Black Ivory King

• Born: 1910
• Active: '30s
• Genres: Blues
• Instrument: Vocals, Piano

Biography

Black Ivory King, aka Dave Alexander, rather sadly, didn't spend a big part of his career recording -- only four songs survived him on record. He cut these for American Decca in Dallas early in 1937, and may have been based in Dallas-Fort Worth during this period. He was evidently a traveller of the rails, and gave an account of this part of his life in his finest song, "The Flying Crow," named for the rail line he took out of Shreveport through Port Arthur, TX and Ashdown, AR, and through Oklahoma into Kansas City, MO. Almost nothing more is known of the man, except that he was familiar with the work of Blind Lemon Jefferson, cutting a version of "Match Box Blues" that incorporates some of the latter's verses. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide