Jesse Rogers Born:  March 5, 1911 Died:  December 2, 1973 KMOX Old Fashioned Barn Dance WFIL Barn Dance WFIL Hayloft Hoedown KGKO Fort Worth, TX KMA Shenandoah, IA KMOX St. Louis, MO WFAA Dallas, TX WFIL Philadelphia, PA WHB Kansas City, MO WJMJ Philadelphia, PA XELO Juarez, MX XERA Del Rio, TX

About The Artist Jesse Otto Rodgers was born on a farm near Waynesboro, Mississippi to his parents, Eff and Emma Rodgers. His father was a brother of Aaron Rodgers, the father of the Singing Brakeman, the Blue Yodeler, Jimmie Rodgers. Jesse and his cousin, Jimmie, attended the same schools and worked on farms together. Jimmie gave Jesse early training on the guitar by teaching him chords. Jesse married Effie Ainsworth when both were very young. The 1930 U.S. Census records show they were living with Effie's parents, James and Lucindia Ainsworth in Perry, Mississippi. Their first child, Jimmie O., was born during 1928. A second child, Colean (sic), was born during 1931. Jesse was working in farming and doing local entertaining around the Meridian, Mississippi area. Some time during 1932 Jesse decided to pursue a career as a professional musician. He abandoned his wife and two children and went west to work on border radio stations in Texas and in Mexico, across the border from Eagle Pass, Texas. He sand and did commercials for everything from day-old chicks and harmonicas to song books and lamps on "Border Radio" station, such as XEPN, which was said to be the world's only million watt radio station. During the time period Jesse was in West Texas, he started recording for RCA Victor on the Bluebird label. He cut his first record March of 1933, the year Jimmie Rodgers died. Jesse is on the reverse side of one Jimmie's last records. Jesse recorded 72 songs for RCA Victory from 1933 to 1960. His early recordings, primarily of railroad songs and yodeling, sound very similar to Jimmie Rodgers. His early autographs were signed "Your Texas Blue Yodeler" or "Yodeling Yours". By 1939, Jesse was heavily into cowboy/western music. Jesse and his first wife, Effie, were divorced soon after he left Mississippi to pursue a professional singing career in West Texas. Jesse married Lucille Carpenter, of the Houston, Texas area during the mid-1930s. In late 1939 or very early 1940 Jesse and his wife Lucille, were in Kansas City Jesse started appearing on radio station WHB. Me also made personal appearances, guest appearances on the Brush Creek Follies in Kansas City and had a barn built where weekly bam dances were held. It was called "Jesse's Bam" and was very popular. He was there for one year and sometime during that year, he became romantically involved with a 16 year old elevator operator at the building where WHB, owned by the Earl May Organization, was located. We learn of some of the folks that were a part of his entertainment family through little tid bits in the older publications. Nicola and Rose Fantetti noted that one such person was a teen age talent, all of 17 years old, by the name of Nancy Marie Beller. She was getting good reviews and would appear on shows as a guest artist or a solo billing when the more famous acts came to town. She made several appearances with Jesse Rogers. When she was just 15, she had an audition with WFIL, but it sounds like some of the members were against her joining due to her young age. She was from Emmaus High School in Emmaus, Pennsylvania. She sang, yodeled, played Spanish guitar as well as Hawaiian guitar. Her name was Miss Beller, and she grew up in a very poor family. In a small community of Harlem, MO just across the Missouri River from KC and she and Jesse started having an affair. She was 16 and he was 30. Jesse and Miss Beller ran away together when