Jimmy Rodgers - The Singing Brakeman

"Waiting For A Train" - Filmed in late 1929

You are viewing an extremely rare video showing a person who many consider to have started a new era in music. 

You can not imagine how thrilled I was when I first came across this video. I guess I had been following Jimmy Rodgers since I first got involved in country music back in the early 50s. I have a couple originals on 78s and than a couple of albums of his that were released in the late 50s. Those of you old enough to have listened to Ernest Tubb's - The Midnight Jamboree over WSM when Ernest will still living and performing on the show, can remember Ernest always at one point in his show, talking about Jimmy Rodgers and playing one of his songs. 

The ones of you familiar with the beginnings of recorded country music should be familiar with what is called the "Bristol Sessions". The recordings that came from these sessions are considered to have had the greatest influence on bringing rural old time music to the masses.  The Carter Family and Jimmy Rodgers answered the bell when an add was placed in the papers around that part of the country which advertised for musicians that could perform country music. I have never read the real ad, so I can't tell you exactly what it said, but what I do know, is that Jimmy Rodgers, Mother Maybelle, Sara, & A.P. Carter change the music industry when they showed up in Bristol, Tennessee back in the late 20's and recorded a number of tunes. If I find any links to more information, I will list them here.

To download clip just right click on this link and save to a local folder. You can also just left click the link if you would like to view it in your own player.