In Memoriam – Jimmie Rodgers was born September 8, 1897
Jimmie Rodgers, also known as ‘The Father of Country Music’, was born September 8, 1897, either in Meridian, Mississippi, or Geiger, Alabama.
Jimmie Rodgers was also known as ‘The Singing Brakeman’, or ‘The Blue Yodeler’. Rodgers developed an interest in music and entertaining at an early age. Originally, he intended to make a living from playing and singing music while in his early teens. But his father got him a job working on the railroad. In 1924 he was diagnosed with TB which eventually ended his railroad career.
In 1927 Ralph Peer was holding an audition for local musicians in Bristol, Tennessee. Peer recorded Rodgers, and the session yielded two songs, ‘The Soldier’s Sweetheart’, and ‘Sleep, Baby, Sleep’. Peer recorded him again in November 1927. This session produced four songs including ‘Blue Yodel’, also known as ‘T For Texas’, a record that would sell a million copies in the next two years.
After years of fighting TB, Rodgers made his last recording session in New York in May 1933. He died two days later on May 26, 1933. He was only 35 years old. Jimmie Rodgers will be remembered as the founder of modern country music, along with the Carter Family. The Country Music Hall of Fame was established in 1961. Jimmie Rodgers was one of the first three inductees.
In memoriam – Patsy Cline was born September 8, 1932
Patsy Cline was one of the greatest and most influential country music singers of all times. She was born September 8, 1932 and died in 1963 in a plane crash. She helped define the modern early 1960s Nashville sound in country music.
Patsy Cline is best remembered for her role as a female country music pioneer. Her songs successfully crossed over into pop music. ‘Walkin’ After Midnight’, ‘I Fall To Pieces’, ‘She’s Got You’, and ‘Crazy’, penned by Willie Nelson, are some of her greatest hits.
Along with country singers Hawkshaw Hawkins, and Cowboy Copas she died in a private plane crash March 5, 1963 on the height of her career.
Posthumously, she was in inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1973. She became the first female solo artist inducted. In 1995 she received a Grammy lifetime achievement award.
Richard Weize recieves the Award for Distinguished Service to Historical Recordings
The Award for Distinguished Service to Historic Recordings is presented annually to an individual who has made contributions of outstanding significance to the field of historic recordings in forms other than published works or discographic research. The 2012 ARSC Distinguished Service Award was presented to Richard Weize. founder and CEO of Bear Family Records, probably the most important reissue label in the world for roots- oriented music. Richard began collecting records in 1956, with the purchase of Bill Haley’s “Rock Around the Clock.” In the fifties he was fascinated by rock ‘n’ roll, but from 1960 on his interest shifted to country music. In the early 1970s, he started the Folk Variety label and started booking folk acts into German clubs.
Open House 2012 / Tag der offen Tür 2012
Here are the first impressions…
