538321

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Jimmie Rodgers. A Folksong CatalystAuthor(s): John GreenwaySource: The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 70, No. 277 (Jul. - Sep., 1957), pp. 231-234Published by: American Folklore SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/538321

Accessed: 18/08/2009 21:57

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JIMMTF.

RODGERS-

A

FOLKSONG

CATALYST

BY

JOHN

GREENWAY

ON

26

May1954,

n

Meridian,

Mississippiaccording

o an

account

n the

MeridianStar

of

the next

day),

Governor

Frank Clement

of

Tennessee,

Senator

J.

O.

Eastlandof

Mississippi,

Hy

Raskin,

Deputy

Chairman

f the

Democratic

National

Committee,

W.

P.

Kennedy,

Presidentof the

Brotherhood

f

Railroad

Trainmen,

H.

E.

Gilbert,

President

of the

Brotherhood

f

Locomotive

Fire-

men

and

Enginemen,

and

50,000 onstituentsgathered o hear

Adlai

Stevenson

om-

memorate he

twenty-first

nniversary

f

the

death

of

a

man-unknown

to

many

folklorists-who

nevertheless

ad a most

pervasive

f

not

profound

effect on

Ameri-

can

folksong.

From

the

time of

his

first

phonograph

ecording

n

1927

until

his

death

in

1933

this

man,

Jimmie

Rodgers,

sold

more

than

20,000,000

records

of

his senti-

mental

songs

and

rowdy

blues.The

records

were

boughtby

country

olk

who

turned

up

for

the

next

twenty

years

as folk

informants,

ven

in

the

Archive

of

American

Folk

Song.

His "Blue

Yodel

Number

One

('T

for

Texas')"

has been

collectedand

published

as

genuine

folksongby

Henry

as well

as

by

Brown and

his

editors;l

his "Blue

Yodel

NumberFour ('CaliforniaBlues')"and "BlueYodelNumberFive"by Brown;2his

"BlueYodel

Number

Eight

('Mule

Skinner

Blues')"

by

Leach

and

Beck;3

his

"Sol-

dier's

Sweetheart"

though

this

song

raises

pecial

problems

f

provenance)

y

Henry,

Hudson,

and

Randolph;4

is

versionof

Kelly

Harrell's

"Away

out on

the

Mountain"

and his

"Waiting

or

a

Train,"5

and

possibly

others-e.g.,

Laws,

the

most

carefully

restrictive lassifier

ince

Child,

admits

a

stanza with the

note

"No

one,

so

far as

I

know,

has

attempted

o

trace

he

history

of this

ballad."6

And before

his

death

Jimmie

Rodgers,

ike

Charlie

Chaplin,

had been admitted nto

perhaps

he

purest

olklore

of

all,

children's

olksay.7

Yet

of these

folklorists,

only

Randolph

mentions

Rodgers'

name-and he

misspells

t.

There are understandableeasons or this generalunacquaintance ith Jimmie

Rodgers.

First

of

all,

no

one

considered

im

to be

a

folksinger;

o the

folklorists

he

was

at

best

merely

infrafolk,

at

worst

just

another

radio

practitioner

f

commercial

hillbilly

degeneration;

o

Jimmie

Rodgers

himself,

he

stood,

like

Jelly

Roll

Morton,

in a

higher

stratum

han

that

of

the amateurs

who

sang

for the

Library

f

Congress'

aluminum

discs.

But more

mportant,

is best

work

was

so

thoroughly

aturated

with

Negro

folksong

ragments

hat a

collector

might

easily

miss the handof the

conscious

artist

at

work.

Belden and Hudson

(p. 564)

were

as

right

as

anyone

unacquainted

with

Jimmie

Rodgers

could

be

when,

in

their

headnote

o "It's

Raining

Here,"

they

remarked,

As

we

have

it

here

it

is

clearly

a

Negro

blues

song";yet

the

song

is Rod-

gers'

"BlueYodel NumberFive"word for word as he

sings

it on Victor Record

22072.

Jimmie Rodgers

composed

and

recorded welve "blue

yodels"

and a number

of

blues

of similar

pattern

or

which he

was

paid royalties

as his

original

work,

yet

of

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Journal

of

American

Folklore

this

great

massof

song

there

s

scarcely

word that

cannot

be traced o

song

and

sung

phrases

of

hoboes

and

Negro

railroad

workers.

