JIMMY RODGERS ENTERTAINERS BUSINESS CARD 1927 Ashboro,NC Teneva RamblersOriginal

$

1,000

paulsolarski Store

JIMMIE RODGERS ENTERTAINERS BUSINESS CARD 

Condition: Excellent. Minor corner dent as shown. 

Background: This was found by a collector about 20 years ago in a long-closed antique shop in Grenada, MS. The antique dealer had various paper items including this card and some Rodgers family letters that he had obtained from the Rodgers estate. None of the letters had Jimmie Rodgers or his wife's signature so the collector did not buy them-only this card.

Jimmie Rodgers was an aggressive and obviously successful self-promoter. And many performers of the day from Jelly Roll Morton to Paul Whiteman to unknown bands gave out business cards as a basic form of promotion. The Jimmie Rodgers Entertainers were his group before he was recorded by Victor at the "Big Bang" of Country Music at Bristol, Tennessee in August, 1927. This card was likely made in April to August 1927 when the group had an engagement at Asheville's Radio Station WWNC, played for an extended run at a prestigious Blue Ridge resort and various other dates. 

I have spoken to Nolan Porterfield, author of the Rodgers biography, as well as the Rodgers Museum in Meridian, MS. And two additional long-time experts concerning Jimmie Rodgers-None have seen or heard of this card. The museum does display a later business card identifying Rodgers as a Victor Artist and giving his address as a hotel in San Antonio, Texas.

The card itself is obviously old card stock, printed in standard raised lettering. It looks, feels and smells old. I feel it is authentic and an important piece of Country Music history especially in that it predates Rodger's recording career and therefore received far less distribution than any later business card. 

This card would be the cornerstone of any Country Music Collection.

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So many questions about this card so I'll continue to answer as much as I can. 1. The Entertainers group was formed in late March, 1927 following a Johnson City fair in which Rodgers was booked along with the Tenneva Ramblers. The cards were likely printed following the fair as Rodgers(ever the shrewd businessman) had claimed to the group that he had a radio gig with WWNC before he actually performed it and the Jimmie Rodgers Society has a photo of Rodgers with the Tenneva Ramblers. The group was called Entertainers because Rodgers always viewed himself as an entertainer-not as "only" a Country artist. Their act was of the variety show sort. Prior to Victor Records as represented by Ralph Peer, Rogers was performing current pop songs, Hawaiian songs and folk songs. Peer used his music business savvy as he had at OKeh with Fiddlin Carson and directed the artist to the material that he sensed correctly would sell. 2. The Jimmie Rogers Entertainers group then played for one month on radio station WWNC. Beginning in May, 1927. During that time they also played parties and city fairs. In the context of ancient 1927 radio this would justify the National Radio Artist's claim on the card. 3. Following the WWNC gig, Rodgers talked the owners of the luxury North Fork Mountain resort near Marion, NC into hiring the group to play during dinners and weekly dances. This engagement lasted 6 weeks, beginning in June. 1927. 4. Rodgers met Ralph Peer in late July, 1927, sold him on the group's merits and got the group scheduled to record in two weeks. When practicing August 2 for their recording date, the band broke up over billing on the record labels. Rodgers immediately went to Peer and convinced him to record him alone and so on August 4, 1927 Jimmie Rodgers and the Tenneva Ramblers made their first recordings-separately. 5. At some point in late 1927(August 2?), Rodgers, being a competitive and very driven entertainer, apparently destroyed virtually all of the cards since the group no longer existed-thus insuring the scarcity and possibly uniqueness.