I was a kid in Liverpool UK and my grandfather rebuilt an old windup gramophone for my 12th. birthday. We had some old acetate 78's which we used to play for laughs. (military marches and some old Hawaiian music.) One day I was at a loose end and found myself walking down a back alley behind my home. It was the day the local binman was calling to empty bins and some houses had put some stuff out, just next to their bins. I spotted a 78 record in it's original cardboard cover and I took it home. it was clean and in good condition. I played it on the old windup and it was Jimmie Rodgers singing Hobo Bill's Last Ride. I was mesmerised and had never heard anything like his mournful singing and yodelling. Some years later on I was in the British Army in Germany. There was an American Airforce outfit at our base and they had a services shop much like the British NAAFI. I was, by then a country music fan and this USAF shop stocked imported country music. I went there regularly to buy stuff. Jim Reeves, Hank Snow, Web Peirce, Hank Thompson, Ferlin Huskey, Hank Locklin, and Marty Robbins. I built up a good collection. I never forgot Jimmie Rodgers though and I was over the moon when I found some new RCA imports at the shop- A whole new remastering of Jimmies output had been reissued onto L.P's and I got the lot! Still got them all today, though I have JR on CD's now. I still have that old 78 I found too, a treasured item that started me off on a long and happy musical education. Many thanks for posting this song.
@snakemansnakes19 жыл бұрын
Many thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
@snakemansnakes18 жыл бұрын
Many thanks for that little story Buzz.Fascinating stuff. Those tracks are great ones.. Gambling Barroom Blues is a favourite I love the mournful sound Jimmy managed to create on that recording.
@snakemansnakes18 жыл бұрын
I'm also a fan of Merle Haggard (RIP) and his Jimmie Rodgers tribute album was exceptional. Still available on CD. Same Train A Different Time. A favourite on that one is California Blues.
@mmmbrunommm37 жыл бұрын
Thanks for sharing your story, pretty interesting. This man has fans all over the world
@psychobillymaddog54667 жыл бұрын
Belfast ni.
@shawnd54848 жыл бұрын
Johnny Cash said this was the first song he ever remembered hearing
@timodewit3067 жыл бұрын
Shawn D first country song* He knew lots of gospel songs before that.
@anitaarchibald61386 жыл бұрын
Me too. I was 2 in 1953. My mom would play this song a lot. When I got old enough to understand it I would cry for Hobo Bill. lol Then she started playing Blood OnThe Saddle and that scarred me for life. hahaha Good memories.
@INDYOSKARS6 жыл бұрын
Tex ole good ole Ritter lol !
@raserandom47854 жыл бұрын
Billy Murray Fan first of all Johnny cash isn’t ugly and even if he was it wouldn’t do anything to his amazing music and I doubt u ever even listened to one of his beautiful songs before
@nyad.24273 жыл бұрын
We love when you come here just because of that
@cullenparker1210 жыл бұрын
This was the first song Johnny Cash heard on the radio. We miss you Mr. Cash
@Klaudiart10 жыл бұрын
Never heard this
@jflack67 жыл бұрын
Awesome autobiography, too!
@LuffyxNamiisathing6 жыл бұрын
Flower you obviously haven't read Johnny's book than
@balladeer456 жыл бұрын
then, not than
@raserandom47854 жыл бұрын
Billy Murray Fan u really have to reply to every comment sayin cash sucks even tho he clearly doesn’t u obviously don’t have a good taste in music
@Potemkin06 жыл бұрын
Simply brilliant. Today's so-called 'celebrities' could learn a great deal from such an unpretentious performer
@daveerickson95248 ай бұрын
they could but they can't and won't
@torrerodriguez37838 жыл бұрын
jimmie Rodgers is the King of train songs
@guillermoariasjr.63066 жыл бұрын
The singing brakeman
@tedmccarron5 жыл бұрын
WAS the king of train songs...
