Leroy Carr

American musician

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History

Leroy Carr (born March 27, 1905, Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.—died April 29, 1935, Indianapolis, Indiana) was an influential American blues singer, pianist, and composer of songs noted for their personal original lyrics; several became longtime standards. His smooth urbane blues music was enormously popular during the 1930s.

Carr grew up in Indianapolis and taught himself to play piano in a gently rocking blues style that was less complex than boogie-woogie piano. He also sang in a relaxed urban style. His singing and playing found rare affinity with the guitar playing of Scrapper Blackwell (1903–62); their work was especially notable for the expressive and pensive quality of Carr’s singing and the intimate melancholy in the songs that he wrote, often with Blackwell’s aid. They recorded a large catalog in 1928–35 that made Carr one of the most popular blues artists of the era.

Other pianists such as Bumble Bee Slim, Peetie Wheatstraw, and Walter Davis were influenced by Carr and Blackwell. Many of Carr’s songs—including “How Long How Long Blues,” “In the Evening (When the Sun Goes Down),” “Blues Before Sunrise,” and “Sloppy Drunk Blues”—were recorded by numerous performers for decades after he died from the effects of severe alcoholism. Carr was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1982.