| Jimmie Rodgers | |
|---|---|
Rodgers in 1968. |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | James Frederick Rodgers |
| Born | September 18, 1933 Camas, Washington, United States |
| Genres | Folk Traditional pop music Rock and roll |
| Occupations | Singer |
| Years active | 1957–1967 |
| Labels | Roulette Dot A&M |
James Frederick "Jimmie" Rodgers (born September 18, 1933 in Camas, Washington, United States) is an American singer. He is not related to the country singer of the same name.
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Rodgers was taught music by his mother, learned to play the piano and guitar, and joined a band called "The Melodies" started by violinist Phil Clark, while he served in the United States Air Force in Korea.
Like a number of other entertainers of the era, he was one of the contestants on Arthur Godfrey's talent show on the radio. When Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore left RCA Records for Morris Levy's company, Roulette Records, they became aware of Rodgers' talent and signed him up.
In the summer of 1957, he recorded a song called "Honeycomb", which had been recorded by Bob Merrill and Georgie Shaw three years earlier. The tune was Rodgers' biggest hit, staying on the top of the charts for four weeks. The following year, he had a number of other hits that reached the Top 10 on the charts: "Kisses Sweeter than Wine", "Oh-Oh, I'm Falling in Love Again", "Secretly", and "Are You Really Mine". Other hits include "Bo Diddley", "Bimbombey", "Ring-a-ling-a-lario", "Tucumcari," "Tender Love and Care (T.L.C)", and a version of Waltzing Matilda as a film tie-in with On the Beach.
In the United Kingdom, "Honeycomb" reached Number 30 in the UK Singles Chart in November 1957, but "Kisses Sweeter than Wine" climbed to Number 7 the following month.[1]
In 1958, he appeared on NBC's The Gisele MacKenzie Show. Also in 1958 he sang the opening theme song of the movie The Long, Hot Summer, starring Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward and Orson Welles. He then had his own short-lived televised variety show on NBC.
His biggest hit in the UK was "English Country Garden", which reached Number 5 in the chart in June 1962.[1] In 1962, he moved to the Dot label, and four years later to A&M Records. He also appeared in some movies, including The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come, opposite Neil Hamilton, and Back Door to Hell, which he helped finance.
In 1966, a long dry spell ended for Rodgers when he re-entered the Top 40 with "It's Over" (later to be recorded by Eddy Arnold, Elvis Presley, and Sonny James). In 1967, he had his final charting single, "Child of Clay". On December 20, 1967, while preparing to do a film for 20th Century Fox, he was assaulted after allegedly being pulled over by an off-duty Los Angeles Police Department officer on the San Diego Freeway in Southern California, receiving a severe beating, leading to a skull fracture. Neither the assailant(s) nor the reason for the assault has ever been established. Not long after the assault, he appeared on a late-night talk show and discussed it, but all he could recall were bright lights, presumably from the car of his attacker(s). Rodgers later claimed that members of the San Diego Police Department had assaulted him. Many observers who read this claim were surprised that he did not sue the San Diego Police, but instead police from another city. After he sued the Los Angeles Police Department, the LAPD settled out of court for $200,000.
Recovery from his injuries caused an approximately year-long period in which he ceased to perform. He eventually returned, though not reaching the Top 100 singles chart again. He did, however, make an appearance on the album chart as late as 1969, and his records hit the Billboard Easy Listening survey sporadically until 1978. Also, during the summer of 1969, he made a brief return to network television with a summer variety show on ABC (which later bought the rights to Rodgers' Dot Records releases, now owned by Universal Music Group).
Shortly after his 1967 beating incident, his first wife, Colleen nee McClatchey, with whom he had two children, Michelle and Michael, died as the result of a fatal blood clot. He remarried in 1970, and Jimmie and Trudy Rodgers had two sons, Casey and Logan. He and Trudy divorced in the late 1970s, and he remarried again. Jimmie and Mary Rodgers are still married today, and they have a daughter, Katrine, who was born in 1989.
Rodgers appeared in a 1999 video, Rock & Roll Graffiti by American Public Television, along with about 20 other performers. He stated that he had suffered from spastic dysphonia for a number of years, and could hardly sing. Nevertheless, he gave a try at "Honeycomb", and he mentioned that he had a show in Branson, Missouri.