@bsnf-522 күн бұрын
Doc Watson too
@Ekkie1014 жыл бұрын
Rodgers was prophetic with this song and others (including "Waiting For a Train - 1928). This precedes the crash of October '29 and the Great Depression of the thirties when the real hardships began.
@gunnarthefeisty Жыл бұрын
This sort of life had been around for years by 1929. It was nothing new when the depression started.
@fractalevision37545 жыл бұрын
I'm poor and alone but i listen Jimmie Rodgers ! Happy new year !
@JacobTanks23 күн бұрын
You’re not alone, bro!
@lyonsdenno110 жыл бұрын
If that song doesn't break your heart or cause a tear to flow you don't have a heart-have heard this all my life and I can still imagine Hobo Bill on that train.
@billynomates660210 жыл бұрын
Heard it first through a Hank Snow version. Found Jimmie Rodgers much later. Great C&W music acts like a prayer - It makes you better.
@justincb51938 жыл бұрын
It is such a sad song. Goodbye Hobo Bill. (or H-oh-oh B-oh-oh Bi-lee[If you go by the yodeling pronunciation])
@Cuzbro1007 жыл бұрын
First time I heard it my dad and his brother was doing it back in the 60s but Hank Snows version was the first professionally released version of it I heard. Jim Reeves also did a version of it. Dad told me that Jimmy originally released it.
@scottwallace35498 жыл бұрын
I'm only 59 so I can't say for sure that this was the best song ever written, but it's definitely on my short list.
@jamiewalker92586 жыл бұрын
I am 60 years old.I remember my dad playing those old 78s.thank you for making it possible for me to listen to these songs again. Tears in my eyes.Love that Jimmie Rodgers
@eugenieviener1035 ай бұрын
Ditto!
@jamesmasterson18506 жыл бұрын
This song inspired me to learn to play the guitar in 1962. Always been one of my favorites. Lots of stories I could relate, but not today.
@reejones17139 жыл бұрын
This is the greatest song I know.
@jackstraw2623 жыл бұрын
Marry me 💍
@TrumpWasRightAboutEverything3 жыл бұрын
Then you're awesome.
@bsnf-522 күн бұрын
Good choice
@simonnott12 жыл бұрын
The first song Johnny Cash ever heard on the family's first radio.
@tedmccarron5 жыл бұрын
I heard that he heard it on his family's victrola record.
@busterbrown37066 жыл бұрын
Talent is talent no matter when it was.
@karencaudill48054 жыл бұрын
buster brown absolutely! We are blessed to have the old music and the newer music
@kennaweaver70626 жыл бұрын
My Father used to play and sing this song when I was a kid, 1944. Always loved it. True Country. Since then I've always loved country music. Love the sad songs !!
@earlslot83202 жыл бұрын
i was born in 44, and still love this music
@trickster_zxz2701 Жыл бұрын
this type of music is real, not this garbage that is spewed out
@bshuler21856 жыл бұрын
Love that train whistle- Jimmy did that himself- sounds good!
@donaldwcarr78912 жыл бұрын
I was wondering if the train whistle was made with harmonica.
@barreltapper12 жыл бұрын
Jimmie Rodgers plaintive voice touches raw nerves you never even knew you had.
@swhite71114 жыл бұрын
My Dad would play an album by him in the 60s when I was a little boy. My mom hated it, but Dad loved it. He was also from Mississippi just like Jimmie ... but from Philadelphia MS where I was born when he sent my mom with family when he was being transferred in the Navy. So I grew fond of Jimmie's music...especially this song
@jimmyjennings40894 жыл бұрын
did you picture in your mind hobo bill laying in an old boxcar dead and shed a tear? if so that's the power of this song by Jimmy Rogers.
@capehorner194011 жыл бұрын
I will remember this song from when I was a young lad in the Falkland Islands. My adopted Father Ron Clarke got me to go and get this man who had come to Stanley fram tghe farms.He sang this song.I can still hear him singing it
@tedmccarron5 жыл бұрын
Do you remember the Falkland Islands war?
