James Burke "St. Louis Jimmy" Oden (June 26, 1903 – December 30, 1977) was an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

musician and songwriter.

Biography

Oden was born in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, United States. His parents were Henry Oden, a dancer, and Leana West, although both had died before their son reached the age of eight. He sang and taught himself to play the piano in childhood. In his teens, he left home for

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

, where piano-based blues was prominent. He developed his vocal talents and began performing with the pianist

Roosevelt Sykes Roosevelt Sykes (January 31, 1906July 17, 1983) was an American blues musician, also known as "the Honeydripper". Career Sykes was born the son of a musician in Elmar, Arkansas. "Just a little old sawmill town", Sykes said of his birthplace. The ...

. After more than ten years playing in and around St. Louis, in 1933 he and Sykes moved to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. In Chicago, he was nicknamed St. Louis Jimmy and had a solid performing and recording career for the next four decades. Chicago became his home, but Oden traveled with blues players throughout the United States. He recorded many records, his best-known being the 1941

Bluebird The bluebirds are a North American group of medium-sized, mostly insectivorous or omnivorous passerine birds in the genus ''Sialia'' of the thrush family (Turdidae). Bluebirds are one of the few thrush genera in the Americas. Bluebirds lay an ...

release "

Goin' Down Slow "Goin' Down Slow" or "Going Down Slow" is a blues song composed by American blues singer St. Louis Jimmy Oden. It is considered a blues standard and "one of the most famous blues of all". "Goin' Down Slow" has been recorded by many blues and ...

". Oden's songs "Take the Bitter with the Sweet" and "Soon Forgotten" were recorded by his friend

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913April 30, 1983), better known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician who was an important figure in the post-World War II blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of moder ...

. "Florida Hurricane" was released in 1948 on

Aristocrat Records Aristocrat Records, sometimes billed as the Aristocrat of Records, was founded in April 1947 by Charles and Evelyn Aron, together with their partners Fred and Mildred Brount and Art Spiegel. By September, Leonard Chess had invested in the young re ...

. The song featured Muddy Waters on guitar and

Sunnyland Slim Albert Luandrew (September 5, 1906March 17, 1995), "Blues pianist and singer Sunnyland Slim was born Albert Luandrew in Vance, Mississippi, September 5, 1906 (most sources say 1907, but the Social Security Death Index and 1920 census data give t ...

on piano. In 1949, Oden partnered with Joe Brown to form a small recording company,

J.O.B. Records J.O.B. Records was an American, Chicago based independent record label, founded by businessman Joe Brown and bluesman St. Louis Jimmy Oden in 1949. It specialized in Southern blues and city based R&B. In 1952, the label's recording of " Five ...

. Oden appears to have ended his involvement within a year, but with other partners the company remained in business until 1974. He spent less time performing after being in a car crash in 1957. Songs written later in his career include "What a Woman!" Oden released the album ''Goin' Down Slow'' on Prestige-Bluesville in 1960. He performed as a vocalist on three songs recorded for an

Otis Spann Otis Spann (March 21, 1924, or 1930April 24, 1970) was an American blues musician many consider the leading postwar Chicago blues pianist. Early life Sources differ over Spann's early years. Some state that he was born in Jackson, Mississippi, ...

session in 1960. These tracks were released on the album ''Walking the Blues'', re-released as a Candid CD (CCD 79025) in 1989. Oden died of

bronchopneumonia Bronchopneumonia is a subtype of pneumonia. It is the acute inflammation of the Bronchus, bronchi, accompanied by inflamed patches in the nearby lobules of the lungs. citing: Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2014 ...

in 1977, at the age of 74 in Chicago. He was interred in

Restvale Cemetery Restvale Cemetery is in Alsip, Illinois, United States, a suburb southwest of the city of Chicago. A number of Chicago blues musicians, educators, and notable people are buried there. Restvale and Burr Oak were the last two historically black ce ...

, in

Alsip, Illinois Alsip is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 19,063 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area. Alsip was settled in the 1830s by German and Dutch farmers. The village is named after Frank A ...

, near Chicago.

Discography

As leader

*''I Have Made up my Mind'' (Champion, 1932) *''Goin’ Down Slow'' (Prestige Bluesville, 1961)

As guest

With

*'' Walking the Blues'' (Barnaby, 1960

972 Year 972 ( CMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Spring – Emperor John I Tzimiskes divides the Bulgarian territories, recently held by the Kievan Rus', into six ...

With

*'' House Rent Party'' (Delmark, 1947

992 Year 992 ( CMXCII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Worldwide * Winter – A superflare from the sun causes an Aurora Borealis, with visibility as far south as Germany and Korea. Euro ...

References

External links

* Oden biographyat

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

website A website (also written as a web site) is any web page whose content is identified by a common domain name and is published on at least one web server. Websites are typically dedicated to a particular topic or purpose, such as news, educatio ...