73 Facts About Jimmie Rodgers

James Charles Rodgers was an American singer, songwriter, and musician who rose to popularity in the late 1920s.

Jimmie Rodgers was known as "The Singing Brakeman" and "America's Blue Yodeler".

Jimmie Rodgers has been cited as an inspiration by many artists, and he has been inducted into multiple halls of fame.

Originally from Meridian, Mississippi, Jimmie Rodgers was the son of railroad worker Aaron Jimmie Rodgers.

Jimmie Rodgers joined the Tenneva Ramblers band in 1927, which at the time was working at a radio station.

The Jimmie Rodgers family migrated to the United States from England and Ireland before the American Revolution.

Jimmie Rodgers eventually became a foreman, and in 1884 he married Eliza Bozeman.

The couple lived in the railroad work camps as Aaron Jimmie Rodgers moved through different locations along the line.

Charles James "Jimmie" Rodgers was born on September 8,1897.

Jimmie Rodgers became sick, and Aaron Rodgers quit his job at the Mobile and Ohio Railroad and began farming, so as to be closer to his wife.

The then-six-year-old Jimmie Rodgers was deeply affected by his mother's death.

Jimmie Rodgers was sent, along with his brother Talmage, to live with relatives of his father in Scooba, Mississippi, and later to Geiger.

Jimmie Rodgers attended school irregularly during his early childhood; he did not attend at all for a time following the death of his mother.

Jimmie Rodgers often missed classes during the winter due to his tendency to suffer from colds and respiratory issues.

Jimmie Rodgers's father remarried and the family moved to Meridian, where Rodgers was enrolled at the local high school.

Jimmie Rodgers started to attend school regularly and he was further assisted by his teacher, who rented a room at his aunt's boarding house.

Jimmie Rodgers received most of his schooling while he lived there until he went back to Meridian in 1911.

Jimmie Rodgers frequented the barbershop of his uncle Tom Bozeman and he often slept during the daytime in the upstairs apartment.

Jimmie Rodgers organized a neighborhood carnival that played the nearby towns.

Jimmie Rodgers' appearances made enough money to pay for the sheets he used as a tent.

Jimmie Rodgers then organized a second show, which he financed with his father's money, unbeknownst to him.

Jimmie Rodgers then won a contest at the local Elite Theater for his performance of the songs "Steamboat Bill" and "I Wonder Why Bill Bailey Don't Come Home".

Jimmie Rodgers quit the show some weeks later as they reached Birmingham, Alabama, claiming the proprietor did not treat him well.

Jimmie Rodgers started working for the railroad as a waterboy for the black gandy dancer crews, who introduced him to the railroad jargon, their work songs, and banjo playing.

Jimmie Rodgers moved often while working on the lines from Mississippi to Texas.

At that time Jimmie Rodgers was moving between Jackson and New Orleans without a stable location.

Jimmie Rodgers maintained the lines, checked baggage, and at times worked as a dishwasher at a local restaurant in Durant.

Jimmie Rodgers worked mainly as a brakeman, but he performed other functions, including flagman.

In 1924, Jimmie Rodgers was diagnosed with tuberculosis at the age of 27.

Jimmie Rodgers formed a jazz-style band that performed pop standards with the inclusion of horns and the piano accompaniment of his new wife Carrie McWilliams' sister, Elsie McWilliams.

Jimmie Rodgers made an appointment for the band to record with Peer on August 4,1927.

The Tenneva Ramblers then deserted Jimmie Rodgers, who convinced Peer to record him alone with his guitar.

Jimmie Rodgers then moved with his family to Washington, DC, and the record sold some copies.

The first few numbers that Jimmie Rodgers tried did not appeal to Peer, as they were not original material.

Jimmie Rodgers then attempted a number he had been working on using yodeling, which Peer called "Blue Yodel".

Jimmie Rodgers used the band for his recordings of "In the Jailhouse Now" and "The Brakeman's Blues", among others.

