James "Sugar Boy" Crawford is a unique rhythm and blues artist - one of New Orleans' greatest performers. James Crawford recorded under the names Shaw Weez, Shaweez, Sugar Boy & the Cane Cutters, James Sugar Boy, and later simply James Crawford, Jr. The group the Shaw-Weez consisted of Edgar "Big Boy" Myles, James Crawford, Warren "Jake" Myles, guitarist Irving Banister, and Eugene "Bones" Jones on drums.

James "Sugar Boy" Crawford is the only child of Mary and James Crawford Sr. Sugar Boy grew up in the Uptown section of New Orleans. He got his first introduction to music on Sundays at the Baptist Church. By the time he reached his teens, he had learned to play the trombone, piano, and joined a marching band. While in high school he had a band, notably with Edgar "Big Boy" Myles. The group caught a break in 1952, when Doctor Daddy-O (a New Orleans DJ) invited them to perform on his Saturday morning radio show. The group didn't have a name until Daddy-O dubbed them, "The Chapaka Shawee" (Creole for "We Aren't Raccoons"), the title of an instrumental the group played.

By the late 1959 through 1963 Sugar Boy was extremely popular with white audiences. Sugar Boy and his band performed at dances, clubs, and private parties in Louisiana. Sugar Boy never had a large, record buying, black audience .

James "Sugar Boy" Crawford

Born: James Crawford, Jr. - October 12, 1934 - New Orleans, LA

Aladdin Sessions - 11/23/52

Sugar Boy Crawford on piano; Big Boy Myles lead vocal sometimes shared with Sugar Boy.

Only one single release on the Aladdin label by Shaw-Weez

Shaweez (Big Boy Myles - lead vocal) - (Aladdin 3170 1952)
No One to Love Me / Early Sunday Morning
Shaweez (Big Boy Myles - lead vocal) - (Aladdin UNISS 1952) You Made Me Love You / Feeling Sad
"You Made Me Love You" / "Feeling Sad" was never issued by Aladdin, so Aladdin 3170A is a bootleg that allegedly was taken from the Aladdin Unissued track
Shaweez (Big Boy Myles - vocals) - There is also 45-rpm of Aladdin 3170: No One to Love Me (45-AL-3170-X D); Early Sunday Morning (45-AL-3170-Q D)
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Specialty label - Shaweez 
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Big Boy Myles & The Shaw-Wees - (Specialty 564 1955) Who's Been Fooling You / That's The Girl I Married
Big Boy Myles (unclear if Shaw-Wees were in session too) - (Specialty 590 1956) Just To Hold My Hand / Hickory Dickory Dock

The following Shaweez sessions are believed to be part of an Aladdin archive. Subsequently they were released by Imperial on vinyl LPs in 1968.
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Imperial label - vinyl LPs
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Shaweez - (Imperial LP LM 94003 Year:Unknown) No One to Love Me
Imperial LP 94003:End of an Era: Rhythm 'N' Blues, Volume 1 - Various Artists [1968]
Shaw-Weez - (Imperial LP LM 94005 Year:Unknown) You Made Me Love You
Shaw-Weez - (Imperial LP LM 94005 Year:Unknown) Feeling Sad
Imperial LP 94005:Sweet ‘N Greasy: Rhythm 'N' Blues, Volume 2 - Various Artists [1968]

The following are tracks from a "30 New Orleans Classics" CD. Imperial owns the masters for these tracks, and they were never released as singles. Information courtesy of Tapio.
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Imperial Sessions - Year: 1957
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James Crawford, Jr. - (Imperial UNISS Year: 1957) The Facts
James Crawford, Jr. - (Imperial UNISS Year: 1957) I Have A Feeling
Sugar Boy had three sessions for Imperial and was backed up by Dave Bartholomew, Lee Allen, Herb Hardesty, Justin Adams, Frank Fields and Earl Palmer.
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Chess Sessions
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The Chess/Checker recordings were played on New Orleans black radio. Often rough, with sometimes amateurish musicianship, the Chess/Checker recordings are a patch work of good and mediocre material. However, all tracks are worthy of listening, and all tracks are collectors items!

Members of Sugar Boy's Cane Cutters included: Edgar "Big Boy" Miles, David Lastie, Eric Warner, Alfred Bernard, Frank Fields, Slim Saunders on some sessions, Snooks Eaglin, gtr. on some sessions.

