Personnel includes: Jimmie Rodgers (vocals, guitar); Sara Carter (vocal); Maybelle Carter, Slim Bryant (guitar); Louis Armstrong (trumpet); Lil Hardin Armstrong (piano); Bob Sawyer's Jazz Band; The Louisville Jug Band.
Recorded between 1927 & 1933. Includes liner notes by Rich Kienzle.
All tracks have been digitally remastered.
Considered by many to be the father of modern country music, Jimmie Rodgers combined simple folk tunes, Delta blues, the emerging influence of jazz, and even Hawaiian music to create a sound that is still being built upon today in country and rock. Rodgers's playful, emotionally compelling lyrics of heartache and hardship, and his plaintive, distinctive yodel cut across the years with the same force they had when they were recorded in the 1920s and '30s.
RCA COUNTRY LEGENDS is a brief yet excellent slice of Rodger's legacy, offering 17 tracks of old-school country perfection. Alongside Rodgers's best known recordings, including "Blue Yodel (T for Texas)" and "Blue Yodel #8 (Mule Skinner Blues)" (which has been covered by artists as diverse as Dolly Parton and rock group the Fendermen), are a number of surprises. These include the jazzy, swinging "My Blue-Eyed Jane," a collaboration with Louis Armstrong on "Blue Yodel #9," and an outing with a pop orchestra on "Any Old Time." The collection proves Rodgers as impressive as a boundary-pusher as he was as a straight roots artist, heightening his already-towering stature in music history. Every well-rounded library needs at least one Rodgers disc, and RCA COUNTRY LEGENDS should serve that purpose admirably.
