Arthur Crudup
Encyclopedia
Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup was an American
Delta blues
singer, songwriter
and guitarist
. He is best known outside blues circles for writing song
s such as "That's All Right" (1946), "My Baby Left Me
" and "So Glad You're Mine", later covered
by Elvis Presley
and dozens of other artists
.
, Mississippi
, United States
. For a time he lived and worked throughout the South and Midwest as a migrant worker. He and his family returned to Mississippi in 1926. He sang gospel
, then began his career as a blues singer around Clarksdale, Mississippi
. As a member of the Harmonizing Four he visited Chicago
in 1939. Crudup stayed in Chicago to work as a solo
musician, but barely made a living as a street singer. Record producer
Lester Melrose
allegedly found him while he was living in a packing crate, introduced him to Tampa Red
and signed him to a recording contract
with RCA Victor's Bluebird
label
.
He recorded with RCA in the late 1940s and with Ace Records
, Checker Records
and Trumpet Records
in the early 1950s and toured throughout the country, specifically black
establishments in the South
, with Sonny Boy Williamson II
and Elmore James
(around 1948). He also recorded under the names Elmer James and Percy Lee Crudup. He was popular in the South with records
such as "Mean Old 'Frisco Blues", "Who's Been Foolin' You" and "That's All Right".
Crudup stopped recording in the 1950s, however, after further battles over royalties
. His last Chicago session was in 1951. His 1952-54 recording sessions for Victor were held at radio station
WGST in Atlanta
, Georgia
. He returned to recording with Fire Records
and Delmark Records
and touring in 1965. Sometimes labeled as "The Father of Rock and Roll", he accepted this title with some bemusement. Ungratified due to the loss of royalties, he would refer to his admirer Presley as 'Elvin Preston'. Throughout this time Crudup worked as a laborer to augment the non-existent royalties and the small wages he received as a singer. Crudup returned to Mississippi after a dispute with Melrose over royalties, then went into bootlegging
, and later moved to Virginia
where he had lived and worked as a musician and laborer. In the early 1970s, two local Virginia activists, Celia Santiago and Margaret Carter, assisted him in an attempt to gain royalties he felt he was due, with little success.
From the mid 1960s, Crudup returned to bootlegging and working as an agricultural laborer, chiefly in Virginia
, where he lived with his family including three sons and several of his own siblings. On the Eastern Shore of Virginia
, while he lived in relative poverty as a field laborer, he occasionally sang and supplied moonshine to a number of drinking establishments, including one called the Dew Drop Inn, in Northampton County
for some time prior to his death from complications of heart disease
and diabetes
. On a 1970 trip to the UK
he recorded Roebuck Man with local musicians. His last professional engagements were with Bonnie Raitt
.
There was some confusion as to his actual date of death because of his use of several names, including those of his sibling
s. He died of a heart attack
in the Nassawadox
hospital in Northampton County, Virginia
in March 1974.
Crudup was honored with a marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail
placed at Forest.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Delta blues
Delta blues
The Delta blues is one of the earliest styles of blues music. It originated in the Mississippi Delta, a region of the United States that stretches from Memphis, Tennessee in the north to Vicksburg, Mississippi in the south, Helena, Arkansas in the west to the Yazoo River on the east. The...
singer, songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
and guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
. He is best known outside blues circles for writing song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
s such as "That's All Right" (1946), "My Baby Left Me
My Baby Left Me
My Baby Left Me is a rhythm and blues song written by blues singer Arthur Crudup in the late 1940s.It gained further exposure in covers by Elvis Presley, who placed his version on the b-side to his 1956 single "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You"; by Creedence Clearwater Revival, who recorded it as...
" and "So Glad You're Mine", later covered
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
by Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
and dozens of other artists
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
.
Career
Arthur Crudup was born in ForestForest, Mississippi
Forest is a city in Scott County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 5,987 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Scott County.-Geography:Forest is located at ....
, Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. For a time he lived and worked throughout the South and Midwest as a migrant worker. He and his family returned to Mississippi in 1926. He sang gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
, then began his career as a blues singer around Clarksdale, Mississippi
Clarksdale, Mississippi
Clarksdale is a city in Coahoma County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 20,645 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Coahoma County....
