Today in Music History for Sept. 8:

In 1897, Jimmie Rodgers, known variously as "The Singing Brakeman," "America's Blue Yodeler" and "The Father of Country Music," was born in either Meridian, Miss., or Geiger, Ala. Both communities are near the state border. Although his recording career spanned less than six years -- from October 1927 to May 1933 -- Rodgers remains the most influential artist in country music. His series of "Blue Yodels," which mixed elements of the blues with yodelled refrains, were immensely popular. "Blue Yodel No. 1" -- also known as "T For Texas" -- sold a million copies after its release in 1927. Rodgers was the first Southern rural artist to attain mass popularity and he became the model and inspiration for such later singers as Ernest Tubb, Hank Snow, Wilf Carte

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