Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, "Katie Mae" c/w "Dig Myself A Hole," Fire 45-1502 (rel. 5/1962)

We conclude a bluesy trilogy with the final 45-rpm release of Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup, who had the first-ever blues 45 issued by RCA-Victor in the spring of 1949 (pictured at left). Crudup’s recording career preceded the seven-inch format. Born in 1905, Crudup was raised in the Mississippi Delta and his first musical efforts were in gospel. He was a member of The Harmonizing Four, and via that group he moved to Chicago before the start of WWII (The Big One).

Crudup left the group to go it alone. He attempted to eke out a living as a street singer but that proved grueling and unprofitable work. Victor recording manager Lester Melrose heard Arthur going at it on the street and introduced himself. At the time, Crudup was homeless; he needed a break and was signed to the biggest label in American music. Melrose introduced Crudup to Tampa Red, another Victor blues artist.

Crudup’s debut record, “Death Valley Blues”/“If I Get Lucky,” was recorded in September 1941 and released later that year. Crudup’s style blended classic acoustic ‘songster’ blues with the emergent Chicago sound—jazz-inflected, given to faster tempos and a harder approach.

Crudup was with Victor into the early 1950s, minus pauses in recording due to two musician’s union strikes when no new recording was allowed. A crucial stage in the development of modern jazz was thus undocumented, aside from some crude personal recordings done at clubs and rehearsal halls.

When Crudup recorded again in 1946, Chicago blues more resembled rock ‘n’ roll and now included drums. Crudup began to write classic after classic, including “That’s All Right,” “My Baby Left Me,” “Mean Ol’ Frisco” and “So Glad You’re Mine.” That first song made music history when Elvis Presley recorded it for Sam Phillips in a hopped-up, cool-cat version that debuted a sound soon called “rockabilly” and, anon, rock ‘n’ roll.

Crudup took a sabbatical from recording in the early 1950s; Victor reneged on giving him fair payment of royalties for his hit singles (he had three Top Five releases in 1945). They must have settled, for he returned to Victor and recorded for them through 1954.

Crudup drifted from label to label afterwards. Royalties from Presley’s recordings of his material ought to have made him wealthy. Instead, Victor again withheld money; after a final spat with Lester Melrose, Crudup walked out on his contract. He recorded for other labels as ‘Percy Crudup’ and ‘Arthur “Blues” Crump’ but soon soured on the music world. He returned to Mississippi and worked in factories—and as a liquor bootlegger—to keep a roof over his head.

When the folk music craze hit America in the early 1960s, aging bluesmen got a new lease on life. Crudup was invited to come to New York and record for Bobby Robinson's Fire Records imprint. He cut an album of his classic earlier songs, Mean Ol' Frisco, and it sold well and got Crudup bookings on university tours, where he was idolized by white youth in search of something better than the mainstream pop music that predominated.

Fire issued two singles from the LP sessions, including today's disc. “Katie Mae” was first recorded for Victor in 1947, and the Fire version doesn’t differ much from the original. A light drumbeat, Crudup’s rough but effective guitar strums and pickin’ and an acoustic bass were all Arthur ever required. This 12-bar blues breaks no new musical ground, but the performance is focused and affecting. Crudup’s voice sounds great and the intimate approach is ideal for his music.

“Dig Myself a Hole” was first cut for Victor in 1950, but its lyrics were topical in the age of the Cuban Missile Crisis. A faster tempo creates a captivating shuffle as Crudup contemplates a future post-apocalypse. He breaks into a refrain of “That’s All Right,” then states “when I come out, there won’t be no wars around.” Talk about measured optimism! This is a superb performance and my favorite side of this fine release.

Crudup’s later years involved some new recording and much touring. He had advocates who helped his legal fight to get the royalties Victor had denied him. It was estimated the label owed him some $60,000.00; over time, Arthur collected 10,000. His longtime publisher, Hill & Range Music, declined to go to court, as they didn’t want to pay the attorney’s fee. His final live performances were in support of country-rock artist Bonnie Raitt. Late in life, Crudup mused: "I was born poor, I live poor, and I am going to die poor."

He died in 1974 from complications with diabetes and heart issues. Soon after his passing, he was recognized as a father of rock ‘n’ roll and given tributes I wish he’d seen in his lifetime.

On the Mississippi Blues Trail, among a series of interpretive panels and markers that honor the rich legacy of Black music in that state, Crudup has a marker. No finer eulogy could be said than the words of Elvis Presley in 1955: “If I had any ambition, it was to be as good as Arthur Crudup."

Tomorrow: a wild veer into '60s UK beat girls. Tammy St. John delivers a moody interpretation of a Chicago soul ballad that evokes the downside of swingin' London, via a 1966 Congress Records single.