A short man with a big, deep voice, Alexander started his career performing on the streets and at parties and picnics in the
Brazos River bottomlands, where he sometimes worked with
Blind Lemon Jefferson. In 1927, he began a recording career that continued into the 1930s, recording sides for
Okeh Records and
Vocalion Records in
New York,
San Antonio, and
Fort Worth. Songs he recorded include "Mama's Bad Luck Child," "Sittin' on a Log," "Texas Special," "Broken Yo Yo" and "Don't You Wish Your Baby Was Built Up Like Mine?" On April 9, 1934, Alexander recorded with backing by the
Mississippi Sheiks. Their line-up featured
Bo Carter on violin and Sam Chatman and
Walter Vinson on guitar. The eight tracks recorded included "Seen Better Days" and "Frost Texas Tornado Blues", the latter of which told of the tornado which destroyed
Frost, Texas, on May 6, 1930, leaving 41 dead. Alexander did not play a musical instrument, and over the years he worked with a number of other artists, including
King Oliver,
Eddie Lang,
Lonnie Johnson,
Little Hat Jones, the Mississippi Sheiks,
J. T. Smith, and
Lightnin' Hopkins. He sang in the free rhythm of work songs, such as the migrant
cotton pickers he performed for might have sung, which posed a challenge for those accompanying him. The rhythm of his singing is often difficult to follow, and on his records his accompanists can often be heard resetting their watches to "Alexander time". He was buried in Longstreet Cemetery, in
Montgomery County, Texas. In 2013 the Killer Blues Headstone Project placed a headstone for him there. ==Discography==