@stonemagic5404 жыл бұрын
back in the 50s my daddy use to strum and sing hobo bill on his gibson..never forgot..
@LaidIsGentleMen8 жыл бұрын
I love Jimmie's voice on this recording. Very tender and touching. Sounds a little like Dylan in the late sixties.
@allenbooth51933 жыл бұрын
It could be that Jimmie Rodgers influenced Bob Dylan somewhat.
@cherylfitzgerald27904 жыл бұрын
my dear Daddy rest in peace.this was your music. I love you and I cherish these old songs you used to sing.if only I could hear you sing again. I will when we meet in heaven. I love you.
@South3West773 жыл бұрын
I run across a fella few decades ago an ole southern musician. He detested Jimmie Rodgers. I Was stunned, I ask him Why. He said when he was a lil fellar, his mom's milk cow was absconded by Jimmie Rodgers.!! My grandmother loved his music, my father was named after him. Great artist. Died way to young.
@CrampedGrampyКүн бұрын
Me again. Don't get to listen to Jimmy Rogers as was used to do but I don't love his music and him any less now at age 85. Rogers is one of my all-time favorites. Sing on Jimmy.
@chiakakelechi10372 жыл бұрын
There can never be any modern music that can compare with these very old classics even though one didn't live in that era. The voice, the calmness, the imagination and the memories are all just incomparable and so sweet. You wish were there then.
@arinvests8 жыл бұрын
Ilove this old song, Still enjoying Jimmie's songs 82 years after he left us so soon ~ Arthur
@rothlis184 жыл бұрын
what poetry
@lavonnacasey57246 жыл бұрын
Townes Van Zandt does a wonderful cover of Hobo Bill.
@CrampedGrampy6 жыл бұрын
Now I am 78, I yet enjoy listening to Jimmy Rogers; only because of a friend mentioning Jimmy to me in 1959 was he made known to me. Mom played Hank W., Hank S. and others when I was a boy_ Jimmy Rodgers was totally unknown, I guess, to me mother. My loss. Great lyrics well sung.
@richardschock42203 жыл бұрын
Interesting, the "first song i ever heard" was while I was in my shell in the Allentown General Hospital -- pediatric division -- and Buffalo Springfield was performing at The Great Allentown Fair across the street, playing "Soul Man" which motivated and inspired me to start pounding on the walls of my shell and break out cuz I wanted to hear more classics!
@lucagray63975 жыл бұрын
I found a copy of this on 78 at an old antique store... pretty pleased
@KentDunn25165 жыл бұрын
his hobo songs told many stories
@superman114811 жыл бұрын
I'll never forget the first time I heard this. I was about 6 or 7 and didn't fully understand it but it stopped me dead in my tracks. I knew it was good, just didn't know how good until I was old enough to understand it better.
@lauriegreen33416 жыл бұрын
great song,, my two passions,, railways and country music
@adalbertotrevor64613 жыл бұрын
Hi there?
@garyolsen34092 жыл бұрын
Amen brother
@robertparker84842 жыл бұрын
I think I was 8 when I heard this song for the first time, and cried because of the loneliness of it. Ime 70 now and just played it for my wife and grandson, she instantly said that it was the lonliest song ever. But it tells a story and that's what sets country and bluegrass apart. Ray Charles said "I love the stories those cats write."
@bigmomma32653 жыл бұрын
This is my most favorite song!! I relate to Hobo Bill a lot.
@youwillnotknowmyname8405 жыл бұрын
Jimmie, you are the one of the greatest country singers! The King! PS how does he do that train sound with his mouth that is crazy!?
@tedmccarron5 жыл бұрын
I read on a another KZbin thread that he hummed and whistled at the same time to make that sound.
@olddogcitypound58595 жыл бұрын
R.I.P. STOBE THE HOBO may peace be with you my friend ✌
@tedmccarron5 жыл бұрын
"Peace."
@jackstraw2623 жыл бұрын
Darkest hours of the jimmie Rodgers comments over here and there’s no beer store to be found
@dixieboy56893 жыл бұрын
Old rail rider smiles on us all.
