Blues

Pee Wee Crayton - Early Hour Blues (1999)

2018-06-22T14:20:31Z

Pee Wee Crayton - Early Hour Blues (1999)


1 	Blues At Daybreak	3:00
2 	Early Hours (Instrumental)	4:31
3 	Barefootin'		2:38
4 	Blues After Hours (Instrumental)	5:23
5 	You Know Yeah		4:05
6 	E.T. Blues (Instrumental)	4:21
7 	When I'm Wrong		2:52
8 	Send For Me		4:30
9 	Red Rose Boogie (Instrumental)	2:30
10 	Come On Baby	4:23
11 	Head'n Home (Instrumental)	1:53

Alto Saxophone – Fred Clark (tracks: 1,3,7,9-11)
Baritone Saxophone – Fred Clark (tracks: 1,3,7,9-11)
Bass – Dan Fredman (tracks: 1,3,7,9-11), Eric Ajaye (tracks: 2,4-6,8)
Drums – Lee Spath, Soko Richardson (tracks: 1,3,7,9-11)
Harp – Rod Piazza (tracks: 1,3,7,9-11)
Keyboards – Liew Matthews (tracks: 2,4-6,8)
Lead Guitar – Pee Wee Crayton
Piano – Honey Piazza (tracks: 1,3,7,9-11)
Rhythm Guitar – Doug MacLeod
Saxophone – Fernando Harkless (tracks: 2,4-6,8)
Tenor Saxophone – Bill Clark (tracks: 1,3,7,9-11), Fred Clark (tracks: 1,3,7,9-11),
 Marshall Crayton Jr. (tracks: 1,3,7,9-11)
Trumpet – Claude Williams 
Vocals – Pee Wee Crayton

A West Coast blues guitar hero, Crayton died shortly after these sessions, done primarily with Rod and Honey Piazza's band, or with jazz pianist Llew Matthews' quartet. The two dates show Crayton could do it all. Jump blues, hard or straight blues, and boogie were all easily played. It's that unmistakable T-Bone Walker influence, a stinging, swinging single line or chunky, chortling chord progressions that made Crayton stand out among the crowded blues guitar landscape. He was a one-of-a kind player, and this CD is not only his final testament, but a solid exclamation point on the career of a true American music legend. Crayton also proved to be a pretty good singer. His soulful rendering of the hit "Send for Me" is sincere and believable. "Barefootin'" might be a throwaway, but he really sends up the B.B. King evergreen "When I'm Wrong." Steaming instrumentals with big horn charts swing hard as on "You Know Yeah," Eddie Taylor's "E.T. Blues," "Red Rose Boogie," and the short horn-fired rave-up "Head'n'Home." The Piazzas and Matthews really know how to support a star, and their work is as credible as any. Additional kudos to Crayton's wife, Esther, who wrote six of these 11 cuts, and was always a major factor in his repertoire. On some of his solos, Crayton is astounding; on the rest, his guitar is merely spectacular. Though 14 years late (Crayton died in 1985) and only 45 minutes short on this CD, this is a precious document of one of originals of blues guitar, and a reminder that although he was relatively obscure, he had many fans who knew what the real deal was. For blues scholars, this is an artist, like Freddie King, Otis Rush, and T-Bone, well worth studying and relishing. ---Michael G. Nastos, AllMusic Review

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Pee Wee Crayton - The Modern Legacy Vol.1 (1996)

2012-09-24T16:36:54Z

Pee Wee Crayton - The Modern Legacy Vol.1 (1996)


1. Texas Hop [1948]
2. Central Avenue Blues [1948]
3. Bounce Pee Wee [1948]
4. T For Texas (mistreated Blues) [1949]
5. Rosa Lee [1951]
6. Blues After Hours [1948]
7. I'm Still In Love With You [1948]
8. Pee Wee's Boogie [1951]
9. Louella Brown [1950]
10. From Blues To Boogie [1950]
11. Please Come Back [1950]
12. Rock Island Blues [1948]
13. Rockin' The Blues [1950]
14. Change Your Way Of Lovin' [1950]
15. Pee Wee's Wild [1950]
16. Black Gal [1949]
17. Boogie Woogie Upstairs [1949]
18. When Darkness Falls [1948]
19. Bop Hop [1949]
20. My Everything [1951]
21. Blues For My Baby [1951]
22. Tired Of Travelin' [1951]
23. Austin Boogie [1949]

As an overview of Crayton's work for Modern from 1948-51, this might not be ideal, as only about half of it appeared on singles during that time; the rest was mostly unissued until the 1980s and 1990s, some making their first appearance on this CD. It also means that some of his Modern singles, including his biggest hit for the label (the ballad "I Love You So"), aren't here, as they were saved for another Ace volume of Crayton's Modern sides. Those considerations aside, this is superior Los Angeles jump blues, with the rare vault sides holding up about as well as what came out on singles. Were this the only anthology to appear of Crayton's Modern material -- heck, were it the only Crayton material, period -- it would still offer convincing proof of his stature as a significant bluesman, one who (like several Modern labelmates) was instrumental in the transition from the earliest electric blues to a harder R&B style. Although his singing and songwriting are good, what really makes this stand out is his incendiary guitar playing. In addition to taking good single-note solos, he made use of insistent, sometimes machine-gun-like jazzy chords that unpredictably shifted keys and pushed the limits of the day's amplification technology. That really comes to the fore on some of the uptempo instrumentals, like the nearly out-of-control "Pee Wee's Wild." Unlike many blues guitar heroes, though, he doesn't have to wait for the fast tunes to strut his stuff, as the crazily descending solo of the bump-and-grind "Please Come Back" demonstrates. On top of being a quality early electric blues anthology on its own merits, the CD makes a good case for Crayton being one of the more overlooked pioneers of the electric guitar as a whole. --- Richie Unterberger, Rovi

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Pee Wee Crayton - Make Room For Pee Wee (1983)

2012-09-11T16:52:17Z

Pee Wee Crayton - Make Room For Pee Wee (1983)


01- Smooth Groove
02- Come On Baby
03- Brighter Day
04- Barefooting
05- Telephone Is Ringing
06- Blues At Daybreak
07- When I’m Wrong I’m Wrong
08- Red Rose Boogie
09- When Darkness Falls
10- Head’n Home

Personnel:
Pee Wee Crayton - lead guitar, vocals
Honey Alexander - piano
Rod Piazza - harmonica
Doug MacLeod - rhythm guitar
Dan Fredman - bass
Claude S. Williams - trumpet
Bill Clark - tenor sax
Marshall Craytion Jr. - tenor sax
Fred Clark - alto/tenor/baritone sax
Soko Richardson – drums

When Pee Wee Crayton recorded "Blues After Hours", he turned the Blues world upside down. Ever since, he has never been underestimated. As a leader and strong stylist of the rough Texas Blues guitar style, he continues to amaze musicians, and bring audiences to their feet wherever he performs. One has only to listen to this album to realize that Pee Wee Crayton is no newcomer, but a seasoned professional doing what he does best with no compromises.

Pee Wee uses his 1949 Fender Stratocaster and 1949 Fender Twin amp that was given to himby Leo Fender as a gift upon hearing Pee Wee play. After hearing his sound on this record it's no mystery why almost all young Blues guitarist are trying to emulate his tone. ---Rod Piazza, Editorial Review

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Pee Wee Crayton – Rockin’ Down on Central Avenue (2010)

2010-12-30T20:09:50Z

Pee Wee Crayton – Rockin’ Down on Central Avenue (2010)


1. Austin Boogie
2. Tired of Travelin'
3. Crayton's Blues                  play
4. Change Your Way of Loving
5. Answer to the Blues After Hours
6. T for Texas (Mistreated Blues)
7. Rockin' the Blues
8. Huckle Boogie
9. Central Avenue Blues
10. Long After Hours
11. Louela Brown
12. When a Man Has the Blues
13. Please Come Back
14. Pee Wee's Wild                   play

One of the finest guitarists of the early postwar West Coast blues scene, Connie Curtis "Pee Wee" Crayton today is a largely forgotten figure - a most unfortunate situation given the man's talent and legacy as a one-time hitmaker. Although born in Texas, he relocated to California as many other blues musicians from the Lone Star state had done during the 1930s and 1940s. Crayton received guitar lessons from T-Bone Walker while living in the San Francisco Bay area and started playing in Ivory Joe Hunter's band around 1946. Not long afterward, he came to the attention of Jules Bihari, who signed him to Modern Records. The guitarist had an immediate smash for the label in 1948 with the instrumental "Blues After Hours," which became a #1 R&B hit late in the year. As with a lot of other artists whose popularity peaked early on, however, Crayton spent the rest of his career trying to duplicate that early chart success without any luck.

That's not to say, though, that the guitarist did not continue to sell records. Numerous other sides were released during his tenure with Modern between 1948 and 1951, and he continued to record for various labels into the 1970s. Rocking Down On Central Avenue collects many of Pee Wee's lesser-known and previously unreleased recordings for the Bihari brothers, many of them equal in caliber to his signature performance. Never a particularly strong singer, Crayton excelled at instrumentals on which his fluid guitar lines were perfectly complemented by the work of studio musicians such as pianist David Lee Johnson, trumpeter Ernie Royal, tenor saxophonists Buddy Floyd and Ben Webster, bassists Bill Davis and Joe Comfort, and drummer Candy Johnson and Alvin Stoller among others. Of course, there are the obligatory but still excellent "Blues After Hours" sequels, "Answer to Blues After Hours" and "Long After Hours." Additionally, there is some sublime fretwork to be found on "Austin Boogie" and the lowdown "Crayton's Blues," while the stompers "Huckle Boogie" and "Pee Wee's Wild" ride the cusp between R&B and early rock 'n' roll.

As for the material with vocals, the engaging "Tired of Travelin'" was obviously influenced by Walker's "T-Bone Shuffle," while the blues ballads "Change Your Way of Loving" and "When a Man Has the Blues" display the guitarist at his most sophisticated. "T for Texas" is not a reworking of the "T is for Texas, T is for Tennessee" theme but rather a commentary on a "mean mistreatin' woman" who moves to California and doesn't "seem to do things (she) should." "Rockin' the Blues" is exactly what its title promises and features some really nice moments that showcase Crayton's trademark blazing guitar. "Central Avenue Blues" makes reference to the street on which many of Los Angeles' premier blues clubs from the 1940s and early 1950s were located, establishments where the guitarist and his band often performed to large audiences. Although "Louela Brown" and "Please Come Back" both contain Crayton's typical guitar artistry, liner notes writer Ray Topping points out that these sides also rank as some of his best vocal efforts, and I can't say that I disagree with that assessment.

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