1) Jimmi… Read Full Bio ↴There is more than one artist by the name 'Jimmie Rodgers'.
1) Jimmie Rodgers (James Charles Rodgers, September 8, 1897 – May 26, 1933) was an American country singer in the early 20th century, known most widely for his rhythmic yodeling. Among the first country music superstars and pioneers, Rodgers was also known as "The Singing Brakeman", "The Blue Yodeler", and "The Father of Country Music". The Bristol sessions are considered the "Big Bang" of modern country music. They were held in 1927 in Bristol, Tennessee by Victor Talking Machine Company company producer Ralph Peer. They marked the commercial debut of Jimmie Rodgers.
Rodgers' traditional birthplace is usually given as Meridian, Mississippi; however, in documents signed by Rodgers later in life, his birthplace was listed as Geiger, Alabama, the home of his paternal grandparents. Historians who have researched the circumstances of that document, however, including Nolan Porterfield and Barry Mazor, continue to identify Pine Springs, Mississippi, just north of Meridian, as his genuine birthplace. Rodgers' mother died when he was about six or seven years old, and Rodgers, the youngest of three sons, spent the next few years living with various relatives in southeast Mississippi and southwest Alabama, near Geiger. In the 1900 Census for Daleville, Lauderdale County, Mississippi, Jimmie's mother, Eliza [Bozeman] Rodgers, was listed as already having had seven children, with four of them still living at that date. Jimmie ["James" in the Census] was next to the youngest at that time, and was probably born sixth of the total of seven children. He eventually returned home to live with his father, Aaron Rodgers, a Maintenance-of-Way foreman on the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, who had settled with a new wife in Meridian.
Rodgers' affinity for entertaining came at an early age, and the lure of the road was irresistible to him. By age 13, he had twice organized and begun traveling shows, only to be brought home by his father. His father found Rodgers his first job working on the railroad as a water boy. Here he was further taught to pick and strum by rail workers and hobos. As a water boy, he would have been exposed to the work chants of the African American railroad workers known as gandy dancers. A few years later, he became a brakeman on the New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad, a position formerly secured by his oldest brother, Walter, a conductor on the line running between Meridian and New Orleans.
In 1924 at age 27, Rodgers contracted tuberculosis. The disease temporarily ended his railroad career, but at the same time gave him the chance to get back to the entertainment industry. He organized a traveling road show and performed across the Southeastern United States until, once again, he was forced home after a cyclone destroyed his tent. He returned to railroad work as a brakeman in Miami, Florida, but eventually his illness cost him his job. He relocated to Tucson, Arizona and was employed as a switchman by the Southern Pacific Railroad. He kept the job for less than a year, and the Rodgers family (which by then included wife Carrie and daughter Anita) settled back in Meridian in early 1927.
Rodgers decided to travel to Asheville, North Carolina, later that same year. On April 18, at 9:30 p.m., Jimmie, and Otis Kuykendall performed for the first time on WWNC, Asheville’s first radio station. A few months later Rodgers recruited a group from Bristol, Tennessee called the Tenneva Ramblers and secured a weekly slot on the station listed as "The Jimmie Rodgers Entertainers."
In late July 1927, Rodgers' bandmates learned that Ralph Peer, a representative of the Victor Talking Machine Company, was coming to Bristol to hold an audition for local musicians. Rodgers and the group arrived in Bristol on August 3, 1927, and auditioned for Peer in an empty warehouse. Peer agreed to record them the next day. That night, as the band discussed how they would be billed on the record, an argument ensued, the band broke up, and Rodgers arrived at the recording session the next morning alone. However, in a videotaped interview, Claude Grant of the Tenneva Ramblers gave a totally different reason for the band's breakup. Rodgers had taken some guitars on consignment. He sold them but did not pay back the music stores which supplied the guitars. Grant said that the band broke up because they did not agree with that. On Wednesday, August 4, 1927 Jimmie Rodgers completed his first session for Victor. It lasted from 2:00 p.m. to 4:20 p.m. and yielded two songs: "The Soldier's Sweetheart" and "Sleep, Baby, Sleep". For the test recordings, Rodgers received $100.
