Pee Wee Crayton

Pee Wee Crayton
Birth name Connie Curtis Crayton
Born December 18, 1914
Rockdale, Texas, United States
Died June 25, 1985 (aged 70)
Los Angeles, California, United States
Genres Rhythm and blues, blues
Occupation(s) Guitarist, singer
Instruments Guitar
Years active 1940s–1985
Labels Various

Connie Curtis Crayton (December 18, 1914 – June 25, 1985),[1] known as Pee Wee Crayton, was an American R&B and blues guitarist and singer.

Career

Born in Rockdale, Texas, United States,[2] Crayton began playing guitar seriously after moving to California in 1935, later settling in San Francisco.[3] While there he absorbed the music of T-Bone Walker, but developed his own unique approach. His aggressive playing contrasted with his smooth vocal style, and was copied by many later blues guitarists.

In 1948 he signed a recording contract with Modern Records.[3] One of his first recordings was the instrumental, "Blues After Hours", which reached #1 in the Billboard R&B chart late that year.[3] Its B-side, the pop ballad "I'm Still in Love With You", and the quicker "Texas Hop", are good examples of his work.[4]

He went on to record for many other record labels in the 1950s including Imperial in New Orleans, Louisiana, Vee-Jay in Chicago and Jamie in Philadelphia. It is thought he was the first blues guitarist to use a Fender Stratocaster, given to him by Leo Fender. His album Things I Used To Do was released by Vanguard Records in 1971. He continued to tour and record in the following years.[3]

A longtime resident of Los Angeles, California, Crayton died there of a heart attack in 1985,[1] and was interred in the Inglewood Park Cemetery.

Original 10" shellac (78rpm) and 7" vinyl (45rpm) releases

LP and CD releases/compilations of note

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Dead Rock Stars website birth and death details - accessed February 2008
  2. ↑ Cascade Blues Association biography and profile - accessed February 2008 Archived 13 February 2011 at WebCite
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Allmusic biography of Pee Wee Crayton
  4. ↑ Russell, Tony (1997). The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray. Dubai: Carlton Books Limited. pp. 104–05. ISBN 978-1-85868-255-6.

External links