Gordon was born in
Memphis, Tennessee on April 10, 1928, the youngest of eight children. In 1946, Gordon moved to Chicago "after getting in trouble in Memphis." His first hit single, "Saddled the Cow (and Milk the Horse)," released on
RPM Records (subsidiary of Modern) reached No. 9 on the
Billboard R&B chart. Gordon's next single "Booted" was recorded at Phillips'
Memphis Recording Service. For years, Gordon did not receive
royalties for his songs. "Sam Phillips gave me one hundred dollars. One hundred. No royalties. No nothin'. But, I did it for the Biharis, now they gave me six hundred dollars. No royalties. No nothin'. But like I say, I didn't know any better," he said. Following his wife's death in 1984, he returned to touring. In 2002, Gordon was invited by the filmmaker
Richard Pearce to be included in a documentary film about several blues musicians returning to Memphis for a tribute to Sam Phillips in conjunction with the May 2002
W.C. Handy Awards. The documentary,
The Road to Memphis, aired on
PBS television. Six weeks after filming finished, Gordon died at the age of 74 from a heart attack at his apartment in
Rego Park, Queens on July 11, 2002. == Discography ==