Born in Forest, Mississippi and living and working in throughout the South and Midwest as a migrant worker for a time, he and his family returned to Mississippi in 1926. He sang gospel, then began his career as a blues singer around Clarksdale, Mississippi. He visited Chicago as member of the Harmonizing Four in 1939 and stayed there to work as a solo musician, but barely made a living as a street singer. Record producer Lester Melrose allegedly found him while he was living in a packing crate, introduced him to Tampa Red and signed him to a contract with RCA Victor's Bluebird label.
He recorded with RCA in the late 1940s and with Ace Records, Checker Records and Trumpet Records in the early 1950s and toured throughout the country, specifically Black establishments in the South, with Sonny Boy Williamson II and Elmore James. He also recorded under the names Elmer James and Percy Lee Crudup.
Crudup stopped recording in the 1950s, however, after further battles over royalties. He returned to recording with Fire Records and Delmark Records and touring in the 1960s, sometimes labeled "The Father of Rock and Roll", a title which he accepted with some bemusement. Throughout this time Crudup worked as a laborer to augment the small wages he received as a singer and non-existent royalties. Crudup returned to Mississippi after a dispute with Melrose over royalties, then went into bootlegging, and later moved to Virginia where he had lived and worked as a musician and laborer. In the early 1970's, two local Virginia activists, Celia Santiago and Margaret Carter, both assisted him in attempting to gain Royalties he felt he were due, to little gain.
From the mid 60's Crudup returned to bootlegging and working as an agricultural laborer, chiefly in Virginia, where he lived with his family including three sons and several of his own siblings. On the Eastern Shore of Virginia, while he lived in relative poverty as a field laborer, he occasionally sang and supplied moonshine to a number of drinking establishments, including one called the Dew Drop Inn, in Accomack County for some time prior to his eventual death, due to complications from heart disease and diabetes. (There was some confusion as to his actual date of death because of his use of several names, including those of his siblings.) He passed away in the Nassawadox hospital in Northampton County, Virginia, also on the Eastern Shore in 1976.
Cool Disposition
Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
So lovely and so sweet she's so kind
Yeah she's a kind hearted woman
So lovely and so sweet she's so kind
She's got such a cool disposition
She just makes me love her all the time
She got me doin' things
She got me doin' things
You know boys I just can't sleep at night
I don't eat my breakfast in the mornin'
And my teeth and tongue begin to fight
Yes, she's 41 through the shoulders
29 in the waist
I'll never find another woman
To take my baby's place
She's so lovin'
She's so sweet she's so kind
She's got such a cool disposition
Makes me love her all the time
In Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup's song Cool Disposition, he sings about his girlfriend or wife, a kind-hearted woman who is sweet and lovely. He admires her cool disposition, which simply means that she has a calm and composed nature that makes it easy for him to love her all the time. He is so engulfed in her love and her personality that he finds himself doing things that he never imagined he could do, which keeps him from sleeping at night.
Crudup's lyrics also talk about his lover's physical traits. She has a 41-inch shoulder and a 29-inch waist, which implies that she has a curvy figure. He finishes the song by stating that he will never find another woman to take her place. This highlights the love that he has for her and how she is the irreplaceable figure in his life.
Line by Line Meaning
My baby a kind hearted woman
My girlfriend is a woman with a warm heart who is filled with kindness.
So lovely and so sweet she's so kind
She is charming, amiable, and delightful, with a gentle disposition.
Yeah she's a kind hearted woman
That woman with such a sweet and loving nature that I mentioned earlier? Yeah, that's her.
She's got such a cool disposition
She keeps her cool, remains composed, and is generally unfazed by external factors.
She just makes me love her all the time
Her cool nature makes me continuously adore, appreciate, and cherish her.
She got me doin' things
Peoples I just can't sleep at night
She has me occupied, and I can't sleep at night because of it.
I don't eat my breakfast in the mornin'
And my teeth and tongue begin to fight
I'm so preoccupied with her, that I miss my morning meals, which results in excessive hunger and agitation.
Yes, she's 41 through the shoulders
29 in the waist
She has an attractive figure that is voluptuous in the right places and slim in others.
I'll never find another woman
To take my baby's place
There's no one who can compare to my girlfriend. I'll never find someone like her.
She's so lovin'
She's so sweet she's so kind
She radiates warmth and compassion with a gentle, benevolent, and caring nature.
She's got such a cool disposition
Makes me love her all the time
Her calm and collected nature makes me appreciate and adore her even more.
Contributed by Tristan M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@manoelteixeira4936
O Arthur Crudup, toca com muito brilho e a emoção para quem houve e tenta tocar seus temas é estontetante. maneco - Brasil.
@snakehips81
Fantastic song. Enjoyed Crudups stuff since I was a teenager. Love the drumming too. Simple but well played and effective, helping to drive the song along
@acenturyofblackmusic1655
what an amazing songwriter, r i p big boy crudup
@Glendoras
Kanon! Har just lyckats få tag i 78-varvaren av denna. 😀👍🏽
@Sliptrail
Wow! Grattis!
@Glendoras
@Sliptrail Tack! Andra sidan, Keep your arms around me är också finfin!
@gelmibson883
Woo!