she was 17. Jesse divorced his second wife, Lucille and married Miss Beller around the early part of 1941. He also left WSB and went to Shenandoah, IA to work at KMA. Jesse and his new wife were in Shenandoah, with Jesse on KMA about two years. During 1941, with thoughts of a possible career in show business for herself, Mrs. Jesse Rodgers had her name legally changed to Sally Starr. /' Jesse s next job was with KMOX radio in St. Louis, MO where he appeared on Uncle Dick's Slack Barn Dance and made personal appearances. This was during the 1942-43 time period. Around mid-1944 Jesse received and accepted an offer to appear on WFIL radio in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Per a magazine article from 1945, the Hayloft Hoedown was go on the air on December 2, 1945. He was to be a headline star on the show that would be carried coast to coast on the ABC network every Saturday night from 11:15 to midnight. Roger Clip was the General Manager at WFIL and felt that a barn dance type show would be successful. Jack Steck was emcee on the show, which was kind of ironic as Jack was initially against the idea of the show, feeling folks in Philadelphia would not go for it. Other stars included the well known Sleepy Hollow Ranch gang, featuring Elmer Newman on fiddle, Julia Murray on mandolin, Monti Rosci on the accordion and Pancake Pete Newman on the bass. The Murray Sisters were a vocal team part of that group. They even had their own radio show on WFIL from 12:30pm to 1:00pm each day. Lew Carter, the original voice of the cartoon character Popeye in Paramount Pictures, would keep the audience in stitches with his "...antics, funny songs and his sotto voce characterizations". Pop Johnson (a well known fiddler was 70 years old at the time) who would said to be spry and witty and appeared dressed up in top hat and tails. Jack Steck, Carol and Jesse would team up on trio numbers. The Santa Fe Trail Blazers, were led by vocalist Jack Day. Other members included Dusty Keefer, Shorty Long and Pat. Dusty and Shorty teamed up as a comedy type duo called "Rip and Zip". Shorty Long would later take over the group and rename it the Santa Fe Rangers. Other members of the show included Carol Wynne, the Sundown Serenaders and the Chester Valley Boys backed by the harmonica stylings of Mil Spooner. In a side note, the emcee held a "trading post" during the show in which he would ask for an unusual item from any member in the audience and if one had it, he would 'trade' for it, giving the audience member a "worthwhile prize". Arlie Kinkade told readers that the 'live' audience for the Saturday night show at the Philadelphia Town hall was about 2,000. Jesse also had his own radio program on WFIL, airing daily from 6:30am to 7:00am. In 1945, Jesse made an appearance on the WLS National Barn Dance in Chicago. It seems that appearance led him to a starring or feature role in a new movie being done called "The National Barn Dance" and was to make personal appearances in various cities in the East to promote the movie. However, the internet movie site does not list him as part of the cast in that movie. At some point in 1946, Jesse took a vacation with Mel Foree and impressed columnist Juanita Milligan ("South Of the Mason-Dixon Line") who spoke of meeting Jesse. She said he was known as "America's Best Dressed Cowboy" and believed it after she saw some of his outfits he wore visiting various local radio stations. During 1946, Jesse was hired to star as Ranger Joe on "The Western Balladeer" show on WPTZ-TV (CBS). The show was sponsored by Ranger Joe Cereal, the first pre-sweetened cereal for kids with premiums such as Ranger Joe cups and cereal bowls and ranch money. It required Jesse to make