@jeanricketts68808 жыл бұрын
What is haunting Melody I remember hearing this when I was 15 AR 16 you never forget Jimmy Rogers song wonderful thank you
@didilajousky10 жыл бұрын
words fail every time trying to describe this. Jimmie is was and always will be my hero. Thanks Jimmie for such powerful and raw lyrics
@zerbinettabelling51357 жыл бұрын
Beautiful old songs ant artists. My dad loved this music in his days over 60 years ago and still it enchants us today too. wish there are more of these artists today
@hankshwank91134 жыл бұрын
I've been watching the Ken Burns special on country music and think Jimmie Rodgers was the best. Well Johnny Cash too. :)
@INDYOSKARS6 жыл бұрын
*"Hey, hey hey, let´s go to town !"* -James Charles Rodgers, guitar picker, banjo plucker. uke player, Hawaiian steel player and yodeler.
@saullouis11 жыл бұрын
Probably around 1962 I first heard Jimmy Rogers, my older brother brought home a record or two. I think it would be wonderful if radios played him and Woody and James P and others from that era. What amazing talent. What beautiful stuff. Such underproduced wonders.
@mr.warmth15116 жыл бұрын
he was featured in the first video in 1928
@mikemarthaller87894 жыл бұрын
My father "Rode the rails" as a kid . 1930"s It was a tough life. He talked about the difference between a HOBO, Which he was and a BUM. The Hobo wanted work and had pride. The Bum he said only wanted a hand OUT, The Hobo wanted a hand UP , As I work with homeless people I ask are they Hobo or Bum.
@gregorysullivan937110 жыл бұрын
simple, evocative, wonderfuly lonesome. thank you
@generalpatzer68936 жыл бұрын
This was the first song I ever heard as an embryo.
@lawrencechandler77048 жыл бұрын
in i.have.all.of.his.lps.and.some.of.his.78s.he.is.great.i.am.58.i.head.him.all.my.life love.most.of.jimmie.songs
@INDYOSKARS6 жыл бұрын
I love them ALL.
@Cuzbro1008 жыл бұрын
Ole Hobo inspired a lot of artists, both country and rock If youre ever in Meridian, MS, they have a museum there of Jimmy. He and The Carter Family are the reason Bristol is called the Birthplace of Country Music.
@JoeDoggTV8 жыл бұрын
+Cuzbro100 I live in Bristol :0
@Cuzbro1008 жыл бұрын
+joerover22 Yea according to Johnny Cash, Jimmie cut his first record in Bristol the same day the Carter Family cut their first record there.
@JoeDoggTV8 жыл бұрын
Cuzbro100 Cool! I am learning about all this in school right now.. taking some Appalachian courses at university. Specializing in it because I needed some extra credits to graduate this spring :[]
@indian23hhs4 жыл бұрын
Townes brought me hear. You can definitely hear how much JR influenced Hank Sr.
@TonySkyRush11 жыл бұрын
Jimmy inspired a generation of youthful aspiring artists. He was a legend and I discovered him by being a Lynyrd Skynyrd fan who redid "T for Texas" and also wrote the "Hobo Song" inspired by Jimmie Rodgers who they mention in the song.
@General_Alek9 ай бұрын
Hi Lupo
@karriewood74042 жыл бұрын
I still have the album in working condition and play it regularly. I've been lucky to have heard it played many many times by my grandpa who left it to my mom who in turn has given it to me. I just had a birthday and turned 54 years young. I love every song on the album with a special affinity to hobo Bill.
@jamiemartin17935 жыл бұрын
Old school country. Good stuff.
@johnhedges2358 жыл бұрын
Thank you so much. Wow, if he only had the new recording technology. It still sounded great. RIP Jimmie!
@Longhammer3721410 жыл бұрын
I can tell you without a doubt John Cash's favorite singer was Jimmie Rodgers.
