I love a good deathiversary and today marks a meaningful one—fifty years since Arthur Crudup checked out.
He wrote and originally recorded “That’s All Right,” “My Baby Left Me,” and “So Glad You’re Mine,” before Elvis, and had an impressive run as one of RCA Victor’s top blues artists from 1941-1952. His “Mean Old Frisco Blues” is another classic to have come out of this phase of Crudup’s career. When RCA introduced its first ever 45 rpm single records, the company reissued “That’s All Right” in orange vinyl as its inaugural blues record in the new format.
Crudup left—or escaped— the music business, however, right about the time his years of toil could have paid off. Though the Elvis hater mythology has it that the King ripped off Crudup, Presley regularly cited Crudup as his chief inspiration and favorite singer during the breakout year of 1956.
But Crudup was in no position to capitalize on his Elvis association. He had moved to Virginia’s isolated Eastern Shore and started a business with his sons, transporting laborers up and down the east coast to harvest fruits and vegetables. In his downtime, he ran a juke joint in the community of Franktown, near Nassawaddox, Virginia. He later said that he kept Presley’s records on the jukebox in his joint and “liked to hear that man sing my songs.” He also comically mispronounced Elvis’s name whenever anyone asked him about it, calling him Albert Preston, as if he couldn’t quite recall.
Bob Koester at Delmark Records got in touch with Crudup through Big Joe Williams in around 1967 and helped to revive Crudup’s music career. Elvis returned to the road not long after, blowing open his first sets with “That’s All Right Mama.” This further revived Crudup’s name and bestowed on it a new fame. RCA, where the artists were essentially label mates, compiled Crudup’s early recordings and issued the LP Father of Rock ‘n’ Roll, boosting Crudup’s reputation.
This did not, however, boost Crudup’s compensation. Though the precise details never became clear, he had seemingly signed away much of his control and ownership of his songs to his old producer for RCA, Lester Melrose.
A quest for his back royalties consumed much of the rest of Crudup’s life, until on this day in 1974, he died after suffering a heart attack and stroke in recent weeks.
Crudup’s final resting place at Bethel Memorial Gardens in Franktown, Virginia lacks certain elements of a Death Day vigil at Elvis Presley’s Graceland.
Not even death relieved the pain of Crudup’s financial exploitation. Six months after his funeral—on the day I was born about 130 miles away in a Richmond hospital, so yeah, do the math, fuckers, I’m almost fifty—two of Crudup’s sons were arrested following the robbery of a bank. One of the sons ultimately was found guilty of the crime while the other was charged with marijuana possession.
Both of these men had attended a meeting with their father and a music publishing company that had promised to deliver Crudup a sizable check for back royalties. The company backed out at the last second, after dragging the Crudup family to New York for the meeting, leaving the Crudups empty handed. “Naked I entered this world,” Crudup reportedly said, “and naked shall I leave it.”
Just to be a little shit about it, Lisa Marie sure never felt so desperate she contemplated robbing a bank. I know that it’s not an oranges to oranges comparison, but hell, Lisa Marie never had to pick oranges to make a living either.
Fortunately, as the late Dick Waterman reported to me last year, an attorney had pressured the music publishing company that held Crudup’s rights to return those rights to his living family members. “About ten years ago or so, someone came in and offered a lump some of money to the Crudup heirs,” Waterman said. “So they did very well.”
Waterman concluded, “Arthur bore Elvis no ill will. He felt that Elvis’s singing captured the spirit of Black music. As for the financial aspect, he sort of shrugged and said ‘Whatever will be.’”
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Since Beyonce has referenced the chitlin’ circuit in her new album’s title, I like her. It’s nice to see some curiosity out there about the bizarre phrase. Hey, if anybody else needs to know about the chitlin’ circuit, I wrote the book.
Now, get ready for EVERYONE’s Black country music think pieces!!!!
Great piece, Preston! It irks me no end how so many Black musicians have been flimflammed out of their royalties, and more importantly, their reputation. Little Richard comes to mind...
Great work and a much needed reminder of those who were critical in the birth and growth of r&b and rock n' roll.