The story of how Jimmie Rodgers came to record what would become a de facto blueprint for country music is a testament to the idea that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Even in 1927, standing out in the music industry required an artist to force the powers that be to pay attention.
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And in Rodgers’ case, the best way for him to be a squeaky wheel was to take a trip to New York City.
A Recording Debut Alongside Future Country Royalty
Long before Nashville, Tennessee would adopt the moniker of Music City, the birth of modern country music was taking place nearly 300 miles northeast in a mountain town called Bristol on the Tennessee-Virginia state line. There, a series of recording sessions later dubbed the Bristol Sessions saw future country music royalty like The Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers make their wax disc debuts. Victor Talking Machine Company producer Ralph Peer led the sessions and managed sales of the wax discs and their players, effectively introducing the rest of the world to the secluded, music-filled hollers of southern Appalachia.
Sales of The Carter Family’s recordings took off, much like Peer expected after first working with the group. The recordings Rodgers made during that same time period were less successful, but Peer told Rodgers he would consider working with him in the future. So, Rodgers waited. He waited through family tragedies, job changes, health scares, and a move from Tennessee to Washington, D.C., before he realized a follow-up with Peer wasn’t going to fall in his lap. So, he went out to get it.
Jimmie Rodgers’ Persistence Led to a Country Music Blueprint
After waiting for a call from Ralph Peer for months, Jimmie Rodgers decided to take matters into his own hands and drive to New York City. He called Peer when he arrived, telling the engineer he would be in town for a few days if he wanted to record. Peer agreed and set up an appointment on November 30, 1927. Rodgers tried to cut a few covers, but Peer pushed for originals so they could copyright the work. The next song the musician performed would come to be known as “Blue Yodel No. 1 (T for Texas)”.
Victor released “Blue Yodel No. 1 (T for Texas)” on February 3, 1928. And indeed, this record would finally garner Rodgers and Peer the success they were after. “Blue Yodel” topped the Victor sales list for 14 consecutive weeks, marking the new country star’s first major hit. The song would become a standard and favorite amongst subsequent icons like Earl Scruggs and Johnny Cash. In fact, Cash has gone so far as to say he plagiarized Rodgers by turning the 1928 lyric, “I’m gonna shoot poor Thelma just to see her jump and fall,” into his iconic line from “Folsom Prison Blues”, “I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die.”
Jimmie Rodgers would become one of the founding fathers of modern country music, a distinction he could only dream of while toiling as a railroad worker in Tennessee. If he hadn’t had the grit to travel to New York City just on the chance that Peer would meet with him, country music might sound entirely different. Fortunately, Rodgers wasn’t afraid to make a bit of noise.
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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