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In the very late fifties, early sixties my mother used to play Jimmie Rodgers' music on our record player all the time. Consequently, I grew up listening to his folksy, warm voice singing "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine", "Secretly", "Waltzing Matilda", "Ring-A-Ling-A-Lario", "Honeycomb", and "Woman From Liberia". I always loved it when my mother played his album, and over the years it stayed with me until I, too, decided I would listen to his music and bought this outstanding CD.

Jimmie Rodgers always thought of himself primarily as a folk singer, yet most of the songs he sang were country flavored pop tunes because that was where the market was. His lilting, mellow voice was able to cross over easily to another genre of music, making him one of the most popular entertainers of the time.

Unfortunately, in late 1967, his career was derailed by an off-duty policeman in California who stopped him, ostensibly for driving erratically. What happened next was never made clear. Suffice to say, Jimmie Rodgers spent the better part of a year in a hospital with traumatic head injuries, a turn of events which impacted substantially on his career, as it took him several years to recuperate. Yet, notwithstanding this tragic turn of events, his was once one of the brightest stars on the horizon, and this eighteen track compiliation of songs for which he was noted is terrific and well worth having!

Jimmie Rodgers was one of the most successful artists of the late fifties; however, in any discussion of the music of that period, he remains unthought of by most until one of his songs is mentioned. Then, there is an almost unanimous "Oh, Yeah!" from everyone, quickly followed by "Do You Remember. . . .?"

The answer is "Yes," most folks do remember, and this excellent Rhino collection will bring all of those memories flooding back. The biggest hits are all here, highlighted by "Honeycomb", "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine", "Uh,Oh, I'm Falling in Love Again" and "Secretly". But the strength of this compilation lies in what follows. There is the fairly well known "Make Me a Miracle" and the whimsical "Bimbombey", both of which are usually recognized the moment they start playing.

The disc includes five lesser known cuts that would make the album worth having even if none of the previously mentioned tracks were there. Rodgers' beautiful second tenor soars with the ballads "Wonderful You" and "Child of Clay". As a bonus, there are excellent versions of "Waltzing Matilda" and "It's Over".

Rhino put eighteen tracks on this disc and not one of them is out of place. Anytime you combine excellent material and an excellent voice you get a remarkable product. The Best of Jimmie Rodgers is just that, a remarkable compilation that belongs in any good collection of the formative days of pop/rock. Highly recommended.

I was pleasantly surprised with this album. Jimmie Rogers is indeed a great singer: clear as a bell vocals. All of his familiar songs are here, along with the not-so-familiar. I don't know if "Waltzing Matilda" was a big hit in the past, but it sure sounds good nowadays.

As usual, Rhino created a splendid album here. I buy Rhino because I can always expect superb audio quality. That is what I got...again.

Great music, for sure!

Jimmie Rodgers is one of my favorite singers from the 50's and early 60's. In fact, my first ever album was Roulette's "Fifteen Million Sellers" by Jimmie Rodgers.
This Rhino CD has almost all of those songs--unfortunatey, 2 of them ("Are You Relly Mine" and "Waltzing Matilda" are different, jazzed-up versions of the original Roulette songs that were on that album. All of the others sound the same--making me wonder why they had to tamper with those 2!!!
And this compilation could have use several more songs from the Dot label (Rodgers version of "Lemon Tree" and "Slowpoke" come to mind).
In any case--if you are looking for a lot of vintage Jimmie Rodgers, this CD certainly is worth purchasing.

Jimmie Rodgers suffers from neglect, perhaps because he came before the public in the late '50s when Rock'n'Roll was sweeping the nation. And though I've seen him called a R'n'R singer, he is really a traditional pop singer, who sounded much like, for example, Guy Mitchell (another singer who deserves more recognition, of course!)

This album is a collection of his biggest hits, and if you don't Know Jimmie Rodgers, it's a great sampling of what he could do, while if you already know and love his voice, you'll get all the top hits that made him great.
The biggest of these, "Honeycomb" and "Kisses Sweeter than Wine," begin the set, and it ends up with "Child of Clay," which was his last hit before a vicious physical attack destroyed his health and almost ended his life, cutting short a great career.

This is a really good CD, and highly recommended.

It is amazing how completely Jimmie Rodgers seems to have faded from our collective consciousness, for this was a star who was consistently on the top ten list for years in the late 1950s. From his signature "Honeycomb" to "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine", from "Ring-A-Ling-A-Lario" to "Are You Really Really Mine", he was always on the radio and always on American Bandstand. The List of hits goes on and on, including "Secretly", "The Wizard", "Bimbombey", "Oh-Oh, I'm Falling In Love Again", "Tucumcari", and "It's Over". All of these and more are included here, and they provide the listener with a great sampling of all of the hits this guy was capable of pumping out. This is great stuff, and it is mysterious to me that he seems to have escaped popular notice in the decades since. Enjoy!

After Jimmie Rodgers was brutally beaten by a California Highway patrolman, his career was never quite the same. I only wish that this album had the track, "The Windmills of Your Mind" from the movie, "The Thomas Crown Affair". Perhaps with the remake of this film, with Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo, this song will regain some popularity.

If I were to try to pick the best voices of the fifties rockers, I would have trouble narrowing my top ten list down to thirty or forty singers. Jimmie Rodgers certainly had a great voice. He was able to hit the high notes like Jackie Wilson and do fast or slow songs with the purity of a Marty Robbins or Roy Orbison. This CD has some of his best hits like "Honeycomb" and "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine." It was late in his career when he recorded and had a hit with "Child of Clay." That song came out during the 60s and did very well on the charts against The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. His voice and arrangements are first rate. The main drawback to this CD is it doesn't have enough of his big hits like "Two-Ten Six Eighteen" and "Mama Was a Cotton Picker." This one is smooth. Tom Willett

Has all of Rodgers' best and most popular pop hits in their original versions. Includes the slow dance fave "Secretly" as well as a hit that Glen Campbell and Elvis covered, "It's Over."

I have played this CD continuously since I saw him in Branson. I wish I could find more music by him. I bought the CD BEST OF JIMMIE RODGERS (MCA) because it has 5 songs on it that aren't on this one and have been hunting for the CD titled JIMMIE RODGERS GRESTEST HITS. I LOVE HIS MUSIC!