In the autumn of 1927, Victor Records and their talent scout and producer Ralph Peer were giving some thought to an artist they had signed up that summer – a 30-year-old singer and guitarist named Jimmie Rodgers.
Originally from Meridian, Mississippi, Rodgers had worked as a railroader. He quit because of tuberculosis, moved to North Carolina for its healthy mountain air and turned to music for a living. In August 1927 he had found his way to a location recording session that Peer was conducting for Victor in Bristol, Tennessee. There he had recorded a pair of whiskery old numbers, The Soldier’s Sweetheart and Sleep, Baby, Sleep, and this debut single had sold moderately well.
