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the blue
yodeler |
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Born in the small town of Meridian, Mississippi (current pop. 42,000) on September 8, 1897, James Charles Rodgers grew up fast. By the ripe old age of 14 he was working for the railroad, a fact that later would earn him the title, "The Singing Brakeman." It was while working as a railroad hand that he learned to play and sing the blues and worksongs of his black fellow workers along with the ballads which had been handed down to the Appalachians by the generations of Scots and Irish settlers there. I guess that’s also where he learned to experience life and distill it into the words of his own songs. Many of those songs dealt with railroading or hobo life -- two subjects with which he was well acquainted for he never seemed to hold a job for long and there were great stretches of hobo life in between the railroad jobs. By the time he was 24, he had to quit railroading completely, having contracted tuberculosis and becoming unable to perform the physical tasks involved. Jimmie had found that he was well received when he sang and played and decided to become a serious entertainer. The TB was truly a two-edged sword. It would kill him at the very early age of 35 but it was also the turning point that brought him wealth and acclaim and made it possible for us to still hear his voice and his music today. He is reported to have appeared in Johnson City, Tennessee and various other places in 1925 and in 1926, he and his wife, Carrie, moved to Asheville, North Carolina. It was here that he put together a band he called Jimmie Rodgers’ Entertainers. The following year he heard that some city-slicker from New York was setting up a portable recording studio in Bristol, Tennessee and was putting out the call for local singers and musicians to come and audition. The Entertainers packed their gear and headed for Bristol, on the TN/VA border but a squabble ensued and Rodgers ended up recording solo. On August 1st of 1927, he met the city slicker, Ralph Peer, signed a recording deal with RCA’s Victor label and made his first two recordings, "The Soldier’s Sweetheart" and "Sleep, Baby, Sleep." They were instantly successful and he was on his way. He recorded several more sides that same year including "Blue Yodel #1" or "T For Tennessee," the first of thirteen Blue Yodels. Superstardom was upon him. His recordings were being played on radio stations all over the country, people far and wide were singing his praises and, best of all, he was making lots of money. He and Carrie spent lavishly and lived the high life but by 1933 Jimmie was broke. He went to New York to make some more records and, ergo, more money. By then the consumption was taking its last swings at him and on may 26, the day after his last recording session, it delivered the knockout punch and he died in his hotel room. He was only 35 years old and his recording carreer lasted less than six years but he recorded no less than 111 songs and became the cornerstone on which an industry and the careers of countless entertainers was built. In l961, when the Country Music Hall of Fame was founded, Jimmie Rodgers was there, standing shoulder to shoulder with Hank Williams and Fred Rose as a charter inductee. Among the cases of memorabilia at the Hall of Fame Museum is a prominent Jimmie Rodgers display. He was also on board the first train of honorees to arrive at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and, of course is prominently featured in the Mississippi Hall of Fame. And, if you ever happen to be in his Hometown of Meridian, you can go a couple of miles northwest of downtown and visit the Jimmie Rodgers Museum. There you can see all sorts of J.R. artifacts including a pair of his boots and his famous, custom inlaid Martin guitar. Then afterward, if you’re so inclined, you could take a trip out to Oak Grove Cemetary and pay your respects to Jimmie and Carrie. He was a true pioneer and became an inspiration and guiding light to generations of songwriters, musicians and superstars to follow. Hank Williams, Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson and countless others owe, at least in part, their musical lives to the man who was a genuine legend and the Father of Country Music. We bid him sleep, baby, sleep... |
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