For those unaware, Jimmie Rodgers was one of the true pioneers of country music, often called The Father Of Country Music as well as The Singing Brakeman (he worked on the railroads before becoming a professional musician), who broke new ground with his landmark hillbilly recordings of the late 1920’s and early 1930’s.

His achievements were all the more remarkable, given that he died from tuberculosis in 1933 at the age of 35, having been first diagnosed with the disease in 1924. He has been cited as an inspiration by artists from all walks of popular music across the decades. He was especially famous for his trademark yodeling, with his recordings featuring a series of his renowned Blue Yodels.

This 110-track 5-CD collection comprises just about all his career releases, which came out on the Victor and Bluebird labels. It naturally features all his best known classics - In The Jailhouse Now, Brakeman’s Blues, Waiting For A Train, Blue Yodel No. 1, Mule Skinner Blues and more.

He was a hugely important and influential personality whose impact in country, blues, R&B and rock ’n’ roll is still making itself felt. This collection offers a substantial and thorough overview of his music and career, and an entertaining showcase for his unique and innovative music.

Arguably the first country music superstar and one of the most important musicians in the genre, in my humble opinion the next person to come along of similar importance was Hank Senior. In fact, I would go as far as saying that Jimmie Rodgers was absolutely hilarious, and deliciously sardonic—without artifice.

In fact, Merle Haggard did a great Jimmie Rodgers tribute album in 1969 entitled “Same Train, A Different Time”. It was a double album and it was/is absolutely spectacular. One of my favorites of his. But I digress, as Rodgers was an important figure in the history of country music. It would have been interesting to see how his music and style might have progressed had he lived longer.

Country music’s first bonafide star, the Blue Yodeler created a trail-blazing mix of folk, blues, jazz, pop, and hillbilly sounds and this incredible 5CD collection is a true blue gathering together of all his hits and so much more.

I won’t bore you too much with his history, but he did start off in a whole different world than anyone could have ever imagined. The youngest son of a railroad man, Rodgers was born and raised in Meridian, Mississippi. Following his mother’s death in 1904, he and his older brother went to live with their mother’s sister, where he first became interested in music.

Rodgers’ aunt was a former teacher who held degrees in music and English, and she exposed him to a number of different styles of music, including vaudeville, pop, and dancehall. When he returned to his father’s care in 1911, Rodgers ran wild, hanging out in pool halls and dives, yet he never got into any serious trouble.

When he was 12, he experienced his first taste of fame when he sang Steamboat Bill at a local talent contest. Rodgers won the concert and inspired by his success, decided to head out on the road in his own traveling tent show. His father immediately tracked him down and brought him back home, yet he ran away again, this time joining a medicine show.

The romance of performing with the show wore off by the time his father again hunted him down. Given the choice of school or the railroad, Rodgers chose to join his father on the tracks. In 1924, Rodgers was diagnosed with tuberculosis, but instead of heeding the doctor’s warning about the seriousness of the disease, he discharged himself from the hospital to form a trio with fiddler Slim Rozell and his sister-in-law Elsie McWilliams.

Rodgers continued to work on the railroad and perform with medicine shows while he sang. Two years after being diagnosed with TB, he moved his family out to Tucson, Arizona, believing the change in location would improve his health. In Tucson, he continued to sing at local clubs and events.

I won’t go on with all this now, but can you imagine what Rodgers went through before becoming the musician of quality that he was known for up until his sadly way too soon passing. But Rodgers’ claim on our attention doesn’t consist solely, or even mainly, of his influence on later performers. Rodgers’ voice and guitar itself, haunting and pure, strong yet vulnerable, rising out of recordings made nearly 90 years ago, still has the power to fascinate, to inspire, to excite and to calm, and to conjure an entire world in a few quick images.

