Songs of Jimmie Rodgers

<p>The songs of country music pioneer Jimmie Rodgers have been appropriated by dozens of musicians and radically transformed since he first recorded them nearly 90 years ago. His songs have often resurfaced at critical moments when country music has been forced to confront issues of style gender race and tradition. In this cultural and historical study Jocelyn R. Neal discusses three of Rodgers' most influential songs--Muleskinner Blues In the Jailhouse Now and T for Texas. She offers a radically new perspective on the role of Rodgers and his music in the making of country music and on the ways in which individual songs take on special significance in American cultural life.</p>