The following Chess sessions include both single releases and songs that were unissued as singles, but are subsequently released on a Chess vinyl LP set, "Chess Masters Blues Series," 2ACMB-209 - Sugar Boy Crawford - Sugar Boy Crawford [1976] (2-LP set). "Chess Masters," CH-2-9215 - Sugar Boy Crawford - Sugar Boy Crawford [1984] Reissue of Chess 2ACMB-209. (2-LP set) -- "Chess Masters," CH2-92508 - Sugar Boy Crawford - Sugar Boy Crawford (2-LP set) another Reissue of Chess 2ACMB-209.
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Disc:1
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Sugar Boy & the Cane Cutters - (Checker 783 1953 78-rpm) I Don't Know What I'll Do / Overboard
Sugar Boy & the Cane Cutters - (Checker Uniss 1954) You Know I Love You
Sugar Boy & the Cane Cutters - (Checker Uniss 1954) Stop
Sugar Boy & the Cane Cutters - (Checker Uniss 1954) Watch Her Whip Her
Slim Saunders - (Chess 1563 1954) Let's Have Some Fun (Honey) / Get Away (Slim Saunders vocal)
Slim Saunders recorded as a backup singer with Sugar Boy Crawford's band sometimes. Session: Slim Saunders (v) with Snooks Elgin (g); Frank Fields (b); James “Sugar Boy” Crawford (p); Edgar “Big Boy” Myles (tb); David Lastie (ts); Alfred Bernard (as); Eric Warner (d)
The track was issued by Chess under Paul Gayten's supervision, as a single sung by Slim Saunders - (Chess 1563 1954) Let's Have Some Fun (Honey) / Get Away
Sugar Boy & the Cane Cutters - (Checker Uniss 1954) Wandering Baby
Sugar Boy & the Cane Cutters - (Checker 795 1954) I Bowed on My Knees / No More Heartaches
Sugar Boy & the Cane Cutters - (Checker Uniss 1954) What's Wrong
Humorous song about personal misfortune
Sugar Boy & the Cane Cutters - (Checker Uniss 1954) Love, Love, Love
Sugar Boy & the Cane Cutters - (Checker Uniss 1954) Troubled Mind Blues
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Disc:2
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Sugar Boy & the Cane Cutters - (Checker Uniss 1954) Ooh Wee Sugar
Sugar Boy & the Cane Cutters - (Checker Uniss 1954) There Goes My Baby
Sugar Boy & the Cane Cutters - (Checker 787 1954) Jock A Mo / You You You
Sugar Boy & the Cane Cutters - (Checker Uniss 1954) You Call Everybody Sweetheart
Sugar Boy & the Cane Cutters - (Checker Uniss 1952) If I Loved You Darling
reissued by Dave Bartholomew: released in 1956 as a 45-rpm single "Would You" on Imperial 5390
Sugar Boy & the Cane Cutters - (Checker Uniss 1954) Get Away
Sugar Boy & the Cane Cutters - (Checker Uniss 1954) Please Believe Me
Sugar Boy & the Cane Cutters - (Checker Uniss 1954) For Me
Sugar Boy & the Cane Cutters - (Checker Uniss 1954) Wondering
Sugar Boy & the Cane Cutters - (Checker Uniss 1954) Night Rider (Instrumental)
Sugar Boy & the Cane Cutters - (Checker Uniss 1954) Long Lost Stranger
The following are 78-rpm singles released by Chess/Checker in the U.S.
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Checker Sessions
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- James "Sugar Boy" Crawford - vocals, piano
- Leroy "Batman" Rankin - tenor saxophone
- Edgar "Big Boy" Myles - trombone
- Billy Tate - guitar
- Frank Fields - bass
- Chester Jones - drums
Sugar Boy & the Cane Cutters - (Checker 783 1953) I Don't Know What I'll Do/Overboard
Also "Overboard" is part of soundtrack for "Eve's Bayou," a film about a black family living in Louisiana, set in the 1960s.
Sugar Boy & the Cane Cutters - (Checker 787 1954) Jock A Mo / You You You
Mardi Gras classic - placed Sugar Boy into eternal stardom!!!
Sugar Boy & the Cane Cutters - (Checker 795 1954) I Bowed on My Knees / No More Heartaches

The following are 45-rpm singles released in the U.S.
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Imperial Sessions - singles
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The Imperial years from 1956 to 1957 represent a crossover mark, aimed to please his mainly white audience. Unlike earlier Aladdin and Chess recordings, the Imperial records were well received on white New Orleans radio.

Sugar Boy had three sessions for Imperial and was backed up by Dave Bartholomew's band: Lee Allen, Herb Hardesty, Justin Adams, Frank Fields and Earl Palmer. These were recorded at Cosimo's Studio in New Orleans.

Thanks to Tapio for 45-single Imperial discographies that follow:
James Crawford, Jr. - (Imperial 5424 1956) She's Got A Wobble (When She Walks) / You Gave Me Love
Mardi Gras favorite
James Crawford, Jr. - (Imperial 5441 1957)
I Don't Need You / Morning Star
"Morning Star" Written by Dave Bartholomew - also released later on
EMI/Capitol 80184 2-CDs 1993 "Spirit of New Orleans: The Genius of Dave Bartholomew"
James Crawford, Jr. - (Imperial 5468 1957) She's the One / No One But You, Dear
James Crawford, Jr. - (Imperial 5513 1958) I Need Your Love / It's Over
"I Need Your Love" later released on Imperial Singles Collection Vol 1 - Released in Japan; Label: KING Records Imperial GXF 2081 vinyl LP, Year: Unknown
James Crawford, Jr. - (Imperial UNISS Year: 1957) The Facts
James Crawford, Jr. - (Imperial UNISS Year: 1957) I Have A Feeling
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Montel label
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James Sugar Boy - (Montel 1003 1959) Danny Boy / Round and Round
Considered his signature song and his best record ever!!!
Produced by Sam Montalbano (aka Sam Montel); Montel label - Baton Rouge, La
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Ace label
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Sugar Boy Crawford - (Ace 625 1961 45-rpm) I Cried / Have A Little Mercy

1963 - stay in the hospital - Sugar Boy and his band were on their way to a job in North Louisiana, when state troopers pulled him over for the crime of being a black man in a flashy brand-new automobile. One of Louisiana's "finest" took exception to Sugar Boy's attitude and proceeded to pistol-whip him on the side of the road. Sugar Boy spent three weeks in the hospital and was incapacitated for two years. (Excerpt from Offbeat Magazine, New Orleans, LA)
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Peacock label
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Sugar Boy & the Sugar Lumps - (Peacock 1925 1963 45-rpm) - Mama Won't You Turn Me Loose / So Long, Goodbye
The record lists 'Sugarboy' as the artist, although 'Sugar Boy' was recovering from a hospital stay and had nothing to do with the session.

A vinyl 2-LP set was issued by Chess/Vogue 427017 (France) 1976, named Sugar Boy Crawford "Chicago Golden Years," reissued on CD in 1988.

Track listing courtesy of Tapio.

Sugar Boy Crawford "Chicago Golden Years" (Chess/Vogue 427017), 2LP
Disc 1 Side 1: tracks -
Overboard; I Don't Know What I'll Do; You Know I Love You; Stop; Watch Her Whip Me; Honey (Slim Saunders on "Honey" track)
Disc 1 Side 2: tracks -
I Bowed On My Knees; Wandering Baby; No More Heartaches; What's Wrong; Love Love Love; Troubled Mind Blues

Disc 2 Side 1: tracks -
Ooh Wee Sugar; There Goes My Baby; Jockomo; You You You; You Call Everybody Sweetheart; If I Loved You Darling
Side 2: tracks -
Get Away; Please Believe Me; For Me; Wondering; Night Rider; Long Lost Stranger

A vinly LP named "New Orleans Classics" includes 4 tracks by the Shaweez Vinyl LP released in 1985, by Pathe Marconi (France) catalogue number 1561351.

James "Sugar Boy" Crawford & The Shaweez: New Orleans Classics (vinyl LP, Pathe Marconi/Imperial 1561351), Side 1: tracks -
Morning Star; You Gave Me Love; She's Gotta Wobble (When She Walks); I Don't Need You; The Facts; It's Over; I Need Your Love
Side 2: tracks -
I Have A Feeling; No One But You Dear; She's The One; You Made Me Love You (The Shaweez); No One To Love Me (The Shaweez); Feeling Sad (The Shaweez); Early Sunday Morning (The Shaweez)

The following is a compilation CD.
Various Artists - (CD Jewel-Paula 1992), "Merry Christmas Baby"
Sugar Boy Crawford - track: White Christmas