Billy Wayne "Crash" Craddock (born June 16, 1939) is an American country and rockabilly singer. He first gained popularity in Australia in the 1950s with a string of rockabilly hits, including the Australian number one hit "Boom Boom Baby". Switching to country music, he gained popularity in United States in the 1970s
with a string of top ten country hits. Craddock is known to his fans as "The King Of Country Rock Music" and "Mr. Country Rock" for his up-tempo rock-influenced style of country music.
Craddock was born in Greensboro,
North Carolina. He learned how to play guitar from his oldest brother when he
was six. At age 11, he entered a local television talent contest and was voted
top winner for 15 consecutive weeks. Craddock received the nickname
"Crash" while a running back for his high school football team. After
he left high school, he formed a rockabilly band with one of his brothers
called The Four Rebels. His early influences included Little Jimmy Dickens, Ray
Price, and Hank Williams
Craddock's first release was "Smacky-Mouth", which
was recorded in 1957 for the local Greensboro Sky Castle label. He released his
next single, titled "Birddoggin'", on Colonial Records. It was also
released in 1957.
He soon got a deal with Columbia's Date Records. He released
"Ah, Poor Little Baby" with no success. The song was covered in
England by Adam Faith. He began recording for Columbia Records in 1958,
recording rockabilly and pop tunes. He appeared twice on American Bandstand but
failed to have a hit in the U.S. The only song that charted in the U.S. was
Don't Destroy Me, which peaked at No. 94 for one week in November 1959. He did,
however, become very popular in Australia.
In 1959, Craddock travelled to Australia with Bobby Rydell,
The Everly Brothers, Santo and Johnny, and The Diamonds. He didn't know how
popular he was in the country and didn't think that anyone would recognize him
there. When the plane arrived at the airport, there were thousands of screaming
teenagers. Craddock didn't know that he had the number one record in the
country, “Boom Boom Baby.”He soon became the most popular teen idol in the
country and is still popular today.
After his hits in Australia, he recorded one album and
several singles during the 1960s. "I'm Tore Up" was released in 1964
on King Records. He released two singles with Mercury Records in the early
1960s. He then went on to record several singles with the Chart label with no
success.
Craddock spent several years out of the music business while
working in a cigarette factory and hanging drywall. He returned to recording,
now as a country singer. Signed with Cartwheel Records, his first #1 hit was
1971's "Knock Three Times," a cover of the Tony Orlando and Dawn pop
hit. This began a streak of hits that continued throughout the 1970s.
In 1973, Craddock signed with ABC-Dot Records, where he
enjoyed his biggest hits. One was "Sweet Magnolia Blossom", but his
biggest hit, 1974's "Rub It In", was also a modest pop hit. Today,
several bars from the song are featured in commercials for Glade Plug-In
products. He recorded a total of nine #1 hits.
Craddock consistently hit the country top ten in the 1970s
and he became one of country music's first male sex symbols, unusually handsome
for a male country star of the era and dressed in stage clothes exposing his
hairy, muscular chest as he growled his way through rockin' numbers and love
songs with a stage persona strongly influenced by Elvis Presley.
His singles began to be less successful in the early 1980's
though he occasionally still cracked the top 30. Craddock recorded several
albums for Capitol before leaving the label in 1983. He briefly owned his own
small record label, Cee Cee Records, and released one single in 1983 that made
the lower end on the national country charts.
In 1986, he recorded an album for MCA/Dot Records, titled
Crash Craddock. He moved to Atlantic Records in 1989, and released Back on
Track. The album yielded one minor hit, "Just Another Miserable Day Here
in Paradise", which reached No. 74 on the charts. By this time his
commercial momentum had finally slowed.
His last album “Live-n-Kickin’” was released on Cee Cee
Records in 2009. He was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in
2011.
Nowadays at the age of 80, he is still able to superbly entertain audiences time and time again. (Edited mainly from Wikipedia)
Nowadays at the age of 80, he is still able to superbly entertain audiences time and time again. (Edited mainly from Wikipedia)
5 comments:
For “Billy 'Crash' Craddock - Boom Boom Billy
~ The Rock 'n' Roll Years (2019)” go here:
https://www.upload.ee/files/10102213/Billy__Crash__Craddock_-_Rock__n__Roll_Years.rar.html
1. Smacky-Mouth (as Billy Craddock) (2:23)
2. How Does It Feel? (as Billy Craddock) (3:11)
3. Birddoggin' (with The Blue Notes) (2:06)
4. Millionaire (with The Blue Notes) (2:19)
5. Ah, Poor Little Baby (2:22)
6. Lula Lee (2:19)
7. School Day Dreams (2:29)
8. Am I to Be the One (For the Last Time) (1:48)
9. I Miss You so Much (2:20)
10. Sweetie Pie (2:25)
11. Blabbermouth (1:56)
12. Boom Boom Baby (2:33)
13. Don't Destroy Me (2:47)
14. I Want That (2:30)
15. Since She Turned Seventeen (2:29)
16. (What Makes You) Treat Me Like You Do (2:02)
17. Letter of Love (2:24)
18. All I Want Is You (2:38)
19. Well Don't You Know (2:46)
20. One Last Kiss (2:04)
21. Is It True or False? (That I'm in Love with You) (2:24)
22. Little Ole You (2:05)
23. Heavenly Love (2:28)
24. Good Time Billy (Is a Happiness Fool) (2:10)
25. Report Card of Love (2:28)
26. Truly True (2:15)
27. How Lonely He Must Be (2:14)
28. Ole King Cole (2:11)
29. A Diamond Is Forever (2:25)
Long before his 1970s/80s career as 'Mr Country-Rock', with forty hits on the US Country charts, Billy 'Crash' Craddock was a teenage Rockabilly/Rock 'n' Roller. Between 1957-61 he cut a dozen or so 45s for a variety of labels, which have long since become sought-after collectors' rarities. Several of these were US regional hits, and covered internationally, e.g. 'Ah, Poor Little Baby' (Adam Faith) and 'I Want That' (Johnny Kidd). In an unlikely turn of events he became a massive star in Australia during 1960-61, registering two No.1 records - 'Boom Boom Baby' and 'One Last Kiss' - plus a further half-dozen Aussie hits.
This compilation anthologises Crash's early Rock'n'Roll career between 1957-61, including all his Australian hits, a couple of which were never released in the US.Also includes a handful of other collectors' rarities, which have never previously appeared on CD. (Jasmine notes)
A big thank you to Mijas @ ACM2 blog for original post.
Thank you.
That last picture is Guy Clark, not Billy Crash
Thanks Mike, Photo now replaced. Just can't trust Google images anymore! Hopefully this one is Crash! Regards Bob.
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