Cripple Clarence Lofton (March 28, 1887 - January 9, 1957), was a noted boogie-woogie pianist and singer and an integral figure in the boogie-woogie genre in Chicago. Some of his more popular songs include "Strut That Thing", "Monkey Man Blues", "I Don't Know" and "Pitchin' Boogie". His talent was likened to that of Pinetop Smith and other prominent boogie-woogie artists, including Meade Lux Lewis, Cow Cow Davenport and Jimmy Yancey. Lofton was also said to have influenced Erwin Helfer.
There is uncertainty over when and where he was born. Many sources state that he was born Albert Clemens in 1887, in Kingsport, Tennessee However, the researchers Bob Eagle and Eric LeBlanc state that, based on information in official records, he was born Clarence Clemens in 1896 or 1897, in Burns, Tennessee, and may have been adopted as Clarence Ramsey. They also concluded that Albert (or Elbert) Clemens, born c. 1903, who was also a singer and pianist who recorded for Bluebird Records, was his brother.
Lofton was born with a limp, from which he derived his stage name, but he began his career as a tap dancer. He then began performing in the blues idiom known as boogie-woogie and settled in Chicago, Illinois. The distinctive feature of his performances was his energetic stage presence; he would dance and whistle as well as sing. A description of Lofton in performance is provided by William Russell, in his essay "Boogie Woogie":
No one can complain of Clarence's lack of variety or versatility. When he really gets going he's a three-ring circus. During one number, he plays, sings, whistles a chorus, and snaps his fingers with the technique of a Spanish dancer to give further percussive accompaniment to his blues. At times he turns sideways, almost with his back to the piano as he keeps pounding away at the keyboard and stomping his feet, meanwhile continuing to sing and shout at his audience or his drummer. Suddenly in the middle of a number he jumps up, his hands clasped in front of him, and he walks around the piano stool, and then, unexpectedly, out booms a vocal break in a bass voice from somewhere. One second later, he has turned and is back at the keyboard, both hands flying at lightning-like pace. His actions and facial expressions are as intensely dramatic and exciting as his music."
Lofton started recording as an accompanist, the most significant example being Sammy Brown’s The Jockey Blues made in 1927, almost 10 years before Lofton’s first solo recording. With his performance style, Lofton became a mainstay in his genre. His first recording was made in April 1935 for Vocalion Records with guitar accompaniment by Big Bill Broonzy. Lofton also accompanied Red Nelson on several sides for Decca Records in 1935 and 1936. His wild, high-energy act got the young showman noticed quickly and by the early '30s, he was so much a fixture of Chicago night life firmament that he had his own Windy City nightclub, the oddly named Big Apple where he ran his own boogie school teaching youngsters the art form.
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| Lofton with Jimmy Yancey. c. 1950's |
Between 1935 and 1943 he cut close to forty sides for Vocalion, Swaggie, Solo Art and Session including exuberant pieces such as “Brown Skin Girls,” “Policy Blues,” “Streamline Train,” and “I Don’t Know.” When the boogie-woogie craze cooled off and eventually died down in the late '40s, Lofton went into early retirement. He lived in Chicago for the rest of his life and died of a blood clot in his brain in Cook County Hospital in 1957. A marker was eventually provided for his unmarked grave by The Killer Blues Project.
(Edited from Wilipedia, AllMusic & Sunday Blues)