@treystewart27084 жыл бұрын
Jimmie Rodgers was hard to beat ! Like Hank Williams he influenced alot of people !
@E621_Rule344 жыл бұрын
Hank snow, hank williams, johnny cash and i think woody guthrie were all influenced by him
@bsnf-522 күн бұрын
Merle Haggard said that Jimmie Rodgers influenced him big time
@paulsnider92088 жыл бұрын
If Bob Wills is still the king (as Waylon Jennings wrote), then surely that makes Jimmie Rodgers some kinda God.
@anitaarchibald61386 жыл бұрын
LOL
@INDYOSKARS6 жыл бұрын
Well ole son, there are more than one king & kingdoms, right ?
@lawrencelewis81055 жыл бұрын
@@INDYOSKARS yes, but we are monotheistic. You do know that Jesus played the dobro?
Being named Bill, this song caught my imagination as a little boy. As the song played, it wasn't hard to pretend being right in that Boxcar.
@krcsr1786 жыл бұрын
back in the 50s I grew up on the south side of Pgh. up 32nd st. in what was & is know as hunky hollow. we live close to the rail road, my Dad found a hobo's mark on our house, my Mom would feed any one that came to our door asking for a meal. well he wiped it off but with in a few days it was back on.
@lawrencelewis81057 жыл бұрын
Spiffy Model A Ford! The music's superb too!
@johndoylemc2 жыл бұрын
Recorded Nov 13, 1929 - New Orleans, Louisiana. Released Aug. 1, 1930 on Victor 224218.
@crafter1705 жыл бұрын
The first song Johnny cash heard when his families first radio arrived.
@Dave49erman11 жыл бұрын
Johnny Cash brought me here...what a great song! Better late than never.
@karlamaravi329812 жыл бұрын
i strangly like this song
@rcp19366 жыл бұрын
Such a sad song--really eats at you
@billbright17553 жыл бұрын
It’s the decent way for a Bo to go home to the by and by. The Milwaukee Road Lombard Montana.
@norbertoguadagni93312 жыл бұрын
¡Muchas gracias por acercarnos estas joyas!
@kaushikrahman4484 жыл бұрын
Hobo Bill-why Riding on that eastbound freight train speeding through the night Hobo Bill a railroad bum was fighting for his life The sadness of his eyes revealed the torture of his soul He raised a weak and weary hand to brush away the cold Hobo Bill No warm lights flickered round him no blankets there to hold Nothing but the howling wind and the driving rain so cold When he heard a whistle blowing in a dreamy kind of way The hobo seemed contented for he smiled there where he lay Hobo Bill Outside the rain was falling on that lonely boxcar door But the little form of Hobo Bill lay still upon the floor While the train sped through the darkness and the raging storm outside No one knew that Hobo Bill was taking his last ride It was early in the morning when they raised the hobo's head The smile still lingered on his face but Hobo Bill was dead There was no mother's longing to soothe his weary soul For he was just a railroad bum who died out in the cold
@giovanniiorio21703 жыл бұрын
Ty...now I can sing it.
@ronaldmullins84459 ай бұрын
Thank you so much for posting this song. Otherwise I would’ve missed parts of it. Thank you 🙏
@jerrymcjunkin8398 Жыл бұрын
Genius in him time thanks Jim I 👍 like the song 🎵 👌 rest RIP to you sir 🙏!!++
@Buggy-zu9zw Жыл бұрын
Jimmy could relate to the song as he was also fighting for his life with Tuberculosis.
@sakibear4478 Жыл бұрын
We are all gonna take that Last Ride someday just some peoples don’t know it yet.
@lemanwilson128111 жыл бұрын
Anyone interested in reading all about all these old time artist can do so by getting this book (Country Music Originals) writtin by Tony Russell. There are over 125 people listed in the book.LHW
@INDYOSKARS4 жыл бұрын
First time I heard this song I was ´stunned´, listened to it ´stunned´.