numerous personal appearances as Ranger Joe with his horse Topaz. Buddy Starcher reported in his column of January 1947 that Jesse had moved on to radio station KMOX in St. Louis, Missouri. He was said to be taking Rusty Marion's spot on the Uncle Dick Slack show. A Pe-Ru-Na brochure mentions he was the emcee on some of the KMOX shows and was also appearing on the Saturday night show "Old Fashioned Barn Dance" that aired from 10:30pm to 11:30pm. In 1947, Matt Pelkonen wrote that Jesse had released a new tune on the Cowboy Records label, "A Rose, A Smile, A Tear". That label was owned by partners James E. Myers and Jack Howard. One of the releases on Cowboy was reviewed in Billboard. For "Mollie Darling", they wrote "...Ditty so-so, effort ditto". The flip side was "That's What She Wrote" and they noted that it showcased his vocals better and a "slight improvement" over the flip side. However, we read in Billboard that the tune Matt mentioned may have actually only been one written by Jesse that was to be included in a new song folio published by Jack Howard. The title was slightly different - "A Rose, A Smile, A Prayer". That same 1947 article noted he had recorded a tune, "Mary From Maryland" with the Saddle Sweethearts of WNAR for the Sonora label. Jesse also had a radio show on WJMJ called "Suppertime Jamboree". Sally Starr was also involved with this show. In 1949, Dusti Lynn wrote in her "Trail Dreaming" column for National Hillbilly News that she had spent about four months in the Philadelphia area and had guested on the Hayloft Hoedown program as well as playing a role in Jesse's NBC television show "Silver Saddle Ranch" that seemed to be a kids' show based on what we read. In 1950, Joe Edison was the manager for Jesse Rogers according to one article we found. Jesse composed and/or collaborated on many songs during his career including "Hummin' to my Honey", "Sleepy Little Wrangler", "The Sun Goes Down", "I'm Glad I Found Out About You" and "Why Can't Our Worlds Be The Same?" During the latter part of WWII, Jesse corwrote "Send This Purple Heart To My Sweetheart" and sang it on "Saludas Amigos", a national radio program out of New York City. Later he co-wrote "Jukebox Cannonball" with Rusty Keefer and Wayne Barrie. Jesse recorded the song in the early 50s. It was also recorded by Bill Haley and the Saddlemen in 1952 and again by Haley and the Comets in 1979. Bill Haley is one of many nationally famous artists that Jesse and Sally were closely associated with. Haley's biography, "Sound and Glory" indicates that Jesse Rodgers played rhythm guitar in one of Haley's early bands. Circa 1948, Jesse and Sally were often guests on a radio show hosted by Haley called "Western Swing Hour" on WPWA, Chester, PA. April 16, 1949, Jesse took part in a radiothon hosted by Haley to raise money for Cancer research. Jesse became more involved with Ranger Joe and had less time for Suppertime Jamboree. Sally became more involved and eventually took over Suppertime Jamboree as a country music disc jockey. During this period Jess and Sally went on tour including a stop in Nashville where, Jesse appeared on WSM's Grand Ole Opry. He made an extended tour to Canada without Sally and became involved with yet another woman. In the meantime, around 1950, perhaps due to her popularity on "Suppertime Jamboree", Sally was offered and accepted an afternoon show on WFIL- TV (ABC) as host of "Popeye Theatre" a kids show with cartoons and live appearances by famous guests. Sally had many years of success around Philadelphia and New Jersey as a western cowgirl personality. In 1953, it was being reported that Jesse and his wife, Sally Starr, had opened their Twin Lakes Hillbilly Park that was located on