Records and Roots: Jimmie Rodgers road to legendary status started in Bristol

Horse-drawn wagons still on occasion eased up and down State Street in downtown Bristol on the day that a gangly musician with a guitar in hand sidled across the street to play music.He likely did not know it 96 years ago, but Jimmie Rodgers made profound music history in downtown Bristol, Tennessee, on Thursday, Aug. 4, 1927.Rodgers recorded two songs, "The Soldier's Sweetheart" and "Sleep, Baby, Sleep" in a building that housed a hat factory in the 400 block of State Street in Bristol, Tennessee. Rodgers, a native of Meridian, Mississippi, began at 2 p.m. and concluded at 4:20 p.m.Thus began the brief recording history of Jimmie Rodgers, the man who would become and is still known as "the Father of Country Music."Those records were produced by Ralph Peer for New York's Victor Talking Machine Co. Rodgers made 100 bucks. Those two songs began an affiliation with Victor and later, long after Rodgers' death from tuberculosis in 1933, with RCA Victor Records. Now owned by Sony Music Entertainment, Rodgers' records remain within the flagship RCA label.And that began for Rodgers in Bristol.As to the songs recorded that day, he wrote "The Soldier's Sweetheart." The other, "Sleep, Baby, Sleep," was in public domain. Released on a stiffly thick 78 RPM record on Oct. 7, 1927, sales of the record performed well, particularly for a first-timer.Rodgers, by then 30 years old, witnessed "The Soldier's Sweetheart" debut on Billboard's singles chart on New Year's Eve 1927. In those days, chart performance was based on a variety of variables, including sales of the record as well as sales of its sheet music, which for decades was a thriving part of the music business.Rodgers' "The Soldier's Sweetheart" occupied chart space amid such fellow major Victor recording stars of the era as Paul Whiteman and Gene Austin. They easily eclipsed Rodgers' unknown name then, but for decades thereafter, they were virtually unknown while Rodgers became a vital force in the telling of the history of music."The Soldier's Sweetheart" peaked at No. 9 in the early weeks of 1928. That certainly put Rodgers on the proverbial map, but Peer already knew he had a winner in the fellow who would became known as "America's Blue Yodeler" and "the Singing Brakeman."After he recorded in Bristol, upon Peer's urging, Rodgers boarded a train bound for the Northeast. By November 1927, he was ensconced in RCA Studio 1 in Camden, New Jersey. The date: Nov. 30, 1927. Equipped with only his sincere voice and distinctive guitar, Rodgers proceeded to record four songs between the hours of 1:30 p.m. and 4:25 p.m. It was a Wednesday afternoon.In chronological order, Rodgers began with Andy Jenkins' "Ben Dewberry's Final Run," the first train song among many that he recorded until his untimely death in 1933. He followed with a sentimental ballad, "Mother Was a Lady," the swaggering "Blue Yodel," and "Away Out on a Mountain."Rodgers wrote "Blue Yodel," the first and most famous of his 13 so-named blue yodels. Better known as "T for Texas," the song, which he may well have been working on while in Bristol, made Rodgers a superstar."Blue Yodel" debuted on Billboard on March 31, 1928. It eventually peaked at No. 2, but that song's story was still minty fresh and new. In the decades since, "T for Texas" was recorded by country acts including Waylon Jennings in 1974, Western swing's Bob Wills, folk's Bob Dylan, rock's Lynyrd Skynyrd, blues' Taj Mahal, bluegrass's Johnson Mountain Boys and so on.Alas, Jimmie Rodgers proved quite the shooting star. Like a whispered thought in time, he passed through with a smile on his songs. He smiles yet, 90 years since his death on May 26, 1933 — only two days after his final of 111 recordings.Hear and see Jimmie Rodgers today. He is documented well in Bristol's Birthplace of Country Music Museum, where one can see a pair of his guitars on display. Visit Nashville's Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, in which Rodgers was enshrined as a member during the Hall of Fame's inaugural class of 1961.Venture to Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Perhaps Jimmie Rodgers' vast influence upon the widespread reach of music is best understood by his inclusion as a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Consider this: as with the Country Hall, Rodgers was made a member during the Rock and Rock Hall's inaugural class.On the country side, Rodgers was enshrined with Hank Williams. On the rock side, Rodgers was chosen in 1986 alongside rock 'n' roll architects Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley.And to think, Jimmie Rodgers' records began in little ole Bristol, Tennessee. There's little wonder as to why Bristol is known worldwide as the Birthplace of Country Music.