. As a member of the Harmonizing Four he visited Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
in 1939. Crudup stayed in Chicago to work as a solo
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
musician, but barely made a living as a street singer. Record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Lester Melrose
Lester Melrose
Lester Melrose was one of the first American producers of blues records.-Career:He was born Lester Franklin Melrose in Sumner, Illinois, United States, the second of six children of Frank and Mollie Melrose who owned a small farm...
allegedly found him while he was living in a packing crate, introduced him to Tampa Red
Tampa Red
Tampa Red , born Hudson Woodbridge but known from childhood as Hudson Whittaker, was an American Chicago blues musician....
and signed him to a recording contract
Recording contract
A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...
with RCA Victor's Bluebird
Bluebird Records
Bluebird Records is a sub-label of RCA Victor Records originally created in 1932 to counter the American Record Company in the "3 records for a dollar" market. Along with ARC's Perfect Records, Melotone Records and Romeo Records, and the independent US Decca label, Bluebird became one of the best...
label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
.
He recorded with RCA in the late 1940s and with Ace Records
Ace Records (US)
Ace Records was a record label that was started in August 1955 in Jackson, Mississippi by Johnny Vincent, with Teem Records as its budget subsidiary. Ace also had the Vin label. Its records were distributed independently until 1962 when a distribution arrangement was set up with Vee-Jay Records....
, Checker Records
Checker Records
Checker Records is an inactive record label that was started in 1952 as a subsidiary to Chess Records in Chicago, Illinois. The label was founded by the Chess brothers, Leonard and Phil, who ran the label until they sold it to General Recorded Tape in 1969, shortly before Leonard's death.The label...
and Trumpet Records
Trumpet Records
Trumpet Records was a recording company started by Henry and Lillian McMurry in Jackson, Mississippi in 1951.-History of Trumpet Records:The goal of Trumpet Records was to provide a means of recording some of the most popular combos in the Mississippi Delta region that were going unrecorded because...
in the early 1950s and toured throughout the country, specifically black
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
establishments in the South
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
, with Sonny Boy Williamson II
Sonny Boy Williamson II
Willie "Sonny Boy" Williamson was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, from Mississippi. He is acknowledged as one of the most charismatic and influential blues musicians, with considerable prowess on the harmonica and highly creative songwriting skills...
and Elmore James
Elmore James
Elmore James was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and band leader. He was known as "the King of the Slide Guitar" and had a unique guitar style, noted for his use of loud amplification and his stirring voice.-Biography:James was born Elmore Brooks in the old Richland community in...
(around 1948). He also recorded under the names Elmer James and Percy Lee Crudup. He was popular in the South with records
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
such as "Mean Old 'Frisco Blues", "Who's Been Foolin' You" and "That's All Right".
Crudup stopped recording in the 1950s, however, after further battles over royalties
Royalties
Royalties are usage-based payments made by one party to another for the right to ongoing use of an asset, sometimes an intellectual property...
. His last Chicago session was in 1951. His 1952-54 recording sessions for Victor were held at radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
WGST in Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
. He returned to recording with Fire Records
Fire Records
Fire Records was an independent record label set up in 1959 by Bobby Robinson . Among others, it released records by Lightnin' Hopkins, Elmore James and Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup.-Selected discography:...
and Delmark Records
Delmark Records
Delmark Records is an independent American jazz and blues record label, based in Chicago since 1958. The label originated in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1953 when owner Bob Koester released a recording of the Windy City Six, a traditional jazz group, under the "Delmar" imprint.-History:Born in 1932 in...
and touring in 1965. Sometimes labeled as "The Father of Rock and Roll", he accepted this title with some bemusement. Ungratified due to the loss of royalties, he would refer to his admirer Presley as 'Elvin Preston'. Throughout this time Crudup worked as a laborer to augment the non-existent royalties and the small wages he received as a singer. Crudup returned to Mississippi after a dispute with Melrose over royalties, then went into bootlegging
Moonshine
Moonshine is an illegally produced distilled beverage...
, and later moved to Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
where he had lived and worked as a musician and laborer. In the early 1970s, two local Virginia activists, Celia Santiago and Margaret Carter, assisted him in an attempt to gain royalties he felt he was due, with little success.
