Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup

Arthur William Crudup, known as Big Boy Crudup, occupies a unique position in American music history as the blues artist whose recordings most directly inspired the birth of rock and roll. Elvis Presley's first commercial release, 'That's All Right' (1954), was a cover of Crudup's 1946 recording for RCA Victor's Bluebird label, and Presley also covered Crudup's 'My Baby Left Me' and 'So Glad You're Mine.' Despite this, Crudup saw almost no royalties from these epoch-making covers due to exploitative contracts with his manager Lester Melrose. His own recordings for Bluebird/RCA in the 1940s and early 1950s featured a driving, rhythmic guitar style that was rawer and more propulsive than most contemporary Chicago blues. He left the music business in frustration and returned to farming in Virginia before being rediscovered during the blues revival. His fight for unpaid royalties became a landmark case in blues exploitation.