It's often said of Mississippi blues legend Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup that he was "The Father Of Rock 'n' Roll". Whether or not you agree, it's an indisputable fact that had Arthur not written and recorded the original version of 'That's All Right (Mama)', the career of his fellow Mississippian Elvis Presley might not have gotten off to such an explosive start - and R'n'R might have gone in a totally different direction.
Elvis ended up recording three of Arthur's songs in the early years of his career, and the original versions of 'My Baby Left Me' and 'So Glad You're Mine' can also be heard in this sparkling collection of Arthur's best up-tempo tunes from the first 12 years of his recording career (1942-54).
Arthur was a big selling artist for most of those 12 years, and everything he recorded was released - many fine slow blues among them. Here, though, Jasmine has focused primarily on the titles that kept people wearing out the dancefloors of honky tonks and juke joints back in the day, and that still can and do fill floors at rock 'n' roll weekenders around the world. With his small band of regular musicians and his own rhythmically driving electric guitar work, Arthur made more great records than it's possible to squeeze into the finite running time of a CD. However we feel no fan will be disappointed with the stellar selection that this Jasmine CD offers. It may not be rock 'n' roll in the accepted sense, but it rocks and rolls for sure!
