Died On This Date (May 18, 1985) Pee Wee Crayton / Texas Blues Great
themusicsover Connie “Pee Wee” Crayton
December 18, 1914 – May 18, 1985
Pee Wee Crayton was a brilliant Texas blues guitarist stylistically similar to T-Bone Walker but a bit more soul leaning. One of his first recordings landed at the top of the Billboard R&B charts in 1948. Crayton continued to record and tour well into the ’70s. In recent years, Morgana Kennedy at Vanguard Records exposed Crayton’s music to new fans around the world. He died of a heart attack on May 18, 1985.
What You Should Own
Johnny “Guitar” Watson was a dynamic electric guitarist whose profound influence can be heard in blues, rock, soul, R&B, funk and hip-hop. Given his first guitar at eleven, Watson would soon be called a “prodigy” and would be exchanging licks with 
Lester Butler was a blues harmonica player and singer who was in the Red Devils (previously known as the Blue Shadows), a Los Angeles blues rock band who also included members of the Blasters and the Knitters. In 1992, the band caught the ear of Rick Rubin who produced their debut album. That lead to some studio work with Mick Jagger and Johnny Cash. On May 10, 1998, Lester Butler, age 38, died of a drug overdose.
Rocky Benton was a favorite in and around the Corpus Christi blues scene for many years thanks in part to his outstanding harmonica playing. Blind since childhood, Benton gravitated toward music early, first learning to play the harmonica at age six and later, keyboards and drums. By ten, he was singing and drumming in a jazz band while attending the Texas School For The Blind in Austin. By the early ’90s, Benton was living in Corpus Christi where he became a fixture in the city’s music scene, sharing the bill with the likes of 
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