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Rating: Anyone who has wondered where country and southern rock originate from will surely be aware of one of the most illustrious blues geniuses of all time: Jimmy Rogers (not to be confused with Jimmie Rodgers, the pop singer of the 50s/60s), a guitarist of great charisma who loved to perform accompanied by his inseparable harmonica.
Born in 1927 in Ruleville, Mississippi, under the name James A. Lane, he learned to play the harmonica alongside his childhood friend Snooky Pryor, another future exceptional harmonica player. As a teenager, he picked up his first guitar and began performing at various venues in Illinois, where he had moved. By the 50s, the great Rogers was already a star and started recording his first tracks with his Chess Records, spreading his music and his simplicity across America.
Those songs full of irony and that typical 'Rogers-style' blues touched the hearts of the people in the United States counties with themes like impossible loves, men thrown out of their homes, stories of simple people, and emotions expressed in a clear, direct, and pure way. Indeed, Americans identified greatly with the music played by that simple farmer who one day decided to show his simplicity to the people, and as time passed, those sonatas became part of the musical style of a nation that (at least at that time) was recognized as shy, pure, and simple.
The tracks in this collection mostly express pure personal feelings, sometimes of difficult situations but still rather usual in American society of the period. Many make you smile, many move you, others make you laugh while hiding an internal turmoil, and yet others bring relief to those who have lived through those strange moments. In short: a direct artist well-received by people who, despite the color of his skin, recognized truth and purity in the words sung by that Mississippi songwriter who so truthfully expressed the emotions of an entire nation, so much so that his style became part of the 'American tradition.'
In 1997, the year of Jimmy Rogers' passing, a collection of unforgettable tracks by the great blues master who gave life to country music was published. How can one forget songs like That's All Right, which tells the story of a man rejected and betrayed by his own wife, and the only thing this poor man can say is 'it's all right,' or the song dedicated to Ludella? It's impossible not to appreciate the chorus that goes 'Ludella, don't you hear me calling you? Even though I gave you everything you wanted, you don't even care for me??', and how can you not snap your fingers while listening to the lively Chicago Bound, or not know the great piece Walking by Myself, and it's impossible not to appreciate the confession in You're The One where Jimmy thanks a person who taught him how wrong he was in certain situations, or in the wonderful Out On The Road, how can you not smile when in the chorus the great blues legend says ''?
A series of spontaneous and compelling tracks will steal your heart whenever you listen to the unwavering voice of Jimmy and his gritty harmonica, and moreover, it will take you back in history, making you feel what American cowboys of the 30s truly experienced (leaving aside any connection with any Western movie) and above all demonstrate how very little is needed to express oneself.
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