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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZRODGERS, Jimmie (pop singer)(b James Frederick Rogers, 18 September 1933, Camus WA; d 18 January 2021, Palm Desert CA) Folk/pop singer, no relation to the more famous Jimmie Rodgers (above), though perhaps named after him as many boys were in the early '30s. Taught music by his mother, he won an Arthur Godfrey talent show and was signed by Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore, producers who had left RCA for the new Roulette label. 'Honeycomb' ('54 song by Bob Merrill) was a no. 1 hit '57, followed by 'Kisses Sweeter Than Wine' (revival of '51 Weavers hit), 'Oh-Oh, I'm Falling In Love Again', 'Secretly', 'Are You Really Mine', all top ten '57-8; a string of lesser hits, then on Dot '62-6, then A&M for 25 Hot 100 entries altogether. LPs It's Over '66 on Dot, Child Of Clay '68 (title track was his last chart entry) and Windmills Of Your Mind '69 on A&M made the Billboard album chart. He suffered a serious skull fracture in a mysterious incident late '67 after his car was stopped by Los Angeles police. The local authority eventually paid him $200,000 to make the case go away. He had brain surgery and a metal plate in his head, and his performing was eventually limited because he sometimes had seizures on stage. Rodgers thought the beating had been arranged by gangsters because he kept pestering Morris Levy, the boss at Roulette, for past-due royalties. He became a producer and a theater owner in Branson MO, retiring to California in 2002. |