Thursday, April 26, 2007
Historical Marker For The Singing Brakeman
One of the founding fathers of country music is getting a plaque in Meridian Mississippi marking the influence of the Blues on Jimmie Rogers. What many people don't realize is that country music has roots in both the appalachian hill country, mostly from Irish reels, and white gospel, but also has roots in the blues. Jimmie Rogers would take a blues song and then in the middle of it he would break into a yodel. These two forms of country rarely intersected in the early days. Jimmie Rogers influenced Hank Williams SR, Bob Willis and the Playboys, while they influenced later generations like Hank Williams JR. Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and many others. While the other side of country music was represented by the Carter family, and by the 1950s Bluegrass, which is an Americanization of Irish reels and rounds. What is interesting is the Johnny Cash played with and later married June Carter, which brings the whole thing full circle:-) For more info Click here.
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