Leroy Carr

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Leroy Carr


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Background = solo_singer
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Born =birth date|1905|3|27|mf=y
Nashville, Tennessee
Died =death date and age|1935|4|29|1905|3|27|mf=y
Indianapolis
Origin = Indianoplis, Indiana
Instrument = Piano
Voice_type =
Genre =Chicago Blues, Piedmont blues
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Leroy Carr (March 27 1905 – April 29 1935) 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 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.cite book
first= Mike
last= Rowe
year= 1973
title= Chicago Blues
edition=
publisher= Da Capo Press
location= New York, N.Y.
pages= p. 12-15
id= ISBN 0-306-80145-0]

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. [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:hifpxq95ldke~T1 All Music Guide biography] ] His sudden death in 1935 at the age of 30 was surrounded with rumour and mystery. Today most historians believed he died of nephritis.cite book
first= Arnold
last= Shaw
year= 1978
title= Honkers and Shouters
edition=
publisher=Macmillan Publishing Company
location= New York
pages= p. 8-9
id= ISBN 0-02-061740-2] A few weeks after Carr's death, his guitarist, Blackwell, recorded a memorial, "My Old Pal Blues".cite book
first= Tony
last= Russell
year= 1997
title= The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray
edition=
publisher= Carlton Books Limited
location= Dubai
pages= p. 52-53
id= ISBN 1-85868-255-X]

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.

Count Basie and Jimmy Rushing used some of Carr's songs and Basie's band shows the influence of Carr's piano style.cite book
first= Charles
last= Keil
year=1991
title= Urban Blues
edition=
publisher= University of Chicago Press
location=Chicago, IL
pages= 65-67, 107
id= ISBN 0226429601 ]

His music has been covered by notable artists such as Eric Clapton, Big Bill Broonzy, and Memphis Slim.

References

*Wald, Elijah. "Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues". HarperCollins, 2004. ISBN 0-06-052423-5

External links

* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=2363 Leroy Carr's Gravesite]
* [http://www.geocities.com/shakin_stacks/leroycarr.txt Carr fansite biography]
* [http://www.wirz.de/music/carr.htm Illustrated Leroy Carr discography]
* [http://www.africanafrican.com/negroartist/mp3/leroy%20carr.htm Available music in the public domain.]