Jimmie Rodgers

Jimmie Rodgers – The Very Best Of Jimmie Rodgers (1997)

By David. Thanks, honey.
 
01 - Train Whistle Blues
02 - Blue Yodel # 1 (T is for Texas)
03 - T.B. Blues *
04 - In the Jailhouse Now
05 - Frankie and Johnny
06 - Blue Yodel # 8 (Mule Skinner Blues)
07 - Brakeman's Blues (Yodeling the Blues Away)
08 - Why There's a Tear in My Eye
09 - Mississippi River Blues
10 - Jimmie Rodgers' Last Yodel
11 - Gambling Bar Room Blues
12 - Mystery of Number Five
13 - Waiting for a Train
14 - Travellin' Blues
15 - My Blue-Eyed Jane
16 - Blue Yodel # 9 (Standing on the Corner)
17 - Pistol Packin' Papa
18 - Miss the Mississippi and You
19 - Somewhere Down Below the Dixon Line
20 - The Soldier's Sweetheart
21 - Hobo Bill's Last Ride
22 - Peach Picking Time Down in Georgia
 
RCA Camden Records (CD) 74321 535852
 
Note – these are historical recordings lacking in modern audio sonic technology.  What the digital medium enhances (i.e., recording sonic flaws), more than makes up for their musical influential significance and archival preservation. *Jimmie died of complications from tuberculosis (T.B.).
 
The modern template for a country music star starts with Jimmie Rodgers. Fusing jazz, blues, folk, gospel, pop, and cowboy material into an easy, comfortable style and also writing a good portion of his own repertoire, Rodgers understood as well that a public persona -- he was known as "the singing brakeman" and the "blue yodeler" -- gave him a welcome base to work from, and although his professional career only lasted six years, he influenced everyone who came after him in the country music field. This set has his key tracks from the late 1920s and early '30s, including several of his signature blue yodels, and works as a fine introduction to this important performer.
 ~ Steve Leggett