Biography
Charley Jordan entered the world on January 1, 1890, in Mabelvale, Arkansas, and built a multifaceted career in St. Louis as a blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist who also scouted talent and ran various enterprises, among them bootlegging that later shaped his path. From the 1920s through the 1940s he guided, arranged, and joined countless recording dates. Between 1930 and 1937 he issued multiple singles on Vocalion and Decca, most notably the widely recognized “Keep It Clean,” while sustaining regular partnerships with Roosevelt Sykes, Peetie Wheatstraw, Casey Bill Weldon, Memphis Minnie, and Big Joe Williams that extended into the following decade. Additional sides appeared under the alternate designations Charley Jordon, Charlie Jordan, Jordan, and Uncle Skipper, forming a compact yet durable catalog of country blues performances. In 1928 a bootlegging quarrel left him with a spinal wound; thereafter most photographs captured him supported by crutches. Although “Keep It Clean” achieved his strongest commercial success, “Starvation Blues” stands as his defining piece, its sharp, drifting lines retaining an unsettling currency well into the present era. Document Records has issued his complete recordings across three volumes. Jordan passed away on November 15, 1954, in St. Louis, Missouri.