Died On This Date (May 26, 1933) Jimmie Rodgers / Folk Legend
themusicsover Jimmie Rodgers
September 8, 1897 – May 26, 1933
Known as “The Singing Brakeman,” Jimmie Rodgers was one of country music’s first superstars, best known for his yodeling. A natural showman at an early age, Rodgers began arranging traveling road shows while still in his early teens. To keep him an eye on him, Rodgers’ father got him a job as a waterboy at the rail yard at which he worked. It was there that Rodgers began learning the guitar from hobos and rail workers. When he was 27, Rodgers came down with tuberculosis. Although it eventually put an end to his career with the railroad, it didn’t stop him from performing and recording. Rodgers recorded several records in the late ’20s, including “Blue Yodel” (or “T For Texas” as it was commonly known) which would make him a household name. By the early ’30s, Rodgers was mostly retired from the road due to the health problems brought on by the tuberculosis. In May of 1933, he traveled to New York for what would be his final recording sessions. It has been said that he needed to lay down and rest between each song. Rodgers died of a lung hemorrhage just two days after his final recording session. He was just 35.
What You Should Own
Brad Nowell was the guitarist and lead singer for Southern California punk band, Sublime. In a sad twist of fate, Nowell’s death from a heroin overdose on the eve of the release of their major label debut helped it become one of the most successful albums of the year. By the time Nowell was eleven, his parents were divorced, perhaps leading him to the local sounds of punk and hip-hop for an escape. It was at this age that Nowell’s father took him to the Virgin Islands where he was introduced to a heavy dose of reggae music which would become the integral part of the music he would go on to make. After returning home, Nowell was given his first guitar, and never looked back. At twenty, he co-founded Sublime along with fellow Cal State Long Beach students, Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh. With a sound that was equal parts punk, ska, reggae and hip-hop, the band quickly became the local rage often playing at bars and parties in exchange for alcohol. The band soon recorded and released 40 Oz to Freedom on their own Skunk Records. That album contained a song called “Date Rape” which found its way to Los Angeles powerhouse alternative station, KROQ who added it into rotation, causing the request lines to explode. The song quickly became one of the most popular songs at KROQ that summer and grabbed the attention of executives at MCA Records who snapped the band up and put them into the studio to record their follow-up album. It was around this time that Nowell began to descend into the depths of substance abuse. Upon the completion of Sublime, the band embarked on a west coast run of dates in preparation of their first European tour. On May 25, 1996, as the band was checking out of their San Francisco hotel, Gaugh went to fetch Nowell only to find him face down in his room, dead of a heroin overdose. MCA Records and the surviving members debated whether to still release Sublime but ultimately decided to go ahead so that potential profits could go to help raise the one-year-old son Nowell left behind. The album went on to sell over 5 million copies.
Roy Brown was an American blues singer who helped bridge the gap between the blues and rock ‘n roll. After a brief stint as a professional boxer, Brown turned to music in the mid ’40s. In 1947, he released “Good Rockin’ Tonight” which was covered by 
There’s likely only one person who could say they played alongside not only 
Gene Clark is perhaps best known as a founding member of folk rock group, the Byrds. Clark’s early career was mainly devoted to performing in traditional folk groups in and around Kansas City. But after hearing the Beatles in 1964, he decided he needed to rock, so he moved to Los Angeles. Upon arriving in L.A., Clark joined up with Roger McGuinn, David Crosby and later Chris Hillman and 