Search - Texas Alexander :: 1930-1950 3

Unique look at Alexander, one of the most ancient types of B

Tony Thomas | SUNNY ISLES BEACH, FL USA | 02/09/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This album provides a different look at Alexander than the other two Alexander CDs. Alexander was almost unique as a Blues singer because he was not a musician. He did not play guitar, piano, harmonica, fiddle, mandolin, or any kind of instrument, at least on record. As such he may represent the vocal roots of Blues in unaccompanied field hollers and work songs, before Blues became a dance music requiring the beat making bass of a piano or the guitar or the bass.



On most of his earlier recordings, Alexander appears with guitarists who are often able to adjust to the variations on rhythm and pitch and structure that enrichen Alexander's oral Blues. However, on these recordings, Alexander plays with bands backing him. The most interesting and memorable are the 1930s San Antonio recording where Alexander is backed by the Mississippi Sheiks, the acme of Blues string bands. Even more than the other accompaniest on these recordings, the Sheiks force Alexander into a stronger, more rhythmic vocal style that provides a great contrast to his earlier recordings.



Of course, inadvertantly finding more Sheik's recordings to add to my collection is a pleasure in itself. On several of the cuts, you can see how strongly Bob Wills copied the Sheiks' fiddling in his own recordings. There are several licks here that prefigure the Bob Wills Special leads Wills used on that number and on various versions of the Milk Cow and Brain Cloudy blues."