Jimmie Rodgers is known to some as the "
The Singing Brakeman," to others as "
America's Blue Yodeler," but to all as the "
Father of Country Music."
Born James Charles Rodgers on
September 8th, 1897 in
Meridian, Mississippi, Jimmie followed his railway
foreman father around everywhere. He lost his mother at the age of four due to
tuberculosis. He soon ended up being nearly a
nomad with his father, traveling around the
Ohio Valley and
Alabama with his father, following work. He made his reputation with the men as a hard worker, leading to being hired as a
brakeman and forfeiting his job as water carrier.
Rodgers loved to travel the country in this fashion and loved being exposed to the
back-country folk music of the different areas. He fell in love with the sound of
yodeling and
guitar playing. At work camps, he would sing and play for the other men, but never chose to record any of his music. At the age of 27, Jimmie was hit with a near
fatal case of
tuberculosis. He made up his mind at this point that he was meant to be in the music business.
Rodgers' illness had left him unable to work on the railway, so he decided to leave and use his time for songwriting and performing. He began by performing in
black-face comedy shows and then singing in a traveling
variety show. He met with guitarist
Ernest Helton for the first time in
1926, with whom he began to develop his
trademark yodel.
He moved to
North Carolina in 1927, deciding that the climate and the
culture there would suit him better. In August of that year,
RCA executives met Jimmie for the first time and asked him to give recording a shot. He recorded "
Sleep Baby Sleep" and "
The Soldier's Sweetheart" which, as an A/B side record went on the sell more than
one million copies in the United States.
He went on to record more than one hundred other records and to become one of the most
popular country
artists of all time. He was unsurpassed as a solo entertainer, but after only 5 years as a star, he became
bedridden with illness. His best selling album,
the Bristol Sessions, was actually recorded on his deathbed. Listening to the music, it is
melodic and full of life,
happy and
positive, different from most of his
somber yodeling music of before.
Tuberculosis claimed his life on
May 26, 1933, at the age of 35. In
1961, twenty-eight years after his death, Jimmie was honored by his induction into the
Country Music Hall Of Fame. He was the third
inductee to the Hall.
Jimmie Rodgers remains to this day
beloved by those who have known his music.
Sources
http://www.ping.be/ml-cmb/jrindex.htm
http://www.eyeneer.com/America/Genre/Folk.bluegrass/Profiles/Rodgers/
http://www.jimmierodgers.com/home.html
http://www.alamhof.org/rodgersj.htm
http://www.sonymusic.com/artists/JimmieRodgers/TheSongsOfJimmieRodgers/biography.html
http://www.halloffame.org/hall/mem/jimmie-rodgers.html