He sang "Honeycomb" for producers Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore and, to say the least, they had a strong reaction to it. Jimmie became more aggressive in efforts to get a record deal in June 1957 he tried out for Roulette, a recently-formed label that had already scored hits with Buddy Knox and Jimmy Bowen. Midwestern piano man Chuck Miller (best known for "The House of Blue Lights") caught his act, then helped him get an audition with his label, Mercury, but it was no go. "I Always Knew" and its flip, "I Won't Sing Rock and Roll," had backing by a local band, Frankie Bell and his Rhythm Kings, and was amateurishly produced (except for Jimmie's appealing vocal delivery). By 1956 he'd returned home, working in Portland-area clubs he made his first record for an obscure Vancouver, Washington label, Zig Zag. His preference for folk and pop tunes was accepted there and he usually accompanied himself on electric guitar. Jimmie headed south and made regular appearances at the Keyboard Club in Beverly Hills, primarily the home of jazz musicians. ![]() After hearing Bob Merrill's song "Honeycomb" by crooning Philadephian Georgie Shaw (the flip side of his top ten 1954 hit "Till We Two Are One"), Rodgers added it to his repertoire. Later he was stationed near Nashville, Tennessee and began singing and playing piano at a small nightspot called the Club Unique. In 1952, at age 19, he joined the Air Force, just in time to be packed off to Korea during the war that came to an end the following summer. He grew up in Camas, Washington, just across the Columbia River from Portland, Oregon, a child like any other but with a fascination for music technique. Yet he remained suprisingly upbeat despite suffering through one daunting physical challenge after another. ![]() Then suddenly his luck changed he was the victim of the most brutal kind of beating that left him near death, followed by a long, tedious rehabilitation.only to be afflicted later in life by a disorder that made it difficult to speak, much less sing. A major American singing star with a number one hit early in his career, he later hosted his own television series and was, for a time, a household name. Compared to other popular 20th century entertainers, Jimmie Rodgers has faced more than his share of hardship.
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