1. If I Get Lucky	Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup	3:06	
2. Gonna Follow My Baby	Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup	2:51
3. Mean Old Frisco Blues	Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup	2:38	
4. Cool Disposition	Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup	3:09
5. Rock Me Mama	Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup	3:00
6. Keep Your Arms Around Me	Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup	2:35	
7. That's Your Red Wagon	Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup	3:14	
. She's Gone	Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup	3:04	
9. So Glad You're Mine	Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup	2:48
10. Chicago Blues	Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup	3:13
11. Crudup's After Hours	Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup	2:58
12. That's All Right	Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup	 2:57
13. Shout, Sister, Shout	Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup	2:43
14. She Ain't Nothing But Trouble	Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup	2:55	
15. My Baby Left Me	Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup	  2:32	
16. Too Much Competition	Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup	2:55
17. Second Man Blues	Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup	2:54
18. I'm Gonna Dig Myself A Hole	Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup	3:01	
19. Mr. So And So	Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup	2:42
20. My Wife And Woman	Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup	  2:26	
21. I Love You	Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup 	2:48	
22. She's Got No Hair	Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup	2:04

Musicians:
Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup – guitar, vocals
Robert Fulton – guitar
Thomas Patton – piano
Charles Holloway – bass
Ransom Knowling – bass
Joseph Thomas – bass
Melvin Draper – drums
Lafayette Lawson – drums
Willie Willis - drums

If Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup had never made another fan in the course of his career than a certain young kid in Memphis, TN, his place in music history would still have been assured -- Elvis Presley often cited Crudup as one of his favorite blues artists, and the future "King of Rock & Roll" recorded three of Crudup's songs ("That's All Right, Mama," "My Baby Left Me," and "So Glad You're Mine"), bringing them to a far wider audience then their original author would ever enjoy on his own. Anyone expecting to hear Elvis' primal influence on That's All Right, Mama, a compilation of 22 songs Crudup recorded for the RCA-affiliated Bluebird label between 1941 and 1954, might be a bit disappointed -- for the most part, this is rough-and-ready rural blues, dominated by Crudup's big, boomy voice and simple but efficient guitar runs, though by the end of the disc, drums, electric guitars, and even saxophone have begun to creep into the mix, suggesting a stripped-down but high-powered Chicago blues combo. In short, this isn't rock & roll, or even rhythm & blues, but pure blues stuff, and it certainly makes clear that Presley's influences were a lot rawer and deeper than most folks would lead you to believe. That's All Right, Mama also reveals that Crudup deserves to be known as more than just the guy who Elvis liked -- this is a tough but good-grooving blues collection that should please those who like their blues straight with no chaser. --- Mark Deming, Rovi

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    1. Black Pony Blues (3:25)
    2. Death Valley Blues (3:17)
    3. Kind Lover Blues (3:11)
    4. If I Get Lucky (3:08)
    5. Give Me a 32-20 (3:00)
    6. Mean Old Frisco Blues (2:40)			play
    7. Raised to My Hand (3:11)
    8. Cool Disposition (3:13)
    9. Who's Been Foolin' You (3:20)
    10. Rock Me Mama (3:02)					play
    11. That's Your Red Wagon (3:17)
    12. So Glad You're Mine (2:50)
    13. Boy Friend Blues (3:04)
    14. Crudup's After Hours (2:59)
    15. I Don't Know It (2:52)
    16. Chicago Blues (3:13)

Musicians:
Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup – guitar, vocals
Joe McCoy – bass (tracks: 1-4), 
Ransom Knowling – bass (tracks: 5-7,14-16),
Jamp Jackson - drums (tracks: 12-13), 
Charles Saunders - drums (tracks: 11), 
Judge Riley – drums (tracks: 14-16), 
Melvin Draper – drums (tracks: 8-10).

Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup (also known as “Pop” Crudup) (August 24, 1905 – March 28, 1976) was a delta blues singer and guitarist. He is best known outside blues circles for writing songs later covered by Elvis Presley (and since covered by dozens of other artists), such as “That’s All Right Mama”, “My Baby Left Me” and “So glad you’re mine”, and by many claims, “Blue Suede Shoes”.

Born in Forest, Mississippi and living and working in throughout the South and Midwest as a migrant worker for a time, he and his family returned to Mississippi in 1926. He sang gospel, then began his career as a blues singer around Clarksdale, Mississippi. He visited Chicago as member of the Harmonizing Four in 1939 and stayed there 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 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 establshments in the South, with Sonny Boy Williamson II and Elmore James. He also recorded under the names Elmer James and Percy Lee Crudup.

Crudup stopped recording in the 1950s, however, after further battles over royalties. He returned to recording with Fire Records and Delmark Records and touring in the 1960s, sometimes labeled “The Father of Rock and Roll”, a title which he accepted with some bemusement. Throughout this time Crudup worked as a laborer to augment the small wages he received as a singer and non-existent royalties. 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 1970’s, two local Virginia activists, Celia Santiago and Margaret Carter, both assisted him in attempting to gain Royalties he felt he were due, to little gain.

From the mid 60’s 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 Accomack County for some time prior to his eventual death, due to complications from heart disease and diabetes. (There was some confusion as to his actual date of death because of his use of several names, including those of his siblings.) He passed away in the Nassawadox hospital in Northampton County, Virginia, also on the Eastern Shore in 1976. ---last.fm

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1. Hey Mama, Everything's All Right
2. Ethel Mae
3. You Got to Recap
4. That's All Right
5. Train Fare Blues
6. Katie May			play
7. So Glad You're Mine
8. Crudup's After Hours		play
9. Crudup Vicksburg Blues
10. Just Like a Spider
11. Roberta Blues
12. That's Why I'm Lonesome
13. Dirt Road Blues
14. I Don't Know It
15. Chicago Blues
16. I Want My Lovin'

Personnel :
Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup : vocals, guitar

Arthur Crudup was born on August 24, 1905 in Forest, Mississippi. His father was a farmhand/musician and Arthur, by the age of ten, was singing in church choirs and Gospel quartets. Arthur was large, even as a child, and acquired his nickname early in life. For most of his early life he worked on the farm or as a labourer in lumber and levee camps. In 1940 he travelled to Chicago as a member of the Harmonizing Four – a Gospel quartet. After breaking with the group Crudup sang on street corners for change and lived in a wooden crate. His music came to the attention of Lester Melrose, a Blues producer who got him a recording contract on (RCA)Victor's Bluebird label. He made his first recording with Bluebird in 1941, at the age of 36. His guitar technique was primitive, using only a few basic chords, but it was enough to express his simple but plaintive songs.

Crudup continued to record on the Bluebird label until 1952, but ended his relationship with Melrose in 1947 over royalty disputes. Despite his records selling well in the south, lack of income from his songs forced Crudup to keep returning to the labour camps after each recording date. He knew his Blues classics like "Rock Me Mama," "Mean Old Frisco," and "My Baby Left Me" were earning royalties because they were being performed by the likes of B.B. King, Big Mama Thornton and Bobby "Blue" Bland. "I was making everybody rich," Crudup complained, "and here I am poor!" Over the next two years he recorded on different labels under different names before calling it quits in 1954.