The recordings were released on October 7 earning modest success. In November, Rodgers, determined more than ever to make it in entertainment, headed to New York City in an effort to arrange another session with Peer. Peer agreed to record him again, and the two met in Philadelphia before traveling to Camden, New Jersey, to the Victor studios. Four songs made it out of this session, including "Blue Yodel", better known as "T for Texas". In the next two years, this recording sold nearly half a million copies, rocketing Rodgers into stardom. After this, he got to determine when Peer and Victor would record him, and he sold out shows whenever and wherever he played.
Over the next few years, Rodgers was very busy. He did a movie short for Columbia Pictures, The Singing Brakeman (this is available on the DVD and VHS compilation "Times Ain't Like They Used To Be: Early Rural & Popular Music From Rare Original Film Masters 1928-35" and on YouTube), and made various recordings across the country. He toured with humorist Will Rogers as part of a Red Cross tour across the Midwest. On July 16, 1930, he recorded "Blue Yodel No. 9" with Louis Armstrong on trumpet and his wife Lil Hardin Armstrong on piano.
A song written by Clayton McMichen and recorded as “Prohibition Has Done Me Wrong” was not issued, possibly because of copyright conflicts with Columbia. According to Juanita McMichen Lynch, Peer thought it was "too controversial for the times." The master was put aside and then accidentally lost.
Rodgers' next-to-last recordings were made in August 1932 in Camden, and it was clear that the tuberculosis was getting the better of him. He had given up touring by that time, but did have a weekly radio show in San Antonio, Texas, where he had relocated when "T for Texas" became a hit. Earnings from his recordings enabled Rodgers to build a large house for his family in Kerrville, Texas, a location chosen partly for health reasons. But it was not in Rodgers' make-up to stay still, and his constant touring and recording schedule only hurt his chances of recovering from TB.
With the country in the grip of the Depression, the practice of making field recordings was quickly fading, so in May 1933, Rodgers traveled again to New York City for a group of sessions beginning May 17, 1933. He started these sessions recording alone and completed four songs on the first day. When he returned to the studio after a day's rest, he had to record sitting down and soon retired to his hotel in hopes of regaining enough energy to finish the songs he had been rehearsing. The recording engineer hired two session musicians to help Rodgers when he came back to the studio a few days later. Together they recorded a few songs, including "Mississippi Delta Blues". For his last song of the session, however, Jimmie chose to perform alone, and as a matching bookend to his career, recorded "Years Ago" by himself.
During his last recording session in New York City on May 24, 1933, after years of fighting the tuberculosis, Rodgers was so weakened that he needed to rest on a cot between songs. Jimmie Rodgers died two days later on May 26, 1933 from a pulmonary hemorrhage while staying at the Taft Hotel; he was only 35 years old.
When the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum was established in 1961, Rodgers was one of the first three (the others were music publisher and songwriter Fred Rose and singer-songwriter Hank Williams) to be inducted. Rodgers was elected to the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970 and, as an early influence, to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. "Blue Yodel No. 9" was selected as one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. Rodgers was ranked No. 33 on CMT's 40 Greatest Men of Country Music in 2003.
Since 1953, Meridian's Jimmie Rodgers Memorial Festival has been held annually during May to honor the anniversary of Rodgers' death. The first festival was on May 26, 1953.
Both Gene Autry and future Louisiana governor Jimmie Davis (author of "You Are My Sunshine") began their careers as Jimmie Rodgers copyists, and Merle Haggard, Hank Snow, and Lefty Frizzell later did tribute albums. In 1997 Bob Dylan put together a tribute compilation of major artists covering Rodgers' songs, "The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers, A Tribute" (Sony – ASIN: B000002BLD). The artists included Bono, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Jerry Garcia, Dickey Betts, Dwight Yoakam, Aaron Neville, John Mellencamp, Willie Nelson and others. Dylan had earlier once remarked, "The songs were different than the norm. They had more of an individual nature and an elevated conscience... I was drawn to their power."