The unknown origin of Jimmie Rodgers' yodel has been attributed to several sources, including traditional alpine songs, its use by gandy dancers and its use in vaudeville and minstrel shows.

Against his doctor's consistent recommendations to rest, Jimmie Rodgers proceeded with his tour.

Jimmie Rodgers intended to perform the show, but he collapsed on the dressing room floor shortly before its start.

Jimmie Rodgers had previously worn brakeman's working clothes, which he replaced with regular clothes and a cowboy hat.

At the height of this career, in 1929, Jimmie Rodgers made approximately $75,000 in royalties.

When he was on tour, The Jimmie Rodgers Show played his Victor recordings.

Jimmie Rodgers managed to produce ten sides, with regular rest between takes.

Jimmie Rodgers produced four songs and lay on a cot between takes.

When returning, Jimmie Rodgers decided to walk the last few blocks to the hotel, but he needed help to return to his room.

Jimmie Rodgers then suffered an intense cough, which eventually stopped.

Jimmie Rodgers recalled his earliest memories of playing the guitar upon returning from picking cotton during his childhood.

Jimmie Rodgers's material was based on classic Anglo-Celtic storytelling and ballad singing and black blues heavily influenced him.

Jimmie Rodgers' releases included collaborations with artists ranging from jazz performers to Hawaiian musicians.

Jimmie Rodgers developed his yodel through his early music career; he was likely influenced by several vaudevillian performers or by the recordings and live performances of Emmett Miller.

Jimmie Rodgers carried a banjo or a guitar with him as he worked on the railroads.

Additionally, Jimmie Rodgers developed a train whistle noise, which he made with the back of his throat through a mixture of a yodel and a whistle.

When he was later billed as "The Singing Brakeman", Jimmie Rodgers added railroad worker attire to his stage wardrobe.

Jimmie Rodgers married Stella Kelly on May 1,1917, when they were both 19 years old.

Jimmie Rodgers believed that Rodgers spent too much money and that by playing music he "fool away his time and money".

Jimmie Rodgers resorted to drinking to ease the pain caused by his tuberculosis.

On June 9,1932, Jimmie Rodgers lost a paternity lawsuit to his former wife Stella.

Jimmie Rodgers alleged that Rodgers was the father of her daughter, Kathryn Rodgers, who was born in February 1918.

Jimmie Rodgers was ordered to pay $50 monthly in child support until Kathryn reached 18 years of age.

Jimmie Rodgers was inducted to the order in Meridian on August 9,1920.

In 1931, Jimmie Rodgers was invited to Austin, Texas, and named an honorary Texas Ranger.

Jimmie Rodgers was the first artist inducted to the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970 for his influence in artists of "every genre" through music that "fused hillbilly, gospel, blues, jazz, pop and mountain folk music into timeless American standards".

The entry on Jimmie Rodgers remarked on his "undying" influence on multiple generations of musicians.

Jimmie Rodgers was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame and the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame in 1993 and 2018 respectively.

Snow started to imitate Jimmie Rodgers' guitar playing and singing style, and he would later credit him as his one major influence.

Jimmie Rodgers then decided to call Rodgers' widow to obtain a new copy.

Carrie Jimmie Rodgers invited him and his family to her home.

In South Africa, Jimmie Rodgers' records were distributed by Regal Zonophone Records.

Jimmie Rodgers' records sold particularly well in Durban, a city mostly populated by the Zulu.

Jimmie Rodgers influenced several Zimbabwean acoustic guitarists of the 1940s, who had heard records imported from South Africa, including Chinemberi, Mattaka, Jacob Mhungu and Jeremiah Kainga.

Recordings of Jimmie Rodgers were taken to the Great Rift Valley of Kenya by English missionaries who lived among the Kipsigis people.

Several performers who were influenced by Jimmie Rodgers were present, including 25 Grand Ole Opry artists led by Ernest Tubb and Hank Snow.

In 2007, Jimmie Rodgers was honored with a marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail in his hometown of Meridian, the first outside of the Mississippi Delta.