Arthur Crudup wrote the song that became Elvis’ first hit. He barely got paid

FRANKTOWN, Va. — Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup helped invent rock ‘n’ roll. Despite being dubbed “the father of rock ‘n’ roll,” Crudup received scant songwriting royalties in his lifetime because of a recording contract that funneled the money to his original manager. The 70th anniversary of Presley recording “That’s All Right” is Friday — many historians consider July 5 a cultural milestone — and comes as the state of Virginia plans a highway marker honoring Crudup. In 1971, Downbeat magazine estimated that Crudup probably should have earned over $250,000 — nearly $2 million today — from “That’s All Right” as well as “My Baby Left Me,” which Creedence Clearwater Revival recorded. “One of the things that my father emphasized was that he was an extremely principled man,” Shannon says of Crudup, who embodied “those old country values” of working hard and supporting one’s family.