Why is Jimmie Rodgers the Father of Country Music?
Jimmie Rodgers began his career at the age of 13 and had twice organized and begun traveling shows, only to be brought home by his father who found him his first job working on the railroad, as a water boy. As a water boy, he would have been exposed to the work chants of the African-American railroad workers, known as gandy dancers. A few years later, he became a brakeman on the New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad, a position formerly held by his oldest brother, Walter, who had been promoted to the conductor on the line running between Meridian and New Orleans.
In 1924 at age 27, Rodgers was diagnosed with tuberculosis. The disease temporarily ended his railroad career, but at the same time gave him the chance to get back into the entertainment industry. He organized a traveling road show and performed across the southeastern United States until he was forced home after a cyclone destroyed his tent. He returned to railroad work as a brakeman in Miami, Florida, but eventually, his illness cost him his job.
Jimmie was widely regarded as “the Father of Country Music”, and is best known for his distinctive rhythmic yodeling, unusual for a music star of his era. Rodgers rose to prominence based upon his recordings, among country music’s earliest, rather than concert performances.