From the mid 1960s, Crudup returned to bootlegging and working as an agricultural laborer, chiefly in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, where he lived with his family including three sons and several of his own siblings. On the Eastern Shore of Virginia
Eastern Shore of Virginia
The Eastern Shore of Virginia consists of two counties on the Atlantic coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The region is part of the Delmarva Peninsula and is separated from the rest of Virginia by the Chesapeake Bay. Its population was 45,553 as of 2010...
, while he lived in relative poverty as a field laborer, he occasionally sang and supplied moonshine to a number of drinking establishments, including one called the Dew Drop Inn, in Northampton County
Northampton County, Virginia
As of the census of 2010, there were 12,389 people, 5,321 households, and 3,543 families residing in the county. The population density was 63 people per square mile . There were 6,547 housing units at an average density of 32 per square mile...
for some time prior to his death from complications of heart disease
Heart disease
Heart disease, cardiac disease or cardiopathy is an umbrella term for a variety of diseases affecting the heart. , it is the leading cause of death in the United States, England, Canada and Wales, accounting for 25.4% of the total deaths in the United States.-Types:-Coronary heart disease:Coronary...
and diabetes
Diabetes mellitus
Diabetes mellitus, often simply referred to as diabetes, is a group of metabolic diseases in which a person has high blood sugar, either because the body does not produce enough insulin, or because cells do not respond to the insulin that is produced...
. On a 1970 trip to the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
he recorded Roebuck Man with local musicians. His last professional engagements were with Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Lynn Raitt is an American blues singer-songwriter and a renowned slide guitar player. During the 1970s, Raitt released a series of acclaimed roots-influenced albums which incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk and country, but she is perhaps best known for her more commercially...
.
There was some confusion as to his actual date of death because of his use of several names, including those of his sibling
Sibling
Siblings are people who share at least one parent. A male sibling is called a brother; and a female sibling is called a sister. In most societies throughout the world, siblings usually grow up together and spend a good deal of their childhood socializing with one another...
s. He died of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
in the Nassawadox
Nassawadox, Virginia
Nassawadox is a town in Northampton County, Virginia, United States. The town, with an area of , is located on U.S. Route 13 on Virginia's Eastern Shore, approximately five miles south of Exmore and north of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel....
hospital in Northampton County, Virginia
Northampton County, Virginia
As of the census of 2010, there were 12,389 people, 5,321 households, and 3,543 families residing in the county. The population density was 63 people per square mile . There were 6,547 housing units at an average density of 32 per square mile...
in March 1974.
Crudup was honored with a marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail
Mississippi Blues Trail
The Mississippi Blues Trail, created by the Mississippi Blues Commission, is a project to place interpretive markers at the most notable historical sites related to the growth of the blues throughout the state of Mississippi. The trail extends from the border of Louisiana in southern Mississippi...
placed at Forest.
Discography
- Mean Ol' Frisco (1962)
- Crudup's Mood (1969)
- Look On Yonder's Wall (1969)
- Roebuck Man (1974)
See also
- Fire RecordsFire RecordsFire Records was an independent record label set up in 1959 by Bobby Robinson . Among others, it released records by Lightnin' Hopkins, Elmore James and Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup.-Selected discography:...
- Checker RecordsChecker RecordsChecker Records is an inactive record label that was started in 1952 as a subsidiary to Chess Records in Chicago, Illinois. The label was founded by the Chess brothers, Leonard and Phil, who ran the label until they sold it to General Recorded Tape in 1969, shortly before Leonard's death.The label...
- Origins of rock and rollOrigins of rock and rollRock and roll emerged as a defined musical style in the United States in the early to mid 1950s. It derived most directly from the rhythm and blues music of the 1940s, which itself developed from earlier blues, boogie woogie, jazz and swing music, and was also influenced by gospel, country and...
- First rock and roll record
Quotations
- "Do what you can do" Tampa RedTampa RedTampa Red , born Hudson Woodbridge but known from childhood as Hudson Whittaker, was an American Chicago blues musician....
told Crudup, "what you can't do, forget about it".