Then in the summer of 1954 Elvis Presley released a version of Crudup's "That's All Right." Seeing the commercial success of his song, Crudup again pursued Melrose for royalties, but with no result. With the advent of Rock & Roll, Crudup's songs were further popularized by Elton John, Rod Stewart, Johnny Winter, Paul Butterfield, Tina Turner, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Canned Heat and Creedence Clearwater Revival. The resurgence of his material offered Crudup some overdue recognition, but no royalties. In 1971 Crudup filed a lawsuit for royalties owing. A figure of $60,000 was agreed upon and a cheque drafted, but the publishers refused to sign. Crudup received nothing. That same year RCA released an album of Crudup's recordings entitled "Father of Rock and Roll." Three years later, at the age of 69, Arthur Crudup was dead. He died on March 28, 1974 in Nassawadox,Virginia, a poor man. --- onlinerootsofrock.com

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01. She's Gone 
02. That's All Right 
03. So Glad you're Mine 
04. You Got To Reap 
05. I Want My Lovin' 
06. Chicago Blues 
07. I Don't Know It 
08. Crudup's After Hours 		play
09. Train Fare Blues 
10. Cry Your Blues Away 
11. Crudup's Vicksburg Blues 
12. Gonna Be Some Changes Made 
13. Katie May 
14. Hoodoo Lady Blues 		play
15. Hey Mama, Everythings All Right 
16. Lonesome World To Me 
17. Roberta Blues 
18. Just Like A Spider 
19. Some Day 
20. That's Why I'm Lonesome 

Credits
Bass – Ransom Knowling (tracks: 1-1, 1-2, 1-4, 1-6, 1-10, 1-12, 2-1, 2-3 to 2-8, 2-10 to 2-20)
Drums – Armand "Jump" Jackson (tracks: 1-17, 1-18, 2-2, 2-9), Charles "Chick" Sanders (tracks: 1-15, 1-16, 1-19, 1-20), 
Lawrence "Judge" Riley (tracks: 2-1, 2-3 to 2-8, 2-10 to 2-20), Melvin Draper (tracks: 1-5, 1-11, 1-13, 1-14)
Guitar, Vocals – Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup (tracks: 1-1 to 2-20)
Vocals [Bass Imitation] – Joe McCoy (tracks: 1-3, 1-7 to 1-9)

Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup (also known as “Pop” Crudup) (August 24, 1905 – March 28, 1976) was a delta blues singer and guitarist. He is best known outside blues circles for writing songs later covered by Elvis Presley (and since covered by dozens of other artists), such as “That’s All Right Mama”, “My Baby Left Me” and “So glad you’re mine”, and by many claims, “Blue Suede Shoes”.

Born in Forest, Mississippi and living and working in throughout the South and Midwest as a migrant worker for a time, he and his family returned to Mississippi in 1926. He sang gospel, then began his career as a blues singer around Clarksdale, Mississippi. He visited Chicago as member of the Harmonizing Four in 1939 and stayed there 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 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. He also recorded under the names Elmer James and Percy Lee Crudup.

Crudup stopped recording in the 1950s, however, after further battles over royalties. He returned to recording with Fire Records and Delmark Records and touring in the 1960s, sometimes labeled “The Father of Rock and Roll”, a title which he accepted with some bemusement. Throughout this time Crudup worked as a laborer to augment the small wages he received as a singer and non-existent royalties. 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 1970’s, two local Virginia activists, Celia Santiago and Margaret Carter, both assisted him in attempting to gain Royalties he felt he were due, to little gain.

From the mid 60’s 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 Accomack County for some time prior to his eventual death, due to complications from heart disease and diabetes. (There was some confusion as to his actual date of death because of his use of several names, including those of his siblings.) He passed away in the Nassawadox hospital in Northampton County, Virginia, also on the Eastern Shore in 1976.

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1. Look On Yonder's Wall       play
2. Questionnaire Blues
3. Keep Your Hands Off That Woman
4. That's All Right
5. Rock Me Mama
6. Katie May
7. Dust My Broom               play
8. Landlord Blues
9. Coal Black Mare
10. Life Is Just A Gamble
11. Walk Out On The Road
12. I'm All Alone
13. You'll Be Old Before Your Time
14. Ramblin' Blues
15. When I Lost My Baby (I Almost Lost My Mind)

Musicians:
Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup – guitar, vocals
Ransom Knowling – bass
Dave Myers – bass
Lawrence Riley - drums

Arthur Crudup may well have been Elvis Presley's favorite bluesman. The swivel-hipped rock god recorded no less than three of "Big Boy's" Victor classics during his seminal rockabilly heyday: "That's All Right Mama" (Elvis' Sun debut in 1954), "So Glad You're Mine," and "My Baby Left Me." Often lost in all the hubbub surrounding Presley's classic covers are Crudup's own contributions to the blues lexicon. He didn't sound much like anyone else, and that makes him an innovator, albeit a rather rudimentary guitarist (he didn't even pick up the instrument until he was 30 years old).

