Jordan’s St. Louis Style

Charley Jordan (vocals & guitar) made this recording in Chicago during mid-June of 1930.

St. Louis pimp and bootlegger Charley Jordan recorded numerous singles for Vocalion and Decca between 1930 and 1937, and also performed with other highly regarded bluesmen throughout his career, well into the 1940s. Among those other artists were Peetie Wheatstraw, Roosevelt Sykes, Casey Bill Weldon and Memphis Minnie. He had most of his biggest hits during the early to mid-1930s, working frequently with Big Joe Williams from the late 30’s on into the 1940s.

In 1928 Jordan was shot in the spine, this was due to his extramusical career as a bootlegger. This gave him a long term disability and caused him to walk with crutches thereafter (which can be seen in his few photographs). Charley Jordan died of pneumonia in St. Louis in 1954.

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