(Alexander Herman Moore)
(4CD)
BIOGRAPHY
Whistlin' Alex Moore (November 22, 1899 – January 20, 1989) was an American blues pianist, singer and whistler. He is best remembered for his recordings of "Across the Atlantic Ocean" and "Black Eyed Peas and Hog Jowls.
Moore was born Alexander Herman Moore in Dallas, Texas. At the age of three, his family moved to El Paso, Texas but returned to Dallas three years later for his father's job, who was a professional candy maker. Although his family did not own a piano Moore learned the instrument by watching others, including a female cousin, and practicing on instruments he found around town. He also learned to play harmonica as a boy, and was a tap dancer and whistler.
He took a more serious interest in playing piano in his mid-teens, although he never learned how to read music. In 1915 he performed on Dallas radio station WWR, and continued to play for tips at various social gathering places, including chockhouses (homes or stores where home-brewed alcohol was served) and juke joints in Dallas.
After his father's death, he dropped out of school to support his mother and two siblings. He had become proficient on the piano before entering the United States Army in 1916. His overall sound during the 1920s combined elements of the blues, ragtime, barrelhouse boogie, and stride. Also in the 1920s he acquired his nickname, based on a whistle he made while playing the piano .....(Wikipedia)