In 1969, country singer Merle Haggard released Same Train, A Different Time: Merle Haggard Sings The Great Songs Of Jimmie Rodgers. Haggard also covered "No Hard Times" and "T.B. Blues" on his best-selling live albums "Okie From Muskogee" (1969) and "Fightin' Side of Me" (1970). "Blue Yodel No. 1 (T for Texas)" was covered by Lynyrd Skynyrd (sometimes announced as "(Gimme A) T For Texas (T For Tennessee)" later on) on their live album One More from the Road. Ronnie has also been quoted from a July 13, 1977 concert intermission in Asbury Park, New Jersey as saying that they've "always been interested in old country music" like Jimmie Rodgers and Merle Haggard before launching into playing "T For Texas".[10] Lynyrd Skynyrd has also named both Haggard and Rodgers in their song "Railroad Song" ("I'm going to ride this train, Lord, until I find out, what Jimmie Rodgers and The Hag was all about") Tompall Glaser has also covered a version that was included on country music's first million-selling album, Wanted! The Outlaws.
On May 24, 1978, the United States Postal Service issued a 13-cent commemorative stamp honoring Rodgers, the first in its long-running Performing Arts Series. The stamp was designed by Jim Sharpe (who did several others in this series), who depicted him with brakeman's outfit and guitar, giving his "two thumbs up", along with a locomotive in silhouette in the background.
Rodgers' legacy and influence is not limited to country music. The 2009 book "Meeting Jimmie Rodgers: How America's Original Roots Music Hero Changed the Pop Sounds of a Century" tracks Rodgers influence through a broad range of musical genres, internationally. He was influential to Ozark poet Frank Stanford, who composed a series of "blue yodel" poems, and a number of later blues artists. Rodgers was one of the biggest stars of American music between 1927 and 1933, arguably doing more to popularize blues than any other performer of his time.[8] Rodgers influenced many later blues artists, among them Muddy Waters, Big Bill Broonzy, and Chester Arthur Burnett, better known as Howlin' Wolf. Jimmie Rodgers was Wolf's childhood idol. Wolf tried to emulate Rodgers's yodel, but found that his efforts sounded more like a growl or a howl. "I couldn't do no yodelin'," Barry Gifford quoted him as saying in Rolling Stone, "so I turned to howlin'. And it's done me just fine."
Rodgers' influence can also be heard in artists including Tommy Johnson, the Mississippi Sheiks, and Mississippi John Hurt, whose "Let the Mermaids Flirt With Me" is based on Rodgers’ hit "Waiting On A Train". Elvis Presley has also been quoted as mentioning Jimmie Rodgers as an important influence and stating that he was a big fan. Jerry Lee Lewis listed Rodgers as a major stylist and covered many of his songs. Moon Mullican, Tommy Duncan and many other western swing singers also were influenced by him. Gene Autry's earlier material largely copied Rodgers' blues records.
The 1982 film, Honkytonk Man, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood was loosely based on Rodgers' life.
In "Cleaning Windows," Van Morrison sings about listening to Rodgers, but this is more likely to refer to Jimmy Rogers, the blues singer as Morrison is singing about other blues singers in the same song, and does not mention any other Country and Western singers.
In the book, Faking It: The Quest for Authenticity in Popular Music, the song "T.B. Blues" is presented as one the first truly autobiographical songs.
On May 28, 2010, Slim Bryant, the last surviving singer to have made a recording with Rodgers, died at the age of 101. They recorded Bryant's song "Mother, the Queen of My Heart" in 1932. The Union, a collaborative album between Elton John and Leon Russell, featured a song entitled "Jimmie Rodgers' Dream", which was a tribute to Rodgers.
In May 2010, a second marker, on the Mississippi Country Music Trail, was erected near Rodgers' gravesite, marking his role as The Father of Country Music.
In 2013, Rodgers was posthumously inducted to the Blues Hall of Fame.
2) James Frederick "Jimmie" Rodgers is also an American pop/rock & roll singer, incidentally born September 18, 1933 (year of death of the country musician above) in Camas, Washington, United States. He had number of hits in the 1950's, including versions of "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine", "Honeycomb","Oh Oh I'm Fallin' In Love Again", Woman from Liberia" and, particularly in the UK "English Country Garden".
