Rodgers, Jimmie (1897-1933), was a country music performer. Rodgers developed a unique style of music called the “blue yodel,” which blended Negro blues and country yodeling. Often called “the Singing Brakeman,” Rodgers wrote and sang songs about trains that were among the first to call national attention to rural Southern music.
James Charles Rodgers was born on Sept. 8, 1897, near Meridian, Mississippi. He quit school at age 13 to work for the railroad. In 1924, he became sick with tuberculosis and turned to music as an occupation. In 1927, Rodgers recorded for Ralph Peer, a recording company executive who was touring the South recording folk music. Rodgers recorded two songs, “Sleep Baby Sleep” and “The Soldier’s Sweetheart.” Under Peer’s supervision, Rodgers recorded more than 100 songs during the next six years, until he died of tuberculosis on May 26, 1933. The songs included “T. for Texas,” “TB Blues,” “Mule Skinner Blues,” and “Waitin’ for a Train.” He was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1961. Rodgers was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 as a performer who had an early influence on rock music .
