Jimmie Rodgers is often called the Father of Country Music, and for good reason: no one looms larger in the genre’s early years. Also known as the Singing Brakeman because of his employment with railroads, he made records that featured yodeling, vocal gymnastics, and colorful, instantly relatable lyrics. He drew inspiration from multiple genres, including jazz, folk, and, especially, blues.

Rodgers influenced many later artists and has had his songs recorded by countless admirers. A very incomplete list of cover makers includes Bill Monroe, Guy Clark, Elvis Presley, the Everly Brothers, Bob Dylan, Doc Watson, Dolly Parton, Don McLean, Dr. John, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Merle Haggard, Van Morrison, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Steve Forbert.

Forbert, who, like Rodgers, was born in Meridian, Mississippi, is a major fan who has recorded two albums devoted to his idol’s songs (Any Old Time and Rodgers Revisited). As he told me in a 2022 interview, “There’s a certain elemental truth to Jimmie Rodgers as a recording artist. You can learn a lot about the way life really is by listening to him. He didn’t sugarcoat things. He put a lot of things out there that were the way they really were. And he knew a lot.”

Tuberculosis killed Rodgers at age 35 in 1933, but in the seven years before his death, he recorded dozens of now-classic songs, nearly all of which he wrote or co-wrote. Among the most famous are “Blue Yodel (T for Texas),” “In the Jailhouse Now,” “Waiting for a Train,” “Daddy and Home,” “Muleskinner Blues,” “Miss the Mississippi and You,” and “T.B. Blues.”

Many of his lesser-known tracks are just as compelling. Merle Haggard once recounted a story about how country giants Red Foley, Ernest Tubb, and Bob Wills tried to agree on their 10 favorite Rodgers songs. After lots of discussion, said Wills, they couldn’t get the list to fewer than 50.

You may have difficulty whittling down your own list of favorites after listening to A Career Anthology: RCA & Bluebird Releases 1927–33, a five-CD, 110-track collection that comes with a 24-page booklet. It begins with “Sleep Baby Sleep” and “Soldiers Sweetheart” from Rodgers’s first studio session, and incorporates virtually every subsequently released number, including four songs recorded just two days before his death. The audio quality is excellent, especially considering the age of these tracks, and the compositions and performances are stellar.

The box set is available here.

Music with a Companion Novella from the Cucumbers

Jon Fried and Deena Shoshkes met during their first year at Brown University and spent the early 1980s busking in Europe before returning to the States. They subsequently formed an indie pop band called the Cucumbers, garnered a fan base around Hoboken, New Jersey, and released more than a dozen albums, singles, and EPs. None of them are quite like the new As You Heard Me, which is billed as “a book with music and music with a book.”

The songs on the CD, performed by Shoshkes, accompany a novella by Fried called Hello George, in which a music publisher searches for an elusive songwriter whose compositions he has fallen in love with. It’s not great literature, but it’s a fun read, especially for anyone interested in the music business, and it contains numerous references to the work of the songwriter, Daisy Steinberg. The CD contains what is supposed to be Steinberg’s demo tape of the tunes mentioned in the novella.

“Crop Circle,” the lead-off track, inspired Fried to write the story, but it’s not the strongest number on this likably lo-fi album. More memorable songs include “Waiting,” “You Are the Sweetest Dream,” and “You Won’t Even Miss Me.” These playful romance-focused tunes, which feature minimal instrumentation, radiate charm and authenticity. They perhaps owe a little to 1960s “girl groups,” but the best reference point might be the Velvet Underground’s “After Hours” and “I’m Sticking with You,” which feature drummer Moe Tucker’s similarly endearing, impromptu-sounding vocals.

The album is available for download here.