Leroy Carr (March 27, 1904[1] or 1905 – April 29, 1935)[2] was an American blues singer, songwriter and pianist who developed a laid-back, crooning technique and whose popularity and style influenced such artists as Nat King Cole and Ray Charles. Music historian Elijah Wald has called him "the most influential male blues singer and songwriter of the first half of the 20th century".[3] He first became famous for "How Long, How Long Blues", his debut recording released by Vocalion Records in 1928.[4][5]
Life and career
Leroy Carr was born March 27, 1905[6] in Nashville, Tennessee.[7] His parents were John Carr, a laborer at Vanderbilt University, and Katie Lytle, a domestic worker.[6] After his parents separated, Carr moved to Indianapolis, Indiana with his mother. Carr was a self-taught piano player.[8] After dropping out of high school, Carr travelled with a circus, and in the early 1920s served in the U.S. Army.[9][10] Carr returned to Indianapolis and worked in a meat-packing plant.[6] He was married and had one daughter.[6] Carr was convicted of bootlegging and served a year at the Indiana State Penitentiary.[6]
Carr had a longtime partnership with the guitarist Scrapper Blackwell.[5] His light bluesy piano combined with Blackwell's melodic jazz guitar attracted a sophisticated black audience. The two recorded with Vocalion Records beginning in the 1920s. His first hit was "How Long, How Long Blues", recorded in 1928.[11] Elijah Wald described Carr's music as "carefully written, blending soulful poetry with wry humor, and his music had a light, lilting swing that could shift in a moment to a driving boogie. Rather than Smith's vaudeville jazz combos or Jefferson's idiosyncratic country picking, Carr sang over the solid beat of his piano and the biting guitar of his constant partner Francis (Scrapper) Blackwell. The outcome was a hip, urban club style that signaled a new era in popular music".[12]
Carr was among the most prolific and popular blues artists between 1928 and 1935. His recording career was cut short by his early death, but he produced a large body of work.[4] Some of his most famous songs include "Papa's on the House Top" (1931), "When the Sun Goes Down" (1931), "Blues Before Sunrise" (1932), "Midnight Hour Blues" (1932), and "Hurry Down Sunshine" (1934). He recorded for Vocalion until he signed with Victor's Bluebird imprint, where he made his final recordings.
Last recordings and death
Carr had a severe alcohol addiction.[7] His last recording session was held in Chicago on February 25, 1935, in which the reportedly temperamental Blackwell stormed out before the session was finished and Carr recorded his final song, "Six Cold Feet in the Ground", as a solo.
Two months after the session, and a month after his 30th birthday, he died of nephritis and was buried in Floral Park Cemetery[7] in Indianapolis.[13]
