b. 12 September 1900; Jewett, TX
d. 16 April 1954; Richards, TX
Texas Alexander began recording for OKeh in 1927,
recording 56 sides for them. He played no instrument,
but from 1927 to 1930 he was accompanied by Lonnie
Johnson, Eddie Heywood, Eddie Lang, King Oliver,
Little Hat Jones, the Mississippi Sheiks, Carl Davis,
or Willie Reed, among others. Alexander often carried a guitar with him in case there was a guitarist
around when he sang on the street. His records sold
well, and new versions of ‘‘Range in My Kitchen’’
were recorded by William Harris and Rinehart &
Stubblefield, and Lightnin’ Hopkins and Smokey
Hogg both remade ‘‘Penitentiary Moan Blues,’’ now
a classic of Texas blues.
Alexander’s style, so often consisting of lengthy
moans and hums, often drawn out over unevenly
spaced measures, sounds very close to the field holler.
Indeed, combining a field holler with the shouts of the
section gang caller—where Alexander once worked—
and tailoring it into a recordable blues song would
produce a sound very similar to Alexander’s. He
recorded for Vocalion in 1934, backed either by a
small jazz group or two guitars. He was passed over
by an Aladdin scout in favor of Amos Milburn and
Lightnin’ Hopkins in 1946 or 1947. His last recording
was for the Freedom label in Houston in 1950.
PAUL GARON
Bibliography
Van Rijn, Guido, and Hans Vergeer. Sleeve notes for Alger
‘‘Texas’’ Alexander, Texas Troublesome Blues. 1982.
Agram AB 2009.
Discography: DGR; LSFP
‘‘Range in My Kitchen Blues’’ (1927, OKeh 8528).
‘‘Penitentiary Moan Blues’’ (1928, OKeh 8640).