Arthur Crudup

• Name — Arthur Crudup • Birth Name — Arthur William Crudup • Alias — * Big Boy Crudup • Elmer James • Percy Lee Crudup • Born — 24 August 1905 • Birthplace — Forest, Mississippi, U.S. • Died — 28 March 1974 • Place of death — Nassawadox, Virginia, U.S. • Instrument — * Guitar • vocals • Genre — * Blues • Delta blues • Years Active — 1939–1973 • Label — * Bluebird • Delmark

Crudup was born on August 24, 1905, in Union Grove, Forest, Mississippi, to a family of migrant workers traveling through the South and Midwest. The family returned to Mississippi in 1926, where he sang gospel music. He had lessons with a local bluesman, whose name was Papa Harvey, and later he was able to play in dance halls and cafes around Forest. Around 1940 he went to Chicago.

He began his career as a blues singer around Clarksdale, Mississippi. As a member of the Harmonizing Four, he visited Chicago in 1939. He stayed in Chicago to work as a solo musician but barely made a living as a street singer. The record producer Lester Melrose allegedly found him. while Crudup was living in a packing crate, introduced him to Hudson Whittaker, better known as Tampa Red, and signed him to a recording contract with RCA Victor's Bluebird label.

• Illustration — Crudup's grave, in Franktown, Virginia In 1968, the blues promoter Dick Waterman began fighting for Crudup's royalties and reached an agreement in which Crudup would be paid $60,000. However, Hill and Range Songs, from which he was supposed to get the royalties, refused to sign the legal papers at the last minute, because the company thought it could not lose more money in legal action. In the early 1970s, two Virginia activists, Celia Santiago and Margaret Carter, assisted Crudup in an attempt to gain royalties he felt he were due, with little success. By 1971, he had collected over $10,000 in overdue royalties through the intervention of the Songwriters Guild of America (then called the American Guild of Authors and Composers). On a 1970 trip to the United Kingdom, Crudup recorded "Roebuck Man" with local musicians. His last professional engagements were with Bonnie Raitt. Recognizing his fortunes would not change, Crudup said in 1970, "I was born poor, I live poor, and I am going to die poor."

Crudup died of complications of heart disease and diabetes in the Nassawadox hospital in Northampton County, Virginia, on March 28, 1974, four years after the failed royalty settlement.

• Mean Ol' Frisco (Fire, 1962) • Crudup's Mood (Delmark, 1969) • Look on Yonder's Wall (Delmark, 1969) • Roebuck Man (United Artists Records, 1970)

• Sunny Road, with Jimmy Dawkins and Willie Smith (Delmark, 1969) • Arthur "BigBoy" Crudup Meets the Master Blues Bassists, with Willie Dixon and Ransom Knowling (Delmark, 1994)

• The Father of Rock and Roll (RCA, 1971) • Give Me a 32-30 (Crown Prince, 1982) • Star Bootlegger (Krazy Kat, 1982) • I'm in the Mood (Krazy Kat, 1983) • Crudup's Rockin' Blues (RCA, 1985) • Shout Sister Shout! (Bullwhip, 1987) • That's All Right Mama (Matchbox, 1989) • The Father of Rock and Roll (Blues Encore, 1992) • That's All Right Mama (BMG, 1992) • Complete Recorded Works, vols. 1–4 (Document, 1993) • Rock Me Mama (Orbis, 1993) • That's Alright Mama (Laserlight, 1995) • Crudup's After Hours (History, 1996) • The Complete Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, vols. 1 and 2 (Jazz Tribune, 1997) • After Hours (Camden, 1997) • Cool Disposition (Catfish, 1999) • Dirt Road Blues (Past Perfect Silver Line, 2000) • The Essential Arthur Crudup (Document, 2001) • Blues Legends (Rainbow, 2002) • Everything's Alright (Our World, 2002) • Crudup's After Hours (Past Perfect Silver Line, 2002) • Rock Me Mama (Tomato, 2003) • The Father of Rock 'n' Roll (Wolf, 2003) • Rock Me Mamma: When the Sun Goes Down, vol. 7 (RCA, 2003) • The Story of the Blues (Archive Blues, 2004) • Too Much Competition (Passport, 2006) • Gonna Be Some Change (Rev-Ola, 2008) • My Baby Left Me: The Definitive Collection (Fantastic Voyage, 2011) • The Blues (Fuel, 2012) • Sunny Road (Delmar, 2013) • That's All Right (Mama): The Fire Sessions (Sunset Blvd, 2022)

• Year — Single — Chart positions • US — US R&B • 1945 — "Rock Me Mamma" — – — 3 • "Who's Been Foolin' You" — – — 5 • "Keep Your Arms Around Me" — – — 3