Bear Family Records' remarkable new release, "Let Me Be Your Sidetrack: The Influence of Jimmie Rodgers," makes a persuasive argument that Rodgers is one of the most important figures in the history of country music.
According to the liner notes for the six-disc boxed set released last week, 102 of the 109 songs Rodgers did in the late 1920s and early 1930s were later recorded by other artists -- a 94% "cover ratio" unmatched by any other country singer-songwriter, including Hank Williams.
As the set's more than 150 tracks demonstrate, Rodgers' mix of traditional "hillbilly" music and the blues was a major influence not only on his contemporaries in country music but also on such other genres as folk, rock, jazz and even pop orchestras. Among the dozens of performers whose versions of Rodgers' material are featured in the Bear Family compilation: Bob Dylan, Merle Haggard, Harry Belafonte, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, King Oliver and Pete Seeger.
Dylan, in fact, is such a fan that he helped put together a Rodgers tribute album in the late 1990s, featuring such artists as Bono, Alison Krauss, Steve Earle and Van Morrison offering interpretations of the singer's work. In the liner notes for that album, which is included in this set, Dylan calls Rodgers one of the "guiding lights" of the 20th century. He adds, "His is the voice in the wilderness of your head . . . only in turning up the volume can we determine our own destiny."
One of Rodgers' most celebrated followers, Lefty Frizzell, might have just been the greatest vocal stylist in country music, and a few of his interpretations of Rodgers' tunes are included in "Sidetrack."
But Frizzell's upbeat, honky-tonk singing approach, highlighted by a distinctive syllable-bending emphasis, is better showcased in another new CD from the German label.
Various Artists
"Let Me Be Your Sidetrack: The Influence of Jimmie Rodgers"
Bear Family Records (import)
The back story: Rodgers, who was born in Mississippi in 1897, was not only the first artist inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, but he was also a member of the first induction class at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Nicknamed the "Singing Brakeman" because he worked on the railroad for years before turning full time to music, Rodgers drew many of his stories from his own life. Unfortunately, his skyrocketing career was cut short by tuberculosis. He was so weak by the time of his last recording session in 1933 that he had to rest on a cot between songs. Rodgers died two days later.