Rodgers was taught music by his mother, learned to play the piano and guitar, and joined a band called "The Melodies" started by violinist Phil Clark, while he served in the United States Air Force in Korea.
Peach Pickin' Time in Georgia
Jimmie Rodgers Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Apple pickin' time in Tennessee
Cotton pickin' time in Mississippi
Everybody picks on me
When it's roundup time in Texas
The cowboys make whoopee
Then down in old Alabama
It's gal pickin' time to me
Diodley, oley eh, diodley
There's the bluegrass down in Kentucky
Virginia's where they do the swing
Carolina now I'm coming
To you to spend the spring
Arkansas I hear you calling
I know I'll see you soon
There's where I'll do a little pickin'
Underneath the Ozark moon
Diodley e oh, oley e oh, oley
Now, when hard times overtake you
I hope they don't get me
For I've got a sweety waiting
For me down in Tennessee
I know I'm going to see her
I hope it won't be long
There's where we'll pick a little cabin
And call it our mountain home
Diodley e oh, diodley e oh, diodley e
When the pickin' 'an pick the cotton
I'll pick a wedding ring
We'll go to town and pick a little gown
For the wedding in the Spring
I hope the preacher knows his business
I know he can't fool me
When it's peach pickin' time in Georgia
It's gal pickin' time to me
Diodley e oh, diodley e oh, diodley e
The first verse of Jimmie Rodgers's song Peach Pickin' Time in Georgia compares the lives of the fruit, cotton, and vegetable pickers to the singer's life. While everyone else is busy with work, picking peaches in Georgia, picking apples in Tennessee, or picking cotton in Mississippi, the singer is left with nothing to do and no one to pick. The second verse moves on to other states, such as Texas where cowboys are rounding up cattle, Alabama where girls are being courted, and Arkansas where the singer plans on doing a little picking of his own under the Ozark moon.
The final verse shifts to a more personal note. The singer reveals that he has a sweetheart waiting for him in Tennessee and that he will soon see her. They plan on picking out a mountain home together and getting married in the spring. The final lines bring the song full circle, as the singer realizes that when it's peach picking time in Georgia, it's gal picking time for him.
Overall, the song is meant to evoke a sense of wanderlust and longing for the simple life. The picking of fruit and cotton represents hard work and the struggles of everyday life, while the idea of settling down with a loved one in a mountain home represents a sense of stability and peace. The lyrics also touch on themes such as the passage of time and the inevitable cycle of life.
Line by Line Meaning
When it's peach pickin' time in Georgia
During the time in Georgia when peaches are being harvested
Apple pickin' time in Tennessee
During a certain time of the year in Tennessee, apples are being harvested
Cotton pickin' time in Mississippi
During a certain time of the year in Mississippi, cotton is being picked by farmers
Everybody picks on me
I'm the only one who doesn't have something to pick during harvest time
When it's roundup time in Texas
When it's time to gather cattle in Texas
The cowboys make whoopee
The cowboys celebrate after a long day of work
Then down in old Alabama
In the southern state of Alabama
It's gal pickin' time to me
During this time of the year, the focus is on finding a girlfriend for me
Diodley, oley eh, diodley
Words that have no real meaning
There's the bluegrass down in Kentucky
Kentucky is known for its type of music called bluegrass
Virginia's where they do the swing
The state of Virginia is known for its swing dance culture
Carolina now I'm coming
I'm heading towards the Carolinas
To you to spend the spring
I plan on spending the spring season in the Carolinas
Arkansas I hear you calling
I have a call to go to Arkansas
I know I'll see you soon
I'm sure that I'll be visiting Arkansas soon
There's where I'll do a little pickin'
I plan on participating in some type of harvest activity in Arkansas
Underneath the Ozark moon
Doing said activity under the unique moonlight of the Ozarks
Now, when hard times overtake you
During times of hardship
I hope they don't get me
