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Leroy Carr
Leroy Carr
Leroy Carr
Background information Born Origin Died Genre(s) Instrument(s) March 27, 1905(1905-03-27) Nashville, Tennessee Indianoplis, Indiana April 29, 1935 (aged 30) Indianapolis Chicago Blues, Piedmont blues Piano
Northern bluesmen. Vocalion Records recorded him in 1928 and his first release "How Long, How Long Blues" was an immediate success. The innovation was in the sophisticated piano-guitar accompaniment and the wistfully sad mood. Music had moved from the lone guitarist in the fields to clubs with pianos for ready entertainment.[2] The success of his first release resulted in more Vocalion recordings. Although the Great Depression of the early 1930s slowed down the music industry, Carr’s success continued, reaching a peak number of releases in 1934. Throughout the early ’30s, Carr was one of the most popular bluesmen in America. While his professional career was successful, his personal life was spinning out of control, as he sunk deeper and deeper into alcoholism.[1] His sudden death in 1935 at the age of 30 was surrounded with rumour and mystery. Today most historians believed he died of nephritis.[3] A few weeks after Carr’s death, his guitarist, Blackwell, recorded a memorial, "My Old Pal Blues".[4]
Legacy
Although his recording career was cut short by his early death, Carr left behind a large body of work in his blues recordings. His partnership with guitarist Blackwell combined his light bluesy piano with a melodic jazz guitar that attracted the sophisticated urban black audience. His vocal style moved blues singing toward an urban sophistican and influenced such singers as T-Bone Walker, Charles Brown, Amos Milburn, Jimmy Witherspoon, Ray Charles among others.[3] Count Basie and Jimmy Rushing used some of Carr’s songs and Basie’s band shows the influence of Carr’s piano style.[5] His music has been covered by notable artists such as Eric Clapton, Big Bill Broonzy, and Memphis Slim.
Leroy Carr (March 27, 1905 – April 29, 1935[1]) was an American blues singer, songwriter and pianist who developed a laid-back, crooning technique and whose popularity and style influenced artists like Nat King Cole and Ray Charles. He first became famous for "How Long, How Long Blues" on Vocalion Records in 1928.
Career
Carr was born in Nashville, Tennessee in 1905 and grew up in the black section of Indianapolis, Indiana. Here he partnered with jazz guitarist Scrapper Blackwell and their work showed a distinctive urban influence that was unlike the intensely emotional vocals and heavily rhythmatic guitar back up, often bottleneck guitar style, of the Mississippi bluesmen. Carr was one of the first
References
[1] ^ Allmusic biography
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[2] Rowe, Mike (1973). Chicago Blues. New York, N.Y.: Da Capo Press. pp. 12–15. ISBN 0-306-80145-0. [3] ^ Shaw, Arnold (1978). Honkers and Shouters. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. pp. 8–9. ISBN 0-02-061740-2. [4] Russell, Tony (1997). The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray. Dubai: Carlton Books Limited. pp. 52–53. ISBN 1-85868-255-X.
Leroy Carr
[5] Keil, Charles (1991). Urban Blues. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. pp. 65–67, 107. ISBN 0226429601. • Wald, Elijah. Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues. HarperCollins, 2004. ISBN 0-06-052423-5
External links
• • • • Leroy Carr’s Gravesite Carr fansite biography Illustrated Leroy Carr discography Available music in the public domain.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leroy_Carr" Categories: 1905 births, 1932 deaths, African American musicians, American blues singers, American pianists, Blues Hall of Fame inductees, People from Nashville, Tennessee, RCA Victor Records artists, Deaths from nephritis This page was last modified on 26 February 2009, at 21:45 (UTC). All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.) Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) taxdeductible nonprofit charity. Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers
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