From:   "Dik de Heer" <dik.de.heer@h...> 
Date:  Wed Sep 18, 2002  1:18 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Jimmie Rodgers (pop)
 
JIMMIE RODGERS (pop)

Born James Frederick Rodgers, 18 September 1933, Camas, Washington

Pop vocalist / guitarist / pianist.
It's hard to call Jimmie F. Rodgers (no relation to country great Jimmie
Rodgers) a rock & roller, exactly, but much of the rock audience listened to
him and bought his records during his late-'50s prime. With his high, sweet
voice, acoustic guitar, updates of traditional folk songs, brisk tempos and
muted rock-influenced arrangements, he was a distant forefather of folk-rock.

After being taught by his mother, the young Rodgers successfully auditioned
for the Arthur Godfrey talent show and impressed Luigi Creatore and Hugo
Peretti who signed him to their recently formed Roulette Records. Rodgers'
voice and songs appealed to a post-war middle America, and over the next
decade he made the Billboard singles chart 25 times. He never, however,
topped his debut, "Honeycomb", which stayed at # 1 for four weeks in 1957
(number 30 in the UK). His early successes included "Kisses Sweeter Than
Wine" (# 3 in 1957) which vied with Frankie Vaughan in the UK for the best
position (Rodgers number 7, Vaughan number 8).

One of Rodgers' most memorable songs was the innocent but catchy "English
Country Garden", which, although it became his biggest UK hit (reaching the
Top 5 in 1962), did not appear to warrant an American release, possibly
because of its parochial title. Rodgers was the victim of a serious mugging
in 1967 that left him with a fractured skull. Although he eventually returned to
performing full-time, his career had lost its momentum.

CD: Sweeter Than Wine (Westside WESM 536). 26 tracks.