I hope to never experience hard times
For I've got a sweety waiting
Because I have a girlfriend waiting for me
For me down in Tennessee
Specifically in the state of Tennessee
I know I'm going to see her
I am absolutely going to visit my girlfriend
I hope it won't be long
I hope that I will be able to visit soon
There's where we'll pick a little cabin
The place where we plan to have a small, rustic home
And call it our mountain home
Referring to this new cabin as our mountain home
When the pickin' 'an pick the cotton
When the farmers pick the cotton during harvest season
I'll pick a wedding ring
I plan on getting engaged during this time
We'll go to town and pick a little gown
We plan on going to buy a wedding dress, together
For the wedding in the Spring
The wedding ceremony itself will happen in the springtime
I hope the preacher knows his business
I hope the pastor who officiates our ceremony knows what he is doing
I know he can't fool me
I am informed when it comes to wedding ceremonies and the process
When it's peach pickin' time in Georgia
When peaches are being harvested in Georgia
It's gal pickin' time to me
This time of the year is the best time for me to find a girlfriend
Contributed by Mason H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
kaushik rahman
When it's peach pickin' time in Georgia
Apple pickin' time in Tennessee
Cotton pickin' time in Mississippi
Everybody picks on me
When it's roundup time in Texas
The cowboys make whoopee
Then down in old Alabama
It's gal pickin' time to me
Diodley, oley eh, diodley
There's the bluegrass down in Kentucky
Virginia's where they do the swing
Carolina now I'm coming
To you to spend the spring
Arkansas I hear you calling
I know I'll see you soon
There's where I'll do a little pickin'
Underneath the Ozark moon
Diodley e oh, oley e oh, oley
Now, when hard times overtake you
I hope they don't get me
For I've got a sweety waiting
For me down in Tennessee
I know I'm going to see her
I hope it won't be long
There's where we'll pick a little cabin
And call it our mountain home
Diodley e oh, diodley e oh, diodley e
When the pickin' 'an pick the cotton
I'll pick a wedding ring
We'll go to town and pick a little gown
For the wedding in the Spring
I hope the preacher knows his business
I know he can't fool me
When it's peach pickin' time in Georgia
It's gal pickin' time to me
DW
Discovering Jimmie Rodgers has been an awesome experience for me. This guy was money.
kaushik rahman
When it's peach pickin' time in Georgia
Apple pickin' time in Tennessee
Cotton pickin' time in Mississippi
Everybody picks on me
When it's roundup time in Texas
The cowboys make whoopee
Then down in old Alabama
It's gal pickin' time to me
Diodley, oley eh, diodley
There's the bluegrass down in Kentucky
Virginia's where they do the swing
Carolina now I'm coming
To you to spend the spring
Arkansas I hear you calling
I know I'll see you soon
There's where I'll do a little pickin'
Underneath the Ozark moon
Diodley e oh, oley e oh, oley
Now, when hard times overtake you
I hope they don't get me
For I've got a sweety waiting
For me down in Tennessee
I know I'm going to see her
I hope it won't be long
There's where we'll pick a little cabin
And call it our mountain home
Diodley e oh, diodley e oh, diodley e
When the pickin' 'an pick the cotton
I'll pick a wedding ring
We'll go to town and pick a little gown
For the wedding in the Spring
I hope the preacher knows his business
I know he can't fool me
When it's peach pickin' time in Georgia
It's gal pickin' time to me
Andrea Curic
Love it .. thanks for putting in the lyrics ❤🤗
Chip Wood
my grandparents married in 1924 ..in 1974 I played Jimmie Rodgers songs for their 50th anniversary. My grandmother yodeled and my grandfather strummed banjo
Aileen
Chip Wood My grandfather Haldor ( father to my mother) playd harmonica and my granmother Sigrid playd elextric organ My mother playd little piano.
INDY OSKARS
@Aileen
My mother´s (born in 1918) sisters, they could all yodel, lol.
True Southern
Hey I can yodel....sounds like a dying animal but yeah I can do it😂
Robert Green
Wow....taking me back about 70 years. 👍👍👍
Randy H
I love Jimmie. & the older I get the more I love him. Am I just crazy ?
INDY OSKARS
Nay, yer not crazy.