Jimmie Rodgers

James Charles Rodgers ((1897-09-08)September 8, 1897 – (1933-05-26)May 26, 1933) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician who rose to popularity in the late 1920s. Widely regarded as the "Father of Country Music", he is best known for his distinctive yodeling. Rodgers was known as "The Singing Brakeman" and "America's Blue Yodeler". He has been cited as an inspiration by many artists, and he has been inducted into multiple halls of fame.

Originally from Meridian, Mississippi, Rodgers was the son of railroad worker Aaron Rodgers. During his early childhood the family moved according to the needs of his father's employment, or Rodgers' own poor health. As a teenager he was musically influenced by the diverse vaudeville shows that he often attended. At the age of 13 he won a local singing contest, and then traveled through the Southern United States with a medicine show. After his father took him back home to Meridian, Rodgers dropped out of school and joined the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, beginning as a waterboy on his father's gang; he later performed other functions on the railroad, eventually becoming a brakeman. During his time working with different railroad companies, the singer further developed his musical style; he was influenced by the gandy dancers and their impromptu blues performances. Rodgers was diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1924. By 1927, as a result of his declining health, he stopped working for the railroad and decided to focus on his music career.

Rodgers joined the Tenneva Ramblers band in 1927, which at the time was working at a radio station. After the band was fired from its spot, it worked in different resorts in the Blue Ridge Mountains. There, Rodgers became aware of the field recordings that Victor Talking Machine Company's engineer Ralph Peer was to undertake in Bristol, Tennessee. During what later became known as the Bristol sessions, Rodgers recorded solo, having been deserted by his band after a disagreement. A second session with Rodgers was later arranged in Camden, New Jersey, at the singer's own insistence; that session produced "Blue Yodel No. 1 (T for Texas)". The song became a success, propelling Rodgers to national fame and beginning his recording career with the label, during which he produced over 120 songs. Jimmie Rodgers died of tuberculosis on May 26, 1933, at age 35.

The Rodgers family migrated to the United States from England and Ireland before the American Revolution. They settled around the Appalachian Mountains, and later moved to the Southern and Western United States. Both of Jimmie Rodgers' grandfathers served in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. After the war his maternal grandfather settled in Meridian, Mississippi, while his paternal grandfather settled around Geiger, Alabama. Rodgers' father, Aaron, worked for the Mobile and Ohio Railroad. He eventually became a foreman, and in 1884 he married Eliza Bozeman. The couple lived in the railroad work camps as Aaron Rodgers moved through different locations along the line. The Rodgers family then temporarily settled in the community of Pine Springs, north of Meridian.

Charles James "Jimmie" Rodgers was born on September 8, 1897. His place of birth is disputed: Meridian—which Rodgers often called his home town—is most often listed in records, but he later signed a document that named Geiger, Alabama. (The document was signed in order for him to join a local fraternal organization; historians do not take it seriously.) Rodgers' mother, incapable of living in the unsanitary conditions of the camps, decided to stay in Pine Springs, while her husband frequently worked for long periods and returned home when he could. After two miscarriages, her health began to fail. She 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. She died in 1903. The then-six-year-old Jimmie Rodgers was deeply affected by his mother's death. He was sent, along with his brother Talmage, to live with relatives of his father in Scooba, Mississippi, and later to Geiger. Rodgers attended school irregularly during his early childhood; he did not attend at all for a time following the death of his mother. After the family moved to Lowndes County, Mississippi, he and his brother went to school in the town of Artesia. Rodgers and his brother often arrived late to school or missed it altogether as a result of road conditions and other distractions. Rodgers often missed classes during the winter due to his tendency to suffer from colds and respiratory issues.

His father remarried and the family moved to Meridian, where Rodgers was enrolled at the local high school. He and his siblings had problems with their new stepmother. When his father returned to work for the railroad, Rodgers again rarely went to school. Instead, he and his brother Jake went to the local theaters to see vaudeville shows and watch movies. As a result, Rodgers became interested in the entertainment industry. To support his expenditures he sold newspapers and molasses, or he panhandled. In 1906, he was sent to live with his older brother Talmage and their aunt Dora Bozeman in Pine Springs, while his brother Jake was sent to other relatives. The routine of the Bozeman household grounded Rodgers with chores and he spent most of his free time outdoors. He started to attend school regularly and he was further assisted by his teacher, who rented a room at his aunt's boarding house. Rodgers received most of his schooling while he lived there until he went back to Meridian in 1911.

Upon his return to Meridian, he went back to the streets. He frequented the barbershop of his uncle Tom Bozeman and he often slept during the daytime in the upstairs apartment. He organized a neighborhood carnival that played the nearby towns. Rodgers' appearances made enough money to pay for the sheets he used as a tent. He then organized a second show, which he financed with his father's money, unbeknownst to him. 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". Following his success, Rodgers started to perform with a medicine show. He quit the show some weeks later as they reached Birmingham, Alabama, claiming the proprietor did not treat him well. At the age of thirteen, he started working for a tailor in West Blocton, Alabama, until, months later, his father took him back to Meridian with the intention of enrolling him at a new school. Soon afterward, his stepmother died. Instead of attending school, Rodgers followed his father to learn his profession with the working crews of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad.

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. Eventually, he became a baggage handler and then a brakeman. He moved often while working on the lines from Mississippi to Texas. In January 1917, he was introduced by a friend to Stella Kelly in Durant, Mississippi. At that time Rodgers was moving between Jackson and New Orleans without a stable location. He maintained the lines, checked baggage, and at times worked as a dishwasher at a local restaurant in Durant. He and Kelly married on April 6, 1917. The newlyweds left Durant after Rodgers' job as an apprentice mechanic failed to work out, and moved to Louisville, Mississippi, where he again worked as a brakeman. After his marriage fell apart, he began working for the New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad (NO&NE), spending time in both Meridian and New Orleans. He was fired from the NO&NE in 1920, and then worked odd jobs. In the early 1920s he returned to work stints on the railway lines where he had previously worked, as well as on the Vicksburg, Shreveport and Pacific Railway. He worked mainly as a brakeman, but he also performed other functions, including flagman.