Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup

It is quite possible that Arthur Crudup ranked as Elvis Presley's most cherished blues performer. During his pivotal rockabilly period, the hip-swiveling rock icon laid down interpretations of no fewer than three Victor masterpieces by "Big Boy": the 1954 Sun Records launch "That's All Right Mama," along with "So Glad You're Mine" and "My Baby Left Me." Yet the singer's personal additions to the blues vocabulary frequently get overshadowed amid the attention given to those Presley renditions. Distinct from his peers in vocal approach, Crudup stood out as a trailblazer, even if his guitar skills remained basic—he first grasped the instrument only upon reaching the age of thirty.

Migrating northward from Mississippi to Chicago near the start of the 1940s, Crudup faced initial hardships, busking for pennies on city sidewalks and residing in a makeshift shelter beneath an elevated rail line. One evening in 1941, influential RCA/Bluebird producer Lester Melrose contributed some change to Crudup's collection hat and subsequently engaged him for a gathering at Tampa Red's residence. The event drew elite members of Melrose's roster, including Big Bill Broonzy, Lonnie Johnson, and Lil Green. Although the audience presented a formidable challenge for approval, Crudup managed to win them over convincingly. This success led to his signing as an RCA recording artist by September 1941.

During the middle years of the decade, Crudup achieved strong placements on the R&B charts through tracks such as "Rock Me Mama," "Who's Been Foolin' You," "Keep Your Arms Around Me," "So Glad You're Mine," and "Ethel Mae." Backed by bassist Ransom Knowling and drummer Judge Riley, he originated the recording of "That's All Right" in 1946, though it failed to register as a nationwide success at that point. He stayed committed to producing material for Victor through 1954, at which time insufficient compensation prompted his disillusionment with the label—having already issued sides in 1952 under the alias Elmer James for Trumpet and as Percy Lee Crudup for Checker.

Emerging from an extended absence in 1961, Crudup delivered an LP on Bobby Robinson's Fire imprint from Harlem that featured primarily reworkings of his earlier Bluebird successes. Following another prolonged break, Delmark head Bob Koester located the hard-to-find figure after receiving guidance from Big Joe Williams, during which period Crudup had taken up labor on contract farms. Fortunately, advancing age had not dulled the guitarist's style; his recordings for the label in the late 1960s preserved authenticity, as he rejoined forces with Knowling—while Willie Dixon contributed on bass for select cuts. At last beginning to earn reasonable compensation, Crudup performed at numerous blues and folk festivals before audiences that valued his presence in the years leading up to his passing in 1974.