This does not

imply

that

Rodgers

performed

o

vital

part

in the

making

of

his

songs.

Despite

Coleridge,

here

s

really

no

imagination, nly fancy;

one

and

one

do

not

make

three,

or

two

plus,

or

a

star,

but

two;

a

man can

work

only

with

the

materials t hand.

In

molding

the

fragmen-

tary,

ephemeral

hrases

of the

Negro folksinger

nto a

fixed

form

which

has

become

a

pattern

or

not

only

his

commercial

ollowers

but

the

folk,

Jimmie

Rodgersgave

us

an

opportunity

o

see how

folksong

evolved

through

the

ages.

The

incoherent,

inarticulated,

biquitous

ong

phrases-maverick

tanzas8-of

which

Newman

Ivey

White

gives

so

many

examples

in

his

American

Negro

Folk

Song

(Cambridge,

Mass.,

1928),

no

doubtwould

have

found

a

pattern

without

Jimmie

Rodgers.

ndeed,

the

"blues" orm was

evolving

when

he

began

to

pick

up

the

phrases

rom

the

road

gangs

on

the

Mobile

and Ohio Rail Road

in

the first

decade

of

the

century.

Jimmie

Rodgers' unctionwas to be the catalysthatacceleratedheprocess.

Rodgers'

material

came first-hand rom

the

folk.

He

was

born

with

the

new

cen-

tury

in

the railroad

own

of

Meridian,

Mississippi,

nto a

family

of railroad

men.

His

first

job

was as a

waterboy

o

the

Negro

gandy

dancers,

who

taught

him the

rail-

road

jargon.

One

of

the

firstbits

of

formal

education

he

attained

was

the

knowledge

that

a

traincrew

consisted

f

"a

hoghead,

a

swellhead,

wo

empty

heads,

and

a

baked

head";

he also learned heir

work

songs,

and

how

to

play

the

banjo.

At

fifteen

he

became

an

"empty

head"

for

the

New Orleans

and

Northeastern,

nd

worked

as

a

railroadmen

ntil

tuberculosis

orced

him to

try

professional

inging

as a

desperate

expedient.

From

his

first

singing

job

as a

black-face

anjoist

with a

medicine

show

he progressedhrough heusualpainfulstagesuntilin 1928,n theacoustically-perfect

Camden

Trinity Baptist

Church,

where Caruso

ang

and Sir

Harry

Lauderhad

his

purse

stolen,

Jimmie

Rodgers

made

his

recording

of

his first

"blue

yodel"-"T

for

Texas."

From that date

until

I933

he

led

the

Victorbest-seller

istswith

records

f

his

sentimental

ongs,

cowboy

ongs,

ullabies,

ove

songs,

and

above

all,

his

"blue

yodels."

Several

of his last

compositions

were about

his

struggle

with

tuberculosis,

nd

though

he had

been

"fighting

ike a

lion,"

n

I933

he

died of "that

old

T.B."

His

miscellaneous

nd

sentimental

ongs

are

of little interest o folklorists.

Only

"The Soldier's

Sweetheart"

as

managed

o

get

into collections

f

folksong,

and

there

is

doubt

whether

Rodgers

had

anything

o

do with

its

composition.

t

is

through

his

"blue

yodels"

hat

Rodgers

comesinto Americanfolksong.The twelve numbered

"blue

yodels"

and

the

half-dozen

derivative

pieces

are littlemore than extensions

of

his

first "Blue

Yodel

Number

One"-"T

for

Texas"-which

may

thereforebe

taken

as

typical

of the

series,

both in

tune

and

verbal

pattern:

T

for

Texas,

T

for

Tennessee;

'Cause can

get

morewomen

T for

Texas,

T

for

Tennessee;

Than

a

passenger

rain

can

haul.

T

for

Thelma,

I'm

gonnabuy

me

a

pistol ust

as

long

as

That

gal

that

madea wreck

out of me.

