I Believe I'll Make A Change - Music

Leroy Carr Nashville Tennessee USA March 27 1905 - Indianapolis Indiana USA April 29 1935 Was An American Blues Singer Songwriter And Pianist Who Developed A Laid-Back Crooning Technique And Whose Popularity And Style Influenced Artists Like Nat King Cole And Ray Charles. He First Became Famous For "How Long How Long Blues" With The Guitarist Scrapper Blackwell On Vocalion Records In 1928 As Leroy Carr & Scrapper Blackwell For Which Carr Wrote The Music. The Song Is Commonly Referred To As "How Long Blues" And Is A Blues Standard That Has Been Recorded By Many Artists Not Only In Blues But Also Country And Western Pop And Jazz. Although His Recording Career Was Cut Short By An Early Death Carr Left Behind A Large Body Of Work. He Had A Long-Time Partnership With Guitarist Scrapper Blackwell. His Light Bluesy Piano Combined With Blackwell's Melodic Jazz Guitar To Attract A Sophisticated Black Audience. Carr's Vocal Style Moved Blues Singing Toward An Urban Sophistication Influencing Such Singers As T-Bone Walker Charles Brown Amos Milburn Jimmy Witherspoon Ray Charles Among Others.
Count Basie And Jimmy Rushing Used Some Of Carr's Songs And Basie's Band Shows The Influence Of Carr's Piano Style.
His Music Has Been Covered By Notable Artists Such As Robert Johnson Ray Charles Big Bill Broonzy Moon Mullican Champion Jack Dupree Lonnie Donegan And Memphis Slim.
Carr Died Of Nephritis Shortly After His Thirtieth Birthday. read less