I'm hoping that by now some of you have heard of the book by Barry Mazor about Jimmie Rodgers' influence on popular music. Mr. Mazor's book ought to address some of the issues people raise in this thread. Yeah, yeah, yeah Jody really DID work with George Martin. Yeah, Jody really did have an influence in the evolution of the song "Muleskinner Blues" which he recorded as "Good Morning Captain". In the liner notes of Jody's self-produced CD "Spanning the Decades" he admits that he didn't come up with the arrangement himself that he had heard it from some guy at some festival. But he was the first to record the version that was later copied note for note by the Fendermen.

If you doubt the collectible nature of GMC check it out on ebay along with some of Jody's other numbers: So You Think You've Got Troubles, If You Don't Know (I Ain't Gonna Tell You) and a few others. He really did trade the royalty rights to the song "Kissing Time" for a 1932 Rolls Royce when we lived in England.

Jody was a cranky yankee alright and sometimes quite verbose but he was not a liar. He did not pay anybody for his page on the Rockabilly Hall of Fame website. Jody's page is still there and nobody in our family has paid a dime to keep it there. I personally don't put much in store by these things whether they be the rhof or the Academy Awards or the Grammies either. They are all self-congratulatory machines serving the business end of the arts. The real proof is in the music and the musicians who remember your music.

Jody's music is included in the Beatles' Legacy Archives and in at least two cd collections of the best of british rock and roll before the Beatles. Jody's songs are still living - still being discussed - being auctioned off as collectible. How many of us on this or any other musicblog will be able to say that?

Jody's performing career was greatly hampered by the fact that he was naive and got cheated by his manager (Monty Bruce) and because he was difficult to pigeonhole. For better or for worse Jody was a genre bender that refused to conform to the expectations of anybody else. That's what made him an influential artist. For a capstain chantey, he'd sing "A Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin On" and then he'd do a beautiful slide guitar version of "Fairwell to Tarwaithe". Go figure.

I am new to mudcat and I'm reading through a lot of these old threads looking for my dad's contributions. It's fun and sad too. I see that many of you reached out to him and forgave him his eccentricities. Thank you for your kindnesses. As he became sicker and sicker, these conversations were the goad that made him want to get up and participate in life.

I hope to make some friends here too.

Your sister in hope and song,
Joyce Katzberg