Artist:St. Louis Jimmy Oden
Song:Goin' Down Slow
Album:Blues Legend: The Best Of
Though he is forgotten today, St. Louis Jimmy Oden is a pretty good blues singer and his career started in the 30s and went into the 60s. Goin' Down Slow is his best known song. It's in the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame. He was born James Burke Oden June 26, 1903 in Nashville. He sang and taught himself to play piano as a child. As a teen, he moved to St. Louis because piano based blues was popular there. He played St. Louis clubs with pianist Roosevelt Sykes. They moved to Chicago in 1933 and that's where Oden got the nickname St. Louis. He first recorded for Champion in 1932 followed by recordings for Bluebird, as Old Man Oden for Decca and as Big Bloke for Varsity. Sykes was on piano for most of these recordings. Oden had his greatest success when he recorded for Bluebird in the 40s. He was known as St. Louis Jimmy. Goin' Down Slow was the B side of Monkey Face Blues. Sykes' piano is outstanding. Alfred Elkins plays bass. Today Goin' Down Slow is considered to be a blues standard. It's in the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame. Oden recorded it several times but this mp3 album contains the original version. The most notable covers of Goin' Down Slow are by Howlin' Wolf in 1961 and Bobby "Blue" Bland in 1974. Oden and Sykes recorded for Bluebird until 1945. After that Oden bounced around different labels. He recorded with Muddy Waters in 1948 and Sunnyland Slim in 1949. This continued until he released the 1961 album Goin' Down Slow on Bluesville. That turned out to be Oden's only album and final recording. It looks like he retired at that point. Oden was in a car crash in 1957 and it looks like he had difficulty getting around. St. Louis Jimmy Oden died on Dec. 30, 1977 at age 74. He may be the best blues singer you haven't heard. Here' a video for Goin' Down Slow by St. Louis Jimmy Oden. Thanks to Wirz' American Music for the discography.
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