The songs of country music pioneer Jimmie Rodgers have been appropriated by dozens of musicians and radically transformed since he first recorded them nearly 90 years ago. His songs have often resurfaced at critical moments when country music has been forced to confront issues of style, gender, race, and tradition. In this cultural and historical study, Jocelyn R. Neal discusses three of Rodgers' most influential songs Muleskinner Blues, In the Jailhouse Now, and T for Texas. She offers a radically new perspective on the role of Rodgers and his music in the making of country music, and on the ways in which individual songs take on special significance in American cultural life.
US
The title of this book suggests it covers all the songs Rodgers (1897-1933) performed and wrote. This is not the case. Instead Neal (Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) gives the reader an overview of the career and music of this remarkable 'father of country music,' paying considerable attention to musical genres he represented and influenced. The book's in-depth studies of three of Rodgers's most famous songs, 'Mule Skinner Blues,' 'In the Jailhouse Now,' and 'T for Texas,' include helpful musical analysis. The author's research is admirable and carefully documented. She shows how Rodgers, credited as composer of many songs he performed, actually made arrangements of songs he learned from various traditions, a practice not unusual for early recording artists. Neal also provides a sometimes-surprising look at the wide influence some of these songs have exerted on people who never even heard of Jimmie Rodgers. What is perhaps most significant is the author's deep love of the music she writes about, which brings her subject matter to life for readers as no mere scholarly exercise can. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers. Choice
The influence of Jimmie Rodgers on 20th-century American country music
Winner, ASCAP Deems Taylor AwardCertificate of Merit, ARlc/
![The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers: A Legacy in Country Music [Paperback]](/itemImage/2/3/1/5/2_328879.jpg "The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers: A Legacy in Country Music [Paperback]")