Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup - Definitive Collection 1941-62 (CD)

Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup was a Mississippi Delta blues guitarist, singer and noted songwriter who was often known as "The Father of Rock 'n' Roll", because even in the early '40s he was playing in a style which unmistakeably provided many of the essential roots of the musical revolution that was still more than a decade distant. He wrote classic songs like "That's All Right Mama", which became Elvis Presley's first commercial recording, and other songs covered by Elvis like "My Baby Left Me". He was a vital bridge between acoustic country blues and the electrified urban sound he developed after he hoboed his way to Chicago, and was among the first blues artists to play with bass and drums accompaniment. This great value 94-track 4-CD collection comprises all the records he made which were commercially released during the period covered by the anthology, encompassing his recordings which came out on the Bluebird, RCA, Checker, Trumpet, Champion, Groove and Fire labels. It gives a thorough and entertaining overview of the two key decades of his primary recording career.

Track List:

Disc: 1

1. If I Get Lucky
2. Death Valley Blues
3. Kind Lover Blues
4. Black Pony Blues
5. Give Me a 3220
6. Raised to My Hand
7. Gonna Follow My Baby
8. Mean Old 'Frisco Blues
9. My Mama Don't Allow Me
10. Standing at My Window
11. Rock Me Mama [Or Mamma]
12. Who's Been Foolin' You
13. Cool Disposition
14. Keep Your Arms Around Me
15. I'm in the Mood
16. She's Gone
17. That's Your Red Wagon
18. Dirt Road Blues
19. So Glad You're Mine
20. Ethel Mae
21. No More Lovers
22. Katie May
23. Boy Friend Blues

Disc: 2

1. I Want My Lovin'
2. You Got to Reap
3. Crudup's After Hours
4. That's All Right
5. I Don't Know It
6. Chicago Blues
7. Train Fare Blues
8. Cry Your Blues Away
9. Gonna Be Some Changes Made
10. Crudup's Vicksburg Blues
11. That's Why I'm Lonesome
12. Just Like a Spider
13. Hey Mama"Everything's All Right
14. Someday
15. Hoodoo Lady Blues
16. Lonesome World to Me
17. Roberta Blues
18. Shout, Sister, Shout
19. Tired of Worry
20. Dust My Broom
21. Hand Me Down My Walking Cane
22. Come Back Baby
23. Mercy Blues

Disc: 3

1. You Know That I Love You
2. She's Just Like Caldonia
3. Oo Wee Darling (Love Me with a Thrill)
4. Mean Old Santa Fe
5. She Ain't Nothin' But Trouble
6. Behind Closed Doors
7. Anytime Is the Right Time
8. My Baby Left Me
9. Nobody Wants Me
10. Star Bootlegger
11. Too Much Competition
12. I'm Gonna Dig Myself a Hole
13. Where Did You Stay Last Night'
14. Love Me Mama
15. Second Man Blues
16. Pearly Lee
17. Do It If You Want to
18. Lookin' for My Baby
19. Goin' Back to Georgia
20. Mr. So and So
21. Keep on Drinkin'
22. Nelvina
23. Worried About You Baby
24. Late in the Evening

Disc: 4

1. Open Your Book (Daddy Wants to Read with You)
2. Tears in My Eyes
3. Gotta Find My Baby
4. Make a Little Love
5. I Wonder
6. My Baby Boogies All the Time
7. My Wife and Woman
8. The War Is Over
9. I Love My Baby
10. Fall on Your Knees and Pray
11. If You Ever Been to Georgia
12. She's Got No Hair
13. Mean Ole Frisco
14. Look on Yonder Wall
15. That's Alright
16. Ethel Mae
17. Too Much Competition
18. Standing at My Window
19. Rock Me, Mama
20. Greyhound Bus
21. Coal Black Mare
22. Katie Mae
23. Dig Myself a Hole
24. So Glad You're Mine