| Year | Album | Chart Positions | Label | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | CAN | |||
| 1957 | Jimmie Rodgers | 15 | — | Roulette |
| 1958 | The Number One Ballads | — | — | |
| Jimmie Rodgers Sings Folk Songs | — | — | ||
| 1959 | Jimmie Rodgers… His Golden Year | — | — | |
| Jimmie Rodgers TV Favorites, Volume 1 | — | — | ||
| Twilight on the Trail | — | — | ||
| It's Christmas Once Again | — | — | ||
| 1960 | When the Spirit Moves You | — | — | |
| At Home with Jimmie Rodgers | — | — | ||
| 1961 | The Folk Song World of Jimmie Rodgers | — | — | |
| 15 Million Sellers | — | — | ||
| 1962 | No One Will Ever Know | — | — | Dot |
| 1963 | Jimmie Rodgers in Folk Concert | — | — | |
| My Favorite Hymns | — | — | ||
| Honeycomb & Kisses Sweeter Than Wine | — | — | ||
| The World I Used to Know | — | — | ||
| 1964 | 12 Great Hits | — | — | |
| 1965 | Deep Purple | — | — | |
| Christmas with Jimmie Rodgers | — | — | ||
| 1966 | That Nashville Sound | — | — | |
| Country Music 1966 | — | — | ||
| It's Over | 145 | — | ||
| 1967 | Love Me, Please Love Me | — | — | |
| Golden Hits | — | — | ||
| Child of Clay | 162 | — | A&M | |
| 1969 | The Windmills of Your Mind | 183 | 92 | |
| 1970 | Troubled Times | — | — | |
| 1978 | Yesterday/Today | — | — | Scrimshaw |
| Year | Single | Chart Positions | Album | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US Country | US R&B | US AC | CAN | CAN AC | |||
| 1957 | "Honeycomb" | 1 | 7 | 1 | — | — | — | Jimmie Rodgers |
| "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine" | 3 | 6 | 8 | — | — | — | ||
| 1958 | "Oh-Oh, I'm Falling in Love Again" | 7 | 5 | 19 | — | — | — | Jimmie Rodgers… His Golden Year |
| "The Long Hot Summer" | 77 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Secretly" | 3 | 5 | 7 | — | — | — | ||
| "Make Me a Miracle" | 16 | flip | 7 | — | — | — | ||
| "Are You Really Mine?" | 10 | 13 | — | — | — | — | ||
| "The Wizard" | 45 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Bimbombey" | 11 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1959 | "Because You're Young" | 62 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "I'm Never Gonna Tell" | 36 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Ring-a-Ring a Lario" | 32 | — | — | — | — | — | singles only | |
| "Wonderful You" | 40 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Tucumcari" | 32 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Wistful Willie" | 112 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "T.L.C. Tender Love and Care" | 24 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Waltzing Matilda" | 41 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1960 | "Just a Closer Walk with Thee" | 44 | — | — | — | — | — | When the Spirit Moves You |
| "The Wreck of John B." | 64 | — | — | — | — | — | At Home with Jimmie Rodgers | |
| "Woman from Liberia" | — | — | — | — | — | — | singles only | |
| 1961 | "When Love Is Young" | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Everytime My Heart Sings" | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "I'm Goin' Home" | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "A Little Dog Cried" | 71 | — | — | 16 | — | — | The Folk Song World of Jimmie Rodgers | |
| 1962 | "You Are Everything to Me" | — | — | — | — | — | — | single only |
| "No One Will Ever Know" | 43 | — | — | 14 | — | — | No One Will Ever Know | |
| "Rainbow at Midnight" | 62 | — | — | 16 | — | — | singles only | |
| 1963 | "Afraid" | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Face in Crowd" | 129 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "(I Don't Know Why) I Just Do" | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Poor Little Raggedy Ann" | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "2-10, 6-18" | 78 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Mama Was a Cotton Picker" | 131 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1964 | "Together" | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "The World I Used to Know" | 51 | — | — | 9 | — | — | The World I Used to Know | |
| "Water Boy" | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Two Tickets" | — | — | — | — | — | — | single only | |
| 1965 | "Strangers" | — | — | — | — | — | — | Deep Purple |
| "Careless Love" | — | — | — | — | — | — | singles only | |
| "Little School Girl" | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Bye, Bye Love" | — | — | — | — | — | — | The Nashville Sound | |
| 1966 | "A Fallen Star" | — | — | — | — | — | — | single only |
| "It's Over" | 37 | — | — | 5 | 29 | — | It's Over | |
| "Young Idea" | — | — | — | — | — | — | single only | |
| "Wonderful You" | — | — | — | — | — | — | Love Me, Please Love Me | |
| 1967 | "Time" | — | — | — | — | — | — | It's Over |
| "I'll Say Goodbye" | — | — | — | 20 | — | — | Child of Clay | |
| "Child of Clay" | 31 | — | — | 21 | — | — | ||
| "What a Strange Town" | — | — | — | — | — | — | single only | |
| 1968 | "You Pass Me By" | — | — | — | — | — | — | Child of Clay |
| "How Do You Say Goodbye" | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "I Believed It All" | — | — | — | 25 | — | — | ||
| "Today" | 104 | — | — | 19 | 80 | — | ||
| 1969 | "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" | — | — | — | — | — | — | The Windmills of Your Mind |
| "The Windmills of Your Mind" | 123 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Me About You" | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Tomorrow Is My Friend" | — | — | — | 39 | — | 28 | single only | |
| 1970 | "Dum Dum Song" | — | — | — | — | — | — | Troubled Times |
| 1971 | "Daylight Lights the Dawning" | — | — | — | — | — | — | singles only |
| 1972 | "Go On By" | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Froggy's Fable" | — | — | — | 30 | — | — | ||
| 1977 | "A Good Woman Likes to Drink with the Boys" | — | 67 | — | — | — | — | Yesterday/Today |
| 1978 | "Everytime I Sing a Love Song" | — | 74 | — | — | — | — | |
| "When Our Love Began" | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Secretly" | — | 65 | — | 46 | — | — | singles only | |
| 1979 | "Easy to Love" | — | 89 | — | — | — | — | |
| "Easy" (with Michele) | — | flip | — | — | — | — | ||
Rodgers parlayed his singing fame into a brief movie career with lead performances in:
In the mid 1960s, he re-recorded (with altered tunes and words referring to the products) two of his best-known songs, for use in television advertisements: