"Crazy About My Baby" is a

boogie woogie Boogie-woogie is a genre of blues music that became popular during the late 1920s, developed in African-American communities since 1870s.Paul, Elliot, ''That Crazy American Music'' (1957), Chapter 10, p. 229. It was eventually extended from pia ...

song, first recorded by

Blind Roosevelt Graves Le Moise Roosevelt Graves (December 9, 1909 – December 30, 1962), credited as Blind Roosevelt Graves, was an American blues guitarist and singer, who recorded both sacred and secular music in the 1920s and 1930s. Biography Roosevelt Graves w ...

in 1929. It was perhaps the first recorded to contain all elements of what would come to be called

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

, and has been described as the first song of that genre.

Historic song

Rock and roll evolved gradually out of boogie woogie, itself a fusion of

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

, early

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott ...

-style

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

, religious and dance music like

honky tonk A honky-tonk (also called honkatonk, honkey-tonk, or tonk) is both a bar that provides country music for the entertainment of its patrons and the style of music played in such establishments. It can also refer to the type of piano ( tack piano) ...

. "Crazy About My Baby" contained all key elements of 1950s rock and roll, over two decades earlier. For example, it is a song with accelerated blues guitar riffs and a danceable back beat, recognized as foreshadowing

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...

compositions. It is therefore on a short list along with "

Pinetop's Boogie Woogie "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie" is a song initially recorded on December 29, 1928 in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It was released on March 1, 1929 by Clarence "Pinetop" Smith on Vocalion Records, a piano rag that cemented boogie-woogie as the nam ...

" (which coined the name for the genre) as "the first rock and roll recording". In 1929, Le Moise "Blind Roosevelt" Graves and his brother Uaroy began recording boogie woogie music, a style that had acquired its name from the Pinetop song a year earlier. Among their early songs are the first known recording of " Guitar Boogie", and "Crazy About My Baby". They were generally credited either as "Blind Roosevelt Graves and Brother" or the "Mississippi Jook Band". The song is in the "blues in B flat" mode typical of 1950s rock, with Graves on guitar and vocals, session musician

William Ezell William Ezell (December 23, 1892 – August 2, 1963), was an American blues, jazz, ragtime and boogie-woogie pianist and occasional singer, who was also billed as Will Ezell. He regularly contributed to recordings made by Paramount Records in ...

on piano, Graves' brother playing tambourine, and Baby Jay James playing

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a sopr ...

References

{{authority control Boogie-woogie songs 1929 songs Rock-and-roll songs