Search - Jimmie Rodgers :: Train Whistle Blues

First released on vinyl in 1958, this has always been the compilation that staked the Singing Brakeman's claim as a bluesman, thanks to tunes like "Jimmie's Texas Blues" and especially the wonderful "Let Me Be Your Sidetrack" ("When you see a spider, climbin' up a lonesome wall / You can tell the world he's gonna get his ashes hauled"). Mix in the title track, a blue yodel ("No. 5"), and such oft-covered songs as "Treasures Untold" and "Any Old Time," and you've got a set that surpasses any of Rodgers's greatest-hits collections. You've also got his best picking on record, because Jimmie really could play the blues. --John Morthland