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Copying from Category:20th-century African-American male singers to Category:20th-century American male singers using Cat-a-lot

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{{Short description|New Orleans, US R&B musician (1934–2012)}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = James "Sugar Boy" Crawford
| image = SugarBoyCrawfordApr281996.jpg
| caption = Crawford in a rare appearance at the [[New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival]] in 1996 as a guest of his grandson, Davell Crawford
| image_size =
| birth_name = James Crawford
| alias =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1934|10|12}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|2012|09|15|1934|10|12}}
| birth_place = [[New Orleans]], [[Louisiana]], United States
| death_place = New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
| instrument = [[Human voice|Vocals]], [[piano]]
| genre = [[Rhythm and blues]]
| occupation = [[Singing|Singer]]
| years_active = 1950–1969
| label = [[Aladdin Records|Aladdin]], [[Ace Records (UK)|Ace]], [[Chess Records|Checker Records]], [[Imperial Records|Imperial]], [[Specialty Records|Specialty]]
| associated_acts = Davell Crawford, Snooks Eaglin, Irving Banister
| website =
| current_members =
| past_members =
}}

'''James "Sugar Boy" Crawford, Jr.''' (October 12, 1934  – September 15, 2012) was an American [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]] musician based in [[New Orleans]]. He was the author of "Jock-A-Mo" (1954), which was later rerecorded as "[[Iko Iko]]"<ref name="offbeat">{{cite web |url=http://www.offbeat.com/artman/publish/article_251.shtml |title=Talk with James 'Sugar Boy' Crawford by Jeff Hannusch |publisher=Offbeat.com |accessdate=2012-09-16 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090922055705/http://www.offbeat.com/artman/publish/article_251.shtml |archive-date=2009-09-22 }}</ref> by the [[The Dixie Cups|Dixie Cups]], and became a huge [[hit record|hit]]. The song was recorded by many other artists, including [[Dr. John]], [[Belle Stars]], the [[Grateful Dead]], [[Cyndi Lauper]], and (as "Geto Boys") by [[Glass Candy]].

==Life and career==
Starting out on [[trombone]], Crawford formed a band, which a local [[Disc jockey|DJ]], Doctor Daddy-O, named the Chapaka Shawee ([[Louisiana Creole French|Creole]] for "We Aren't Raccoons"), the title of an [[instrumental]] that they played. Crawford recalled, "During high school we had a little band, nothing real organized at first. I was back playing piano... The other fellows in the band were Edgar "Big Boy" Myles, Warren Myles, Nolan Blackwell, [[Irving Banister|Irving "Cat" Banister]], and Alfred Bernard- just a bunch of youngsters having fun."<ref name=Hannusch2>{{cite book |title= I Hear You Knockin': The Sound of New Orleans Rhythm and Blues|last=Hannusch |first=Jeff |year=1985 |publisher=Swallow Publications |isbn=0-9614245-0-8}}</ref> The group was signed by [[Chess Records]] president [[Leonard Chess]] and was renamed Sugar Boy and his Cane Cutters.

His song "Jock-A-Mo" became a standard at the [[New Orleans Mardi Gras]], but Crawford disappeared from public view. In a 2002 interview for ''[[OffBeat (magazine)|Offbeat]]'' magazine, he described how his career came to an abrupt halt in 1963, after a severe beating at the hands of state troopers incapacitated him for two years, forcing him to leave the [[music industry]]. In 1969, he decided to sing only in church.<ref name="offbeat" /> In 2012, he made a guest appearance singing gospel in an episode of the HBO series ''[[Treme (TV series)|Treme]]''. He died one month before the episode aired. James "Sugar Boy" Crawford was also Inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame.

Crawford appeared on the 1995 [[album]] ''Let Them Talk'', by Davell Crawford, his grandson.<ref>{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p702374/biography}} Biography by [[Eugene Chadbourne]]</ref> He made some stage appearances with Davell, including one at the [[New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival]]<ref name="offbeat" /> in 1996 and at the seventh annual [[Ponderosa Stomp]] in April 2008.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ponderosastomp.com/ponderosa_stomp_7.php|title=Ponderosa Stomp #7 – Schedule, Artists, Tickets and Lineup|publisher=Ponderosastomp.com|accessdate=2012-09-16}}</ref>

Among the artists Crawford recorded with was [[Snooks Eaglin]].

Crawford died after a brief illness in a hospice in 2012, aged 77.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://obits.nola.com/obituaries/nola/obituary.aspx?pid=159982652#fbLoggedOut |title=James Crawford Obituary: View James Crawford's Obituary |work= The Times-Picayune |publisher=Obits.nola.com |date=2012-09-15 |accessdate=2014-07-11}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.uncamarvy.com/Shaweez/shaweez.html Marv Goldberg's R&B Notebooks: The Sha-Weez]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080512152320/http://www.duvigneaud.net/James_Sugar_Boy_Crawford.html Limited James Sugar Boy Crawford and Shaweez Discography]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crawford, James Sugar Boy}}
[[Category:1934 births]]
[[Category:2012 deaths]]
[[Category:Rhythm and blues musicians from New Orleans]]
[[Category:Ace Records (United States) artists]]
[[Category:Chess Records artists]]
[[Category:Blues musicians from New Orleans]]
[[Category:Singers from Louisiana]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American male singers]]
[[Category:20th-century American male singers]]
[[Category:20th-century American singers]]

James "Sugar Boy" Crawford - Revision history

imported>Ser Amantio di Nicolao: Copying from Category:20th-century African-American male singers to Category:20th-century American male singers using Cat-a-lot