Highway 73 between Marlton and Berlin, New Jersey. At that time Jesse was recording for the MGM label. Don Larkin told readers that Jesse had appeared on his Hometown Frolic show airing over WAAT. Around 1954, Ranger Joe Cereal Co. decided to change to a different kid's character and Jesse lost his job as Ranger Joe. He also experienced other serious problems - he and Sally were divorced - he left Philadelphia and worked other smaller radio jobs and appearances while working his way west, stopping at KMOX in St. Louis on the "Old Fashion Barn Dance" for a while. He then went on to Houston, Texas, did local entertainment, became a disc jockey and bartender. In a rare example of a personal appearance not living up to expectations, we learned that opening day at Sleepy Hollow Ranch in Pennsylvania was not good in 1955. Bill Haley and the Comets along with Jesse Rogers and his wife Sally Starr were a couple of the stars that were to appear. Smokey Warren mentioned that poor promotion was partly to blame. Around 1958, Jesse Rodgers was one of several artists promoted by Bill Haley and Jack Howard, through their music publishing and label ventures. Bill Haley and the Comets backed Sally Starr on her 1948 LP, "Our Gal Sal" for Haley's Clymax (sic) label and again later on a single called "Rocky the Rockin' Rabbit". His health began to fail seriously during the 1960's and Jesse died in Houston, Texas in December 1973. Credits & Sources The Mountain Broadcast and Prairie Recorder; December 1944; National Hillbilly News; September 1945; Poster Show Print Co.; Huntington, WV National Hillbilly News; June 1946; Poster Show Print Co.; Huntington, WV National Hillbilly News; July 1946; Poster Show Print Co.; Huntington, WV The Mountain Broadcast and Prairie Recorder; September 1946; Mountain Broadcast Pub. Co. Inc.; 45 Astor Place; New York, NY The Mountain Broadcast and Prairie Recorder; January 1947; Mountain Broadcast Pub. Co. Inc.; 45 Astor Place; New York, NY National Hillbilly News; Vol. 2 No. 7; April 1947; Poster Show Print Co.; Huntington, WV PE-RU-NA's Barn Dance Favorites; April 1947; Folk Songs Inc.; 7 SOuth Dearborn Street; Room 600 Chicago, IL National Hillbilly News; Vol. 2 No. 9; July/August 1947; Poster Show Print Co.; Huntington, WV Billboard; January 11, 1947; Billboard; Cincinnati, OH Billboard; July 10, 1948; Billboard; Cincinnati, OH National Hillbilly News; Vol. 5 No. 2; November/December 1949; Mr. and Mrs. Orville Via; Huntington, WV Country Song Roundup; No. 23; April 1953; American Folk Publications, Inc. Charlton Building; Derby, CT Country Song Roundup; No. 26; October 1953; American Folk Publications, Inc. Charlton Building; Derby, CT Rustic Rhythm; July 1957; Rustic Rhythm, Inc.; 5 East 40 St.; New York, NY Country and Western Jamboree; September 1955; Country and Western Jamboree, Inc.; 2001 Calumet Avenue; Chicago, IL Sound Sample—(YouTube Video Format) Hadacol Boogie Get The Music British Archives of Country Music

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Recordings (78rpm/45rpm)   Apollo Rec. No. Side Song Title   209 A The Drunkard's Child   209 B It's Nobody's Fault But Your Own   Arcade Rec. No. Side Song Title   AR-143 A Juke Box Cannonball   AR-143 B You Can't Hang That Monkey On My Back   AR-162 A Night Wind   AR-162 B Say It Again   AR-169 A Jump, Cats, Jump   AR-169 B You've Changed My Whole Life Into A Song   Bluebird Rec. No. Side Song Title   5443 A I Wish You Were Here Dear   5443 B The Rambler's Yodel   5499 A My Brown Eyed Texas Rose   5499 B Way Down In Mississippi   5632 A My Mary   5632 B My Winding River Home   5689 A Roughneck Blues   5689 B Yodeling Railroad Blues   5839 A Rattlesnake Daddy   5839 B The Auto Love Song   5853 A Let