Who was/is Memphis Sheiks ? - CDs, Vinyl LPs, DVD and more

Memphis Sheiks

In the case of In The Jailhouse Now, it was Rodgers who was the crossover artist; his 1928 recording was in itself a cover of a popular blues song that had been already recorded by Whistler's Jug Band, Blind Blake, and Jim Jackson. The song has been reported to have been performed on radio as early as 1922 by Ernest Rogers, although its roots no doubt go further back than this. In light of the entirely different lyrics of the two versions, it is obvious that the Memphis Jug Band (using the pseudonym Memphis Sheiks) was not covering Rodgers' record and was merely perpetuating the traditional work, which possibly came from vaudeville sources. Jimmie Rodgers, however, did create a 'hillbilly' version of the melody, introducing the lyric about Rambling Bob shooting dice and drinking gin that soon became the standardized version, recorded by everyone from Johnny Cash to Doc Watson. This issue credits Bert Murphy (sometimes also credited as Burt Murphy), an African American vaudevillian, who made some silent movies aimed the African American community between 1914 and 1918.

Copyright © Bear Family Records®. Copying, also of extracts, or any other form of reproduction, including the adaptation into electronic data bases and copying onto any data mediums, in English or in any other language is permissible only and exclusively with the written consent of Bear Family Records® GmbH.

More information about Memphis Sheiks on Wikipedia.org

Close filters
No results were found for the filter!