Jimmie Rodgers The Rough Guide To Country Legends - Jimmie Rodgers (2-CD)

The Rough Guide to Country Legends: Jimmie Rodgers

Many will recognize jodel-heavy classics like “In the Jailhouse Now”, which was included on the Cohen Brothers' “ O Brother, Where Art Thou? ‘, and ’Yodelling Cowboy”, and there's no doubt that such songs are typical of Rodgers' style. However, during his six years with the Victor label, he recorded over 110 songs and enjoyed exceptional artistic freedom thanks to his unprecedented fame. He was free to interpret his role as an exponent of country and hillbilly music and undertook a series of eclectic musical forays, the diversity of which forms the cornerstone of this Rough Guide.

“My Blue-Eyed Jane” was recorded with a full jazz band, and other tracks included mandolin, jug accompaniment, ukulele, tuba and more. His music is also heavily influenced by the rawness and dirt of the blues, as heard in classics like “Mule Skinner Blues (Blue Yodel #8)”, “Waiting For A Train” and “TB Blues”. Rodgers took these influences from his old railroad buddies who celebrated the Lord's Supper and told stories in songs, as “Gambling Bar Room Blues” and “I'm Free (From The Chain Gang Now)” are other good examples. Meanwhile, tunes like “Somewhere Down Below The Mason Dixie Line” and “My Rough and Rowdy Ways” display a vaudeville-like playfulness and a romantic notion of travel, traits his father had tried to temper by getting him a job on the railroad.

Accompanying this detailed overview of Rodgers' colorful but tragically abbreviated career is a bonus CD featuring a selection of classics by his contemporaries. "Country Music Pioneers ” includes tracks by artists such as Dock Boggs, the Carter Family and Alfred G. Karnes, painting a fuller picture of the most important period in American popular music between the world wars.