Disc 1:
1. Sleep Baby Sleep 2. Soldiers Sweetheart 3. Away Out On The Mountain 4. Blue Yodel - T For Texas 5. In The Jailhouse Now 6. Ben Dewberry’s Final Run 7. Brakeman’s Blues 8. My Lovin’ Gal Lucille (Blue Yodel No. 2) 9. Mother Was A Lady 10. Treasures Untold 11. Blue Yodel No. 3 (Evening Sun) 12. Never No Mo’ Blues 13. Dear Old Sunny South By The Sea 14. My Little Old Home Down In New Orleans 15. Memphis Yodel 16. Lullaby Yodel 17. Waiting For A Train 18. Blue Yodel No. 4 - California Blues 19. I’m Lonely And Blue 20. The Sailor’s Plea 21. My Little Lady 22. You And My Old Guitar

Disc 2:
1. My Carolina Sunshine Girl 2. Desert Blues 3. My Old Pal 4. Daddy And Home 5. Blue Yodel No. 5 6. I’m Sorry We Met 7. Frankie And Johnnie 8. Everybody Does It In Hawaii 9. Tuck Away My Lonesome Blues 10. My Rough And Rowdy Ways 11. Blue Yodel No. 6 12. Yodeling Cowboy 13. A Drunkard’s Child 14. Whisper Your Mother’s Name 15. Jimmie’s Texas Blues 16. Train Whistle Blues 17. Hobo Bill’s Last Ride 18. That’s Why I’m Blue 19. Anniversary Blue Yodel (No. 7) 20. Any Old Time 21. He’s In The Jailhouse Now No. 2 22. High Powered Mama

Disc 3:
1. Pistol Packin’ Papa 2. Those Gambler’s Blues 3. Mule Skinner Blues (Blue Yodel No. 8) 4. Jimmie’s Mean Mama Blues 5. Mystery Of Number Five 6. Nobody Knows But Me 7. T.B. Blues 8. Mississippi River Blues 9. Jimmie The Kid 10. My Blue Eyed Jane 11. I’m Lonesome Too 12. Travellin’ Blues 13. Moonlight And Skies 14. Jimmie Rodgers Visits The Carter Family 15. Standing On A Corner - Blue Yodel No. 9 16. Looking For A New Mama 17. What’s It 18. Why Should I Be Lonely 19. Let Me Be Your Sidetrack 20. Gambling Polka Dot Blues 21. When The Cactus Is In Bloom 22. Roll Along Kentucky Moon

Disc 4:
1. For The Sake Of Days Gone By 2. My Time Ain’t Long 3. Ninety Nine Year Blues 4. Home Call 5. She Was Happy Till She Met You 6. Mississippi Moon 7. Blue Yodel No.10 (Ground Hog Rootin’ In My Back Yard) 8. Down The Old Road To Home 9. The Hobo’s Meditation 10. Rock All Our Babies To Sleep 11. Mother, The Queen Of My Heart 12. Miss The Mississippi & You 13. In The Hills Of Tennessee 14. Whippin’ That Old T.B. 15. No Hard Times - Blue Yodel 16. Gambling Bar Room Blues 17. Long Tall Mama Blues 18. Peach Pickin’ Time Down In Georgia 19. Prairie Lullaby 20. Sweet Mama, Hurry Home 21. Blue Yodel No. 11 (Eight) 22. Southern Cannon Ball

Disc 5:
1. Land Of My Boyhood Dreams 2. Mississippi Delta Blues 3. Old Pal Of My Heart 4. Yodeling Ranger 5. I’m Free (From The Chain Gang Now) 6. Old Love Letters 7. Somewhere Down Below The Dixon Line 8. Barefoot Blues - Blue Yodel No.12 9. Cowhand’s Last Ride 10. Jimmie Rodgers’ Last Blue Yodel 11. Fifteen Years Ago Today 12. I’ve Ranged, I’ve Roamed And I’ve Traveled 13. Why Did You Give Me Your Love 14. My Good Gal’s Gone Blues 15. Why There’s A Tear In My Eye 16. Carter Family & Jimmie Rodgers In Texas 17. I’ve Only Loved Three Women 18. That Wonderful City 19. The One Rose 20. Yodeling My Way Back Home 21. Take Me Back Again 22. Dreaming With Tears In My Eyes

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