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
Discography
10 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Everyday I Have The Blues
Joe Turner, Pee Wee Crayton, Sonny Stitt
Jazz - Released by Pablo on Mar 3, 1975
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Blues At Daybreak (Live)
Blues - Released by Arkadia Records on Nov 10, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Things I Used To Do
Blues - Released by Vanguard Records on Jan 1, 1971
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Early Hour Blues
Blues - Released by Blind Pig Records on Jun 22, 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Blues in the Ghetto
Blues - Released by Dance Plant Records Inc on Jul 19, 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pee Wee's Blues: The Complete Aladdin And Imperial Recordings
Blues - Released by Capitol Records on Jan 1, 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Blues At Daybreak (Live)
Blues - Released by Arkadia Records on Oct 13, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
If I Ever Get Lucky (Live)
Blues - Released by Arkadia Records on Sep 15, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Texas Hop (Live)
Blues - Released by Arkadia Records on Oct 27, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Treat Her Right (Live)
Blues - Released by Arkadia Records on Oct 13, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo