Jimmy Rogers

Biography

Jay or James Arthur "Jimmy" Rogers (June 3, 1924 – December 19, 1997) was an American Chicago blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player, best known for his work as a member of Muddy Waters's band in the early 1950s. He also had a solo career and recorded several popular blues songs, including "That's All Right×That's All Right10 July 1992 · Album · CompilationSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 18 tracks1Goin’ Away Baby2:452Today, Today Blues3:083That’s All Right2:474The World Is in a Tangle2:585Money, Marbles and Chalk3:176She Loves Another Man2:517Back Door Friend3:108Left Me With a Broken Heart2:559Blues All Day Long3:0410Act Like You Love Me2:5711Chicago Bound2:4112You’re the One2:3013Walking by Myself2:4814My Baby Don’t Love Me No More2:1815This Has Never Been2:5116My Last Meal3:0417You Don’t Know2:4218Rock This House2:49" (now a blues standard), "Chicago Bound×Chicago Bound1989 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Chicago Bound2:462St Louis3:433Do You Swear3:334Anna Lee4:265Sloppy Drunk5:006Lemon Squeezer3:277Last Time2:538Whoopin' Foolin' With You4:279One Room Little Country Shack5:5910Goin' Away Baby2:57", "Walking by Myself×Walking by Myself1991 · Album · CompilationSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 20 tracks1Today, Today Blues3:092She Loves Another Man2:533The World's In A Tangle2:584Chance To Love3:195Mistreated Baby3:286Crying Shame2:487Give Love Another Chance2:588Left Me With A Broken Heart2:569You're The One2:3110This Has Never Been2:5311Walking By Myself2:4812One Kiss2:4513I Can't Believ2:4514What Have I Done2:4115My Baby Don't Love Me No More2:2016Trace Of You2:3417Rock This House2:5018My Last Meal3:0719You Don't Know2:4320Can't Keep From Worrying2:30" (his sole R&B chart appearance), and "Rock This House". He withdrew from the music industry at the end of the 1950s, but returned to recording and touring in the 1970s.

Career

Rogers was born Jay or James Arthur Lane, near to Ruleville, Mississippi, on June 3, 1924. He was raised in Atlanta and Memphis. He adopted his stepfather's surname. He learned to play the harmonica with his childhood friend Snooky Pryor, and as a teenager he took up the guitar. He played professionally in East St. Louis, Illinois, with Robert Lockwood, Jr., among others. Rogers moved to Chicago in the mid-1940s. By 1946, he had recorded as a harmonica player and singer for the Harlem record label, run by J. Mayo Williams. Rogers's name did not appear on the record, which was mislabeled as the work of Memphis Slim and His Houserockers.
In 1947, Rogers, Muddy Waters and Little Walter began playing together, forming Waters's first band in Chicago (sometimes referred to as the Headcutters or the Headhunters, because of their practice of stealing jobs from other local bands). The band members recorded and released music credited to each of them as solo artists. The band defined the sound of the nascent Chicago blues style (more specifically, South Side Chicago blues). Rogers recorded several sides of his own with small labels in Chicago, but none were released at the time. He began to achieve success as a solo artist in 1950, with the song "That's All Right×That's All Right10 July 1992 · Album · CompilationSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 18 tracks1Goin’ Away Baby2:452Today, Today Blues3:083That’s All Right2:474The World Is in a Tangle2:585Money, Marbles and Chalk3:176She Loves Another Man2:517Back Door Friend3:108Left Me With a Broken Heart2:559Blues All Day Long3:0410Act Like You Love Me2:5711Chicago Bound2:4112You’re the One2:3013Walking by Myself2:4814My Baby Don’t Love Me No More2:1815This Has Never Been2:5116My Last Meal3:0417You Don’t Know2:4218Rock This House2:49", released by Chess Records, but he stayed in Waters's band until 1954. In the mid-1950s he had several successful records released by Chess, most of them featuring either Little Walter or Big Walter Horton on harmonica, notably "Walking by Myself×Walking by Myself1991 · Album · CompilationSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 20 tracks1Today, Today Blues3:092She Loves Another Man2:533The World's In A Tangle2:584Chance To Love3:195Mistreated Baby3:286Crying Shame2:487Give Love Another Chance2:588Left Me With A Broken Heart2:569You're The One2:3110This Has Never Been2:5311Walking By Myself2:4812One Kiss2:4513I Can't Believ2:4514What Have I Done2:4115My Baby Don't Love Me No More2:2016Trace Of You2:3417Rock This House2:5018My Last Meal3:0719You Don't Know2:4320Can't Keep From Worrying2:30". In the late 1950s, as interest in the blues waned, he gradually withdrew from the music industry.
In the early 1960s, Rogers briefly worked as a member of Howling Wolf's band, before quitting the music business altogether for almost a decade. He worked as a taxicab driver and owned a clothing store, which burned down in the 1968 Chicago riots following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Rogers gradually began performing in public again, and in 1971, when fashions made him somewhat popular in Europe, he began occasionally touring and recording, including a 1977 session with Waters which resulted in the album I'm Ready. By 1982, Rogers was again a full-time solo artist. He continued touring and recording albums until his death.
In 1995, Rogers was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. His song "That's All Right" was inducted by the organization in 2016 as a "Classic of Blues Recording", which identified it as a blues standard.
Rogers died of colon cancer in Chicago in 1997. He was survived by his son, Jimmy D. Lane, a guitarist, record producer and recording engineer for Blue Heaven Studios and APO Records.