Pee Wee Crayton
Although he was certainly inexorably influenced by the pioneering electric guitar conception of T-Bone Walker (what axe-handler wasn't during the immediate postwar era?), Pee Wee Crayton brought enough daring innovation to his playing to avoid being labeled as a mere T-Bone imitator. Crayton's recorded output for Modern, Imperial, and Vee-Jay contains plenty of dazzling, marvelously imaginative guitar work, especially on stunning instrumentals such as "Texas Hop," "Pee Wee's Boogie," and "Poppa Stoppa," all far more aggressive performances than Walker usually indulged in.
Like Walker, Connie Crayton was a transplanted Texan. He relocated to Los Angeles in 1935, later moving north to the Bay Area. He signed with the Bihari brothers' L.A.-based Modern logo in 1948, quickly hitting pay dirt with the lowdown instrumental "Blues After Hours" (a kissin' cousin to Erskine Hawkins' anthem "After Hours"), which topped the R&B charts in late 1948. The steaming "Texas Hop" trailed it up the lists shortly thereafter, followed the next year by "I Love You So." But Crayton's brief hitmaking reign was over, through no fault of his own.
After recording prolifically at Modern to no further commercial avail, Crayton moved on to Aladdin and, in 1954, Imperial. Under Dave Bartholomew's savvy production, Crayton made some of his best waxings in New Orleans: "Every Dog Has His Day," "You Know Yeah," and "Runnin' Wild" found Crayton's guitar turned up to the boiling point over the fat cushion of saxes characterizing the Crescent City sound.
From there, Crayton tried to regain his momentum at Vee-Jay in Chicago; 1957's "I Found My Peace of Mind," a Ray Charles-tinged gem, should have done the trick, but no dice. After one-off 45s for Jamie, Guyden, and Smash during the early '60s, Crayton largely faded from view until Vanguard unleashed his LP, Things I Used to Do, in 1971. After that, Pee Wee Crayton's profile was raised somewhat; he toured and made a few more albums prior to his passing in 1985.
© Bill Dahl /TiVo
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Everyday I Have The Blues
Joe Turner, Pee Wee Crayton, Sonny Stitt
Jazz - Erschienen bei Pablo am 03.03.1975
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Golden Selection (Remastered)
R&B - Erschienen bei Master Tape Records am 22.10.2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Blues At Daybreak (Live)
Blues - Erschienen bei Arkadia Records am 10.11.2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Things I Used To Do
Blues - Erschienen bei Vanguard Records am 01.01.1971
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Early Hour Blues
Blues - Erschienen bei Blind Pig Records am 22.06.1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Blues in the Ghetto
Blues - Erschienen bei Dance Plant Records Inc am 19.07.2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pee Wee's Blues: The Complete Aladdin And Imperial Recordings
Blues - Erschienen bei Capitol Records am 01.01.1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Texas Blues Jumpin' in Los Angeles: The Modern Music Sessions 1948-51
Blues - Erschienen bei ACE RECORDS am 26.06.2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Blues After Hours
Blues - Erschienen bei Music Manager am 24.07.2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Blues Guitar Magic
Blues - Erschienen bei ACE RECORDS am 29.03.2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Pee Wee Crayton Collection 1947-62
Blues - Erschienen bei ACROBAT am 05.05.2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Blues Legend - Pee Wee Crayton
Blues - Erschienen bei Albany am 26.07.2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Blues At Daybreak (Live)
Blues - Erschienen bei Arkadia Records am 13.10.2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
1960 Debut Album
Blues - Erschienen bei Mojo Workin' am 12.11.2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Modern Legacy
Blues - Erschienen bei ACE RECORDS am 30.06.2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Telephone Is Ringing
Blues - Erschienen bei Old Town am 08.11.1956
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Blues After Hours
Blues - Erschienen bei RMP Global Ltd am 19.02.2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Blues After Hours - The Essential
Blues - Erschienen bei AP MUSIC LTD am 01.01.2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Best of Blues
Big Joe Williams, Pee Wee Crayton, Ray Charles
Blues - Erschienen bei Music Manager am 19.06.2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo