James "Sugar Boy" Crawford, (October 12, 1934 – September 15, 2012), New Orleans R&B singer/musician. Crawford wrote "Jock-A-Mo" (1954), a hit that was later recreated as "Iko Iko". Although his song became a standard at the New Orleans Mardi Gras, Crawford himself disappeared from public view, and in a 2002 interview for Offbeat, told how his career came to an abrupt halt after a severe beating which incapacitated him for two years, forcing him to leave the music industry. In 1963, en route to a show in north Louisiana with his band, Crawford was stopped by police and pistol-whipped. His only crime appears to have been that of being a black man at the wheel of a flashy new car. “The sheriff in Columbia called ahead, and they had a roadblock set up for me,” he recalled. “The police jumped on me and cracked my skull.”
Crawford was left in a coma. A metal plate was inserted in his skull and he lost much of his memory. It took him two years to recover from his brain injury, and he had to learn again how to walk, talk, and play the piano.
Although he briefly attempted a comeback, Crawford felt his talent had diminished. He abandoned rhythm and blues and confined his singing to the church.