HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JIMMY ROGERS

 No, not that one.  Not the "Singing Brakeman" (whose name was often spelled "Jimmie.")

No, not the other one, the one who told us that kisses were sweeter than wine (whose name was also often spelled "Jimmie.")

Nope.  It's the one who would have turned 100 years old today -- the great Chicago blues artist.

Jay (or James) Arthur Lane was born in Ruleville, Mississippi, and was raised in Atlanta and Memphis.  He later took his stepfather's name, Rogers.  While still in Mississippi,  to play harmonica with his childhood friend, Snooky Pryor (whose experimental style of harmonica playing became became a standard for blues and which help him be recognized in the Blues Hall of Fame).  Rogers then took up the guitar as a teenager, playing in East Saint Louis with Delta blues great Robert Lockwood Jr. (the only guitarist to have learned how to play directedly from Robert Johnson).  In 1947 Chicago, Rogers began playing with Muddy Waters and Little Walter in Waters' first band, defining the sound of South Side Chicago blues.  His first big hit as a solo artist came in 1950 with "That's All Right," although Rogers also remained with the Waters band until 1954.  In the mid-Fifties, Rogers had several successful records, often with Little Walter or Big Walter Horton on the harmonica.  He played briefly with Howlin' Wolf's band in the early Sixties, but soon quite the music business as interest in the blues became less popular.  He ran a clothing store in Chicago, which burned down during the 1968Chicago riots which followed the assassination of Martin/ Luther King Jr.  Rogers slowly re-entered the music business, touring and recording (often in Europe, and sometimes with Waters), until he became a full-time solo artist from 1982 until his death in 1997.  He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1995; his song "That's All Right" was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame as a "Classic of blues Recording" in 2016.

Here's a sampling of his blues genius:

"That's All Right"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU0rBtYCIHg

"Act Like You Love Me"  with Little Walter on harmonica and Muddy Waters on guitar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5D2yN4xbGkk

"Sloppy Drunk"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKRA0PqoIak

"Rock This House"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXOf3tftKr0

"You're the One"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erodw9TPI-k

"Walking by Myself"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDuL-Nj2aM0

"Blow Wind Blow" 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYMZidHTGlc

"Chicago Bound"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td7236JoTAk

"Don't Start Me to Talkin' "

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9x2XLDdb_U

"Trouble No More" with Mick Jagger

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MO1hNce-DZg

"Ludella"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33jOzhci9js

"What's the Matter?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZDA-JH5d1s