I'mtall;

Refrain

yodel)

I'm gonnabuy me a pistol

ust as long

as

Refrain yodel)

O-la-ee-ooa-ee-oo a-ee. I'mtall;

If

you

don't

want

me,

mama,

ou

suredon't

I'mgonna hootpoor

Thelma

have to

stall

Just

to see her

jump

and

fall.

have

o

stall;

If

you

don't

want

me,

mama,

ou

suredon't I'm

goin'

where

the water drinks

like

have o

stall;

cherry

wine;

232

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Jimmie

Rodgers-A

Folksong

Catalyst

I'm

goin'

where

the

water drinks

like I'm

gonna

shoot

that rounder

cherry

wine;

That stole

away

my

gal.

Y'nicp^ tho- -Prcrin xxy CnLtpr

233

T

.ast Like; turn

WdCi-.

Rather

drink

muddy

water,

sleep

in

a

Tastes like

turpentine. hollow log;

I'm

gonna

buy

me

a

shotgun

with a

great

Rather drink

muddy

water,

sleep

in

a

long

shiny

barrel;

hollow

log;

I'm

gonna

buy

me

a

shotgun

with a

great

Than

to be

in

Atlanta

long

shiny

barrel;

Treated

ike

a

dirty

dog.

The

identifying

characteristics

f the

"blue

yodel"

are

(i)

the

slight

situational

pattern,

hat

of

a

"rounder"

oasting

of

his

prowess

as

a

lover,

but

ever

in fear

of

the

"creeper,"

vidence

of

whose

presence

he reacts

o either

with

threats

against

he

sinning

parties

or with

the declarationhat

he can

get

another

woman

easily

enough;

and

(2)

the

prosodic

pattern,

the articulation

f

Negro

maverick

stanzas

dealing

with violenceand

promiscuity,

ftenwith double

meaning,

andfollowed

by

a

yodel

refrain.

In

this

"BlueYodel

Number

One" it

will be

seen that the

first

stanza

s the

only

one

not

ubiquitous

n

Negro

bad-man-bad-woman

ongs

that

were

old

long

before

Jimmie

Rodgers

began

singing

publicly.

White,

for

example,

eports

"Kentucky

water

drinks

ike

sherry

wine"

from

Georgia

n

I915;

and

from

Alabama

n

the same

year,

"Gona

get

me

a

pistol

with a

shiny

barrel

Gona

kill the

first ellow

[sic]

/

Fooling

with

my

long

haired

girl."10

Localization s not

important

here;

like

folklorists,

ail-

road

men are

of

national

repute

and

influence.

What

is

significant,

however,

s

that

no

song correspondingo the blueyodelform has been

collected

before

I927,

when

Rodgers

made

his

first

recording

n

Bristol,

Tennessee.

What

is true for

the "blue

yodels"

s

true

for

several

of

his other

songs.

Laws,

for

instance,

allows

"Ten

Thousand Miles from

Home"

("Waiting

for

a

Train")

entrance

o his Native

American

Balladry

and

consequently

o

authentic

American

folksong

on the

basis

of

its inclusion

n

six

collections,

but

the

earliest

of these

was

published

n

I931.

And so

for the

other

side of the

coin:

even

Jimmie

Rodgers'

per-

sonal

and

pathetic

"T.

B.

Blues"

s not

wholly

original,

or its

central

stanza,

"Well

the

graveyard

must be an

awful

place Lay

a man

on

his

back

and throw

dirt

in his

face,"

was

publishedby

W.

C.

Handy

several

years

before

Rodgers

"composed"

t.1l

Rodgers'work is usefulnot only for helpingus understandome of the changes

undergone

by

folksong,

but

also

for

permitting

he

recovery

f

original

phraseology

which has

since

become

corrupt.

For

example,

t

seems

fairly

apparent

hat "'Where

wuz

you,

Sweet

Mama,

When

de

boat went down?'

/

'On

de

deck,

Baby,

Hol-

lerin'

"Alabama

oun' '

"12

s

a

humorous

daptation

f

an

earlier,

more

meaningful

question

resemblingRodgers'

"'Where

was

you,

mama,

when the

train eft

the

shed?

/

Where was

you,

mama,

when

the train

eft

the

shed?'

'Standin'

n

my

front

door,

/

Wishing

to

God

I

was

dead"'

(from

"The Brakeman's

lues").

