ALGERNON 'Texas'
ALEXANDER
 

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Algernon 'Texas' Alexander (a christian name of Alger is cited in some sources) was born in Leon County, Texas, in September 1900 and very little is known about his early life. His family were sharecroppers but Alexander seemed to have spent much of his youth with his grandparents. He was an older cousin of Lightnin' Hopkins and it is known that he worked as a labourer in the cotton fields and on railway gangs. Although he was based in south Leon County his work as a field hand resulted in him travelling around a great deal. He was essentially a blues songster and although he carried a guitar, he didn't play it, and it was probably just a prop or for use by those who accompanied  him. He had a very powerful voice and would often sing acapella in bars or on street corners. By 1927 he had moved to Dallas, working as a store man in a warehouse and also making extra money singing in local bars and in the streets around the Central Tracks area of Dallas.

It was here that he was "discovered" by pianist Sam Price who had earlier been responsible for securing a recording deal for Blind Lemon Jefferson. He went on to record over 60 rural blues songs, and with his distinctive rubato singing style he became one of the most popular blues singers on record and throughout Texas. Apart from a period spent in a Texas penitentiary following some kind of trouble (possibly a murder charge) he became involved in at Fort Worth, he seemed to have enjoyed a reasonably settled and successful career. He died in Houston, Texas in 1955.

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