Country Music Hall of Fame Inductees

I'm told there isn't a thread about this. So let's start one, folks. Beginning with the first inductees, in 1961:




Fred Rose.



Jimmie Rodgers.



Hank Williams.

 

Patsy Cline admires the plaques of the first three inductees into the Country Music HoF:

 

For those readers interested: Meeting Jimmie Rodgers: How America's Original Roots Music Hero Changed the Pop Sounds of a Century by Barry Mazor is available as a digital download today (March 29th) and tomorrow at Amazon.com for $2.51 plus applicable taxes.

I just started reading the book and can't attest to quality other than to admit that the initial story of Louis Armstrong reminiscing with Johnny Cash about Rodgers is engaging.

Armstrong and Cash performing Rodger's "Blue Yodel No. 9" from The Johnny Cash Show, recorded at the Ryman Auditorium 5 October 1970...

 

Jimmie Rodgers with "Blue Yodel No. 1 (T. For Texas)...

 

There will never be another Jimmie Rodgers. Equal parts roots, blues and folk.

 

Wow! To know that Satchmo was a fan of Rodgers blows my mind!

 

How important is Jimmie Rodgers to our cultural history? Besides being in the first class of inductees in the Country Music Hall of Fame, he has been inducted in...

The Songwriters Hall of Fame, 1970
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 1986... listed as an Early Influence in the first class with Jimmy Yancy and Robert
Johnson
The Blues Hall of Fame, 2013

 

Johnny Cash had so many great artists on his show. It seems he brought all the hillbillies of all genres out of the closet. I remember being most surprised when I came across a clip of Peggy Lee appearing on his show. Her and Cash sang duet on Don Gibson's "I Can't Stop Loving You" even though she told the critics for years that she disliked country music. Was she a closet fan perhaps? Or just trying to stay relevant in an industry that changed, maybe. The winds were blowing and she saw that country music was the most stable genre after the British invasion, perhaps?

 

All it takes is one viewing of 'Blue Yodel No. 1' for anyone to understand Jimmie Rodgers' instrumental importance in the development of 20th century musical genres.

 

They were contemporaries and recorded together in 1930.

 

I didnt know that, which is why these threads are so important!

 

Hank Williams - Hey, Good Lookin'.



The quality sucks, but I've never seen Hank on film before. Assuming this was filmed for Louisiana Hayride?

 

I must say, I'm not a fan of halls of fame general, but when I was in Nashville a couple of years ago I made a point of stopping by the Country Music Hall of Fame and it's great -- incredible instruments on display like the guitar Jimmie Rodgers played at the Bristol sessions, Bill Monroe's mando, Chet Atkins' Standel amp; also Hank Williams Nudie suits, Owen Bradley's recording console, etc were on display; and the Country Music Foundation, which runs it, does a really fine job examine and preserving country music. As a visitor I though it was a model for how a music hall of fame should be.

 

Here's the famous track, with Louis an Lil Armstrong.

 

Funny, first artist that came to mind when I listened to 'Blue Yodel No. 1' was Robert Johnson.

 

Another of Jimmie Rodgers' famous songs... "In the Jailhouse Now"


The song is usually credited to Rodgers but its history is more complex...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Jailhouse_Now

The version from the O' Brother, Where Art Thou soundtrack by Tim Blake Nelson (the songwriting credit reads Blind Blake / Jimmie Rodgers)...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL7ZjFp1Z5s

 

Love it! The yodeling and especially the banjo work.

 

Hank Williams on Kate Smith's show doing Cold, Cold Heart:



According to the uploader, this was his final television appearance.

 

Recommended reading for anyone interested in Hank Williams.

 

Although they were inducted in the Country Music Hall of Fame in the same class, it should be emphasized that Jimmie Rodgers was an influence on Hank Williams.

 

That much is clear.

 

Escott writes excellent liner notes. I will look into this.

 

Two quotes from Hank Williams: The Biography by Colin Escott:

“When Hank sang ‘Lovesick Blues’ on the Hayride,” said Tillman Franks, “he would wobble his knees during the yodel."

“The last show (on the Louisiana Hayride before joining the Grand Ole Opry), he encored ‘Lovesick Blues’ seven times — he could have encored it ten times, and I never let anybody encore more than seven times to keep Hank’s record."

 

He wobbles his knees in the film clip of 'Hey, Good Lookin' above also. It's kinda cute. A gesture that allows his sense of humor to shine through.

 

Next up - the first living inductee and the only artist for 1962. Roy Acuff.