And

Rodgers'

"'If

that's

your

mama,

you

better

ie her

to

your

side;

/

If

that's

your

mama,

you

better

tie her

to

your

side;

/

'Cause

f

she

flag my

train,

/

I'm

sure

gonna

let her

ride'"

(also from "The Brakeman'sBlues") seems to have been expurgatedn the folk

version

o

"I had a

good

woman,

but

the

fool

laid

down

and

died;

/

I

had a

good

woman,

but

the fool

laid down

and

died;

/

If

you

get

a

good

woman,

You better

pin

her

to

your

side."13

It

would

be

repetitious

and

merely

corroboratory

o

probe

these

generalizations

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234

Journal

of

American

Folklore

through

the other "blue

yodels."

However

valid

this

retrograde

nalysis

may

or

may

not

be,

however much

influence

Rodgers

has

demonstrably

ad

in

American olk-

song,

there

is

a

cautionfor

collectors n

all

of

this.

Everything

s

grist

for

the

folk

mill, and JimmieRodgers s not the only commercialhillbillywhose recordsare

almost as common

in

many

otherwise

solated

olk

communities

as the

five-string

banjo.l4

To eliminate

consideration

f

these

people

on

esthetic

grounds

s

to

apply

dubiouscriteria

t

best.

W.

C.

Handy

once admitted

o

Dorothy

Scarborough

see

her

pp.

265

f.)

that

all

of his blues

were either

based on

a

Negro

folksong

or were

"a

composite

of racial

sayings."

To

collect

the "blue

yodels"

without

reference

o

Jimmie

Rodgers

s

pre-

cisely

like

collecting

as

folksong

the

"St.

Louis

Blues"

without

reference

o

W. C.

Handy.

NOTES

1Mellinger

Edward

Henry,

Songs Sung

in

the

Southern

Appalachians

London,

1934),

p.

71;

Newman

Ivey

White,

gen.

ed.

The

Frank

C.

Brown

Collection

of

North

Carolina

Folklore,

Henry

M. Belden

and

Arthur Palmer

Hudson,

eds. Vol.

III

of

the

Brown

collection,

Folksong

from

North

Carolina

(Durham,

I952),

p. 395.

2See Belden

and

Hudson,

pp.

563

and

564,

respectively.

3MacEdward

Leach

and Horace

P.

Beck,

"Songs

from

Rappahannock

County,

Virginia,"

JAF,

LXIII

(I950),

280.

4Mellinger

Edward

Henry,

FolkSongs

from

the

Southern

Highlands

(New

York,

1938),

pp.

270-7--the

same

text and

informants

are listed

in

JAF,

XLV

(1932),

86-87;

Arthur

Palmer

Hudson,

"Ballads

and

Songs

from

Mississippi,"

JAF,

XXXIX

(I926),

I50;

Vance

Randolph,

Ozark Folksongs (Columbus, Miss.,

1950),

IV,

310-313.

5

Belden and

Hudson,

pp.

371, 428,

respectively.

sG.

Malcolm

Laws,

Jr.,

Native

American

Balladry

(Philadelphia,

1950),

pp.

220-221.

7

"Did

you

hear that

Jimmie

Rodgers

is

dead?"

"Naw-what

happened

to

him?"

"He was

standin'

'all around

the

water

tank' and fell

in."

The allusion

s to

the first

line of

'Waiting

for

a

Train."

8

Maverick

stanzas

are a

peculiar

feature

of

Negro

folksong,

yet

they

are

present

in

White

song

also;

e.g.,

the

"Who

will

shoe

your pretty

little

feet"

stanza that

has so

commonly

been

attributed

to

'The

Lass

of Roch

Royal."

9An

engineer,

a

fireman,

two

brakemen,

and

a

conductor.

Biographical

material

here

is

from Mrs.

Jimmie

Rodgers'

My

Husband, Jimmie

Rodgers (San

Antonio,

1935).

10

AmericanNegro Folk Songs (fully citedin text), pp.272-336.

11

W.

C.

Handy,

ed.

Blues

(New

York,

1926),

p.

7.

12

Dorothy

Scarborough,

On

the Trail

of

Negro

Folk-Songs (Cambridge,

Mass.,

1925),

p.

213.

13

American

Negro

Folk

Songs,

p.

395.

14

The

influence

of

the

Carter

family,

for

instance,

who

have

been

making

records

for

more

than

thirty years,

can be

seen

in the

guitar

style

of such

widely

diverse

folk musicians

as

Leadbelly

and

Woody

Guthrie.