Rodgers, Jimmie (James Charles Rodgers), 1897–1933, American singer, guitarist, and songwriter often called "the father of country music," b. Meridian, Miss. The son of a railroad foreman, he left school at 14 and worked various railroad jobs, meanwhile learning the blues from his African-American fellow workers. Known as the "Singing Brakeman," he retired from the railroad c.1924 due to the tuberculosis that eventually would take his life. Rodgers soon became a full-time musician, signed (1927) and recorded with RCA Victor, and toured widely. He was extremely popular for his sweet, yodeling tenor; his 12-bar, black-inflected country blues ("blue yodels"); and his songs of railroad, hobo, and cowboy life. His trademark songs include "Mississippi Delta Blues," "Waiting for a Train," "In the Jailhouse Now," "Brakeman's Blues," and "My Time Ain't Long." The first country musician to attain success in both rural and urban America, Rodgers has had an enduring musical influence on later generations. In 1961 he became the first singer named to the Country Music Hall of Fame and in 1986 was the first country singer inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Bibliography

See biographies by his wife, C. Rodgers (1935, repr. 1995), B. C. Malone (1985), and N. Porterfield (1992); The Jimmie Rodgers Collection and The Jimmie Rodgers Memorial Songbook (both: 1999).

Rodgers, Jimmie

orig. James Charles Rodgers

(born Sept. 8, 1897, Meridian, Miss., U.S.—died May 26, 1933, New York, N.Y.) U.S. country music singer and guitarist. He left school at age 14 to work on the railroad, and he would be known throughout his career as the “Singing Brakeman.” While working on the trains he learned guitar and banjo, absorbed blues techniques from African American railroad workers, and eventually created his characteristic sound—a blend of traditional work, blues, hobo, and cowboy songs and his trademark “blue yodel.” By c. 1924 tuberculosis had made his railroad work impossible; he began instead to perform and soon became a best-selling recording artist, the first solo star of country music. His more than 110 recordings include “Blue Yodel No. 1” and “Mississippi River Blues.” He died at age 35. He was one of the first three inductees into the Country Music Hall of Fame.