St. Louis Jimmy Oden
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James Burke "St. Louis Jimmy" Oden (June 26, 1903 - December 30, 1977), was an American blues vocalist and composer.
Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Jimmy Oden sang and taught himself to play the piano in childhood. In his teens, he left home to go to St. Louis, Missouri where piano-based blues was prominent. He was able to develop his vocal talents and began performing with the gifted pianist, Roosevelt Sykes. After more than ten tears playing in and around St. Louis, in 1932 he and Sykes decided to move on to Chicago.
In Chicago he was dubbed St. Louis Jimmy and there he would enjoy a solid performing and recording career for the next four decades. While Chicago became his home base, Oden travelled with a group of blues players to various places throughout the United States. He recorded a large number of records, his best known coming in 1941 on the Bluebird Records label called "Goin' Down Slow." Oden wrote a number of songs, two of which, "Take the Bitter with the Sweet" and "Soon Forgotten," were recorded by friend, Muddy Waters.
In 1949, Jimmy Oden partnered with Joe Brown to form a small recording company called J.O.B. Records that remained in business for twenty-five years.
Jimmy Oden died in 1977 and was interred in the Restvale Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois, near Chicago.
