Sunday, January 21, 2007

Music I Liked And Didn't - 1/20/07 - 1/21/07


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No Adds Of New Releases


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RODGERS, JIMMIE: Famous Country Music Makers DLP (RCA) - Of course, I’ve heard some of Rodgers’ recordings and was well aware of his legendary status as an important influence on the development of Country music and, to a lesser extent, Rock and Roll, but I didn’t actually have any of his material in my collection. So, I was quite pleased to find a fine UK pressing of this 1972 double LP compilation of his work at Amoeba in San Francisco. I don’t know where in the pantheon of Rodgers’ reissues this compilation stands, but the sound quality is very good; certainly way better than the sound of transcriptions I own containing recordings by other artists from the late-20’s and early-30’s. Many of his best recordings are represented in this set, including a number of his famous, “Blue Yodels”.

While considered to be one of the cornerstones of Country music, Rodgers’ actual work is really much more in the “Country Blues” vein that was so popular in the rural American South (and West) during that era. The song structures are, generally, twelve bar blues, with Rodgers accompanying himself on solo acoustic guitar. His voice is powerful and haunting as he delivers his sentimental tales of home, families, sweethearts, life on the road, and, yes, trains, always trains, as Rodgers’ loved those rails!

This retrospective of Rodgers' work captures an essential piece of American culture and is a welcome addition to my personal music library!


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Running Count For The Year

Adds 12/92%

Did Not Add 1/8%

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