Around 1940, Crudup migrated to Chicago from Mississippi. Times were tough at first; he was playing for spare change on the streets and living in a packing crate underneath an elevated train track when powerful RCA/Bluebird producer Lester Melrose dropped a few coins in Crudup's hat. Melrose hired Crudup to play a party that 1941 night at Tampa Red's house attended by the cream of Melrose's stable: Big Bill Broonzy, Lonnie Johnson, Lil Green. A decidedly tough crowd to impress — but Crudup overcame his nervousness with flying colors. By September of 1941, he was himself an RCA artist.

Crudup pierced the uppermost reaches of the R&B lists during the mid-'40s with "Rock Me Mama," "Who's Been Foolin' You," "Keep Your Arms Around Me," "So Glad You're Mine," and "Ethel Mae." He cut the original "That's All Right" in 1946 backed by his usual rhythm section of bassist Ransom Knowling and drummer Judge Riley, but it wasn't a national hit at the time. Crudup remained a loyal and prolific employee of Victor until 1954, when a lack of tangible rewards for his efforts soured Crudup on Nipper (he had already cut singles in 1952 for Trumpet disguised as Elmer James and for Checker as Percy Lee Crudup).

In 1961, Crudup surfaced after a long layoff with an album for Bobby Robinson's Harlem-based Fire logo dominated by remakes of his Bluebird hits. Another lengthy hiatus preceded Delmark boss Bob Koester's following the tip of Big Joe Williams to track down the elusive legend (Crudup had drifted into contract farm labor work in the interim). Happily, the guitarist's sound hadn't been dimmed by Father Time: his late-'60s work for Delmark rang true as he was reunited with Knowling (Willie Dixon also handled bass duties on some of his sides). Finally, Crudup began to make some decent money, playing various blues and folk festivals for appreciative crowds for a few years prior to his 1974 death.

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Mean Ol' Frisco  
I'm In The Mood  
That's All Right 
Standin' At Window 
Angel Child (take 1)  
Katie Mae 
Look At Yonder Wall
Dig Myself A Hole 
If I Get Lucky
Death Valley 
I Love Her Just The Same
Angel Child (take 2)
Rock Me Mama
Ethel Mae 
My Mama Don't Allow Me

In 1962 Crudup recorded for Bobby Robinson's Fire label, that also had Elmore James recording. Previously both artists had only done 2- or 4-track sessions released on 78 RPM's, but with Robinson both artists did lengthier sessions resulting in two great albums in 1960 and 1962 respectively. These two Fire albums represent the best recorded work of the two artists. Crudup originally wrote and released the classics "That's Allright (Mama)" (1946), "My Baby Left Me" (1950) and the lesser known "So Glad You're Mine" (1946) all three of them giving young Elvis Presley defining material, style and sound for his initial recordings. Though a Mississippi delta blues man, Crudup's sound style is more in the uptempo jump blues style that Jimmy Reed would later rework again and again. Crudup recorded his first work for the Victor label in 1942 and recorded frequently until 1952 when he unsatisfied with his small wages and disputes over royalties turned his back to his record making career. The following decade until his 1962 Fire label recordings saw no decrease in his talent as a musician but certainly those years saw a great improvement in the quality of recorded sound. On "Mean ol' Frisco" Crudup backs himself on bass. --- gboe, discogs.com

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