@clintwalls52173 жыл бұрын
Love & Miss you Sir!!👋😀
@davidmcdonald160010 жыл бұрын
Thanks to Ralph Peer at Victor
@jcm33011 жыл бұрын
I too was brought here by Johnny Cash...what a co-incidence
@misterwhitman43684 жыл бұрын
I was a wandering bum for over twenty years!
@David-yw2lvАй бұрын
In his heyday,he was the scongtbest selling recording artist after the man who wrote & recorded My Blue Heaven.
@MooPotPie11 жыл бұрын
This is nitpicking, but Cash said in a 1994 interview that he heard the record on the family's Victrola when he was about four years old, not on the radio.
@psychobillymaddog54667 жыл бұрын
The singing brakeman...2017....
@tpxchallenger11 жыл бұрын
Some of the guys he learned to play from must have been Civil War Vets. Think about that, you white Americans, and celebrate your heritage and history. I don't mean anything racist by that I'm just saying that cool music came from all over the USA, not strictly limited to the geniuses of black Americans (and there were many). You can really see where Woody Guthrie got his chops in this one.
@anthony-ob6lw7 жыл бұрын
I only like when he says hobo billy
@grantryder36082 жыл бұрын
Did you know that this was the first song Johnny cash ever heard ? It converted him to country music.
@MikeDial9 жыл бұрын
Dwight Yoakam's "I Sang Dixie" could have been inspired by this song.
@l.salisbury1253 Жыл бұрын
According to a new Johnny Ca$h bio the was the first-ever song he ever heard on the radio...!
@GTASEIRES1237 жыл бұрын
This is the song that made Johnny Cash a musician
@charlesjenkins6156 ай бұрын
You can't touch that!!🥲😊👍👏👏✌️
@FlyingFoxFruits6 жыл бұрын
kind of make u wanna cry tho...
@YoGrandTheftAuto9 жыл бұрын
Johnny Cash
@TheTwoshoes4u7 жыл бұрын
Jimmie inspired Ole Hank. It's the Real Deal...moan' country/mountain folk.
@adalbertotrevor64613 жыл бұрын
Hi there?
@elmerlarimer90268 жыл бұрын
chasles a larimer 1911-2002
@bsnf-522 күн бұрын
"It might not have been a Merle or a Willie If not for Django *and* Jimmie" . . .
@Klaudiart10 жыл бұрын
Someone posted this.
@supersandwitch1411 жыл бұрын
Hobo Bill is Harry Mcclintock, lol.
@diegos.loayza37063 жыл бұрын
Im quite new on county music; folk; americana; bluegrass etc. Im not american. And im wondering is this country or folk? Another question i want to hear stuff like this: old recordings of folk and country music. I want to know other artists like this from 1900 to 1940.
@richardwarren81382 жыл бұрын
There is a thin and blurred line between this style of "country music" and the popular notion of folk music, so you could make a good argument either way about the music of Jimmie Rodgers. Most of his recorded songs were written by himself, his sister or other song writers. But some are also taken directly from or are influenced by folk music, with which he was undoubtedly familiar. Old recordings of music from the early 1900s is hard to find. The first recording of Jimmie Rodgers was made by a man named Ralph Peer, who was seeking to record some of the music of the rural South for RCA Victor. His "discovery" of Rodgers and of the Carter Family at a special session in Bristol, Virginia/Tennessee in 1927, led to recordings of them and are probably the first recordings of American "country" music. So, you are not likely to find any recordings of this style of music made before 1927. The only other signer of similar songs around that time that I can think of is Woody Guthrie. I am sure there were lots more and also sure that many of them never made any recordings.
@waltercrider12892 жыл бұрын
@@richardwarren8138 Also Uncle Dave Macon was in the early to mid 20"s.
@cartermorey8647 Жыл бұрын
so long ago
@finnfoley86165 жыл бұрын
Can anybody tell me about the train whistle at the end? I'm curious if its a real whistle or the trick some vocalists can do with there throat.
@djaltbaculalay5 жыл бұрын
It's done by whistling and singing in falsetto at the same time.