Phillips in the late 1960s.

Robison died in obscurity on September 30, 1986. One writer noted that he spent his final days “impecunious and crazy in Arkansas.” His last confirmed address was Minden, Louisiana, near Shreveport. He is buried in Minden.

For additional information:
Bass, Rick. Nashville Chrome. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010.

Brown, Maxine. Looking Back to See: A Country Music Memoir. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2005.

Escott, Colin. Roadkill on the Three-Chord Highway: Art and Trash in American Popular Music. New York: Routledge, 2002.

“Limited Market Hinders Studios’ Growth.” Billboard, May 18, 1968, p. H-8.

Oermann, Robert K. Behind the Grand Ole Opry Curtain: Tales of Romance and Tragedy. New York: Center Street, 2008.

Streissguth, Michael. Voices of the Country: Interviews with Classic Country Performers. New York: Routledge, 2004.

Colin Edward Woodward
Richmond, Virginia