Me Call You Mine   5853 B Headin' Home   5910 A The Empty Cot In The Old Bunkhouse   5910 B An Old Rugged Road   5942 A Leave Me Alone Sweet Mama   5942 B Leave Me Alone Sweet Mama   5942 B By Jimmie Rodgers - My Good Gal's Gone Blues w/Louisville Jug Basnd   5958 A Down In The Hills   5958 B Lonely Days In Texas   6942 A Back In Troubled In Mind And Blue   6942 B Telling On Me   7018 A The Little Girl Dressed In Blue   7018 B Just One Little Kiss   7042 A Back In Jail Again   7042 B Second Class Hotel   Cowboy Rec. No. Side Song Title   601 A Mollie Darling (Let Your Answer Be A Kiss)   601 B That's What She Wrote   MGM Rec. No. Side Song Title   11369 A Red, White And Blue Christmas   11369 B An Old Fashioned Christmas   11422 A Howlin' And A-Prowlin'   11422 B The Devil's Pitchfork   11742 A Foldin' Money   11742 B You're Sorry For Yourself   11884 A I Gotta Love Just Like I Like   11884 B I Never Knew I Needed You   11983 A The Waltz You Saved For Me   11983 B Impatient Heart   Montgomery Ward Rec. No. Side Song Title   4453 B Yodeling Ranger   4453 B By Jimmie Rodgers - I'm Free From The Chain Gang Now   4522 A My Mary   4522 B My Winding River Home   4523 A Way Down In Mississippi   4523 B My Brown Eyed Texas Rose   4524 A I Wish You Were Here Dear   4524 B The Rambler's Yodel   4555 A The Empty Cot In The Old Bunkhouse   4555 B Old Rugged Road   4785 A Rattlesnake Daddy   4785 B The Auto Love Song   4786 A Old Pinto, My Pony, My Pal   4786 B San Antonio Blues   4787 A Little Prairie Town   4787 B I'm Writing To You, Little Darling   4788 A When The Sun Goes Down   4788 B Jesse's Talking Blues   4858 B By Wilf Carter - Cowboy Lullaby   4858 B When I Was A Boy From The Mountains   4983 A Hummin' To My Honey   4983 B Be Nobody's Darling But Mine   5013 A I've Ranged, I've Roamed And I've Travelled   5013 B Why Did You Give Me Your Love   5014 B Leave Me Alone Sweet Mama   5014 B By Jimmie Rodgers - My Good Gal's Gone Blues   7043 A I'll Tell You About A Gal Named Sal   7043 B My Mary   7187 A I'm A Roaming Cowboy   7187 B By Sain Family - Texas Trail   7205 A Troubled In Mind & Blue   7205 B Little Girl Dressed In Blue   7206 A Back In Jail Again   7206 B What You're Doing Is Telling On Me   7207 A Just One Little Kiss   7207 B Second Class Hotel   8435 B Give Me Your Love   8435 B Old Kentucky Cabin   8484 A Rounded Up In Glory   8484 B Lonely Hillbilly   8485 A Old Kentucky Cabin   8485 B Give Me Your Love   8486 A Hot Dog Blues   8486 B Window Shopping Mama   8487 A Let Me Call You Mine   8487 B Headin' Home   8488 A Lonely Days In Texas   8488 B Down In The Hills   RCA Victor Rec. No. Side Song Title   20-3243 A Blue Christmas   20-3243 B Here Comes Santa Claus   21-0001 A Within This Evil Heart   21-0001 B Sweeter Than The Flowers   32-0001 A Hadacol Boogie   32-0001 B Country Boy   32-0002 A Tennessee Polka (w/ His 49'ers)   32-0002 B Wedding Bells (w/ His 49'ers)   33-0001 A Mind Your Own Business   33-0001 B Why Don't You Haul Off And Love Me   48-0350 A Great Big Needle   48-0350 B I've Got Five Dollars   48-0359 A Slippin' Around With Jole Blon   48-0359 B Finders Keepers   48-0389 A I Can Fool The World   48-0389 B Plain Old Lovin'   48-0454 A Beautiful Brown Eyes   48-0454 B Tellin' My Baby Bye Bye   Sonora Rec. No. Side Song Title   1129 A Ridin' Down The Canyon   1129 B Old Conestoga Wagon   1130 A The Yellow Rose Of Texas   1130 B Patent Leather Boots   1131 A The Cattle Call   1131 B Wback In The Saddle Again   1132 A When The Bloom Is On The Sage   1132 B Roll Along Prairie Moon   H 7036 A Tomorrow You'll Be Sorry That You Broke My Heart Today (w/The Pecos Pioneers)   H 7036 B Mary From Maryland (w/The Pecos Pioneers)   H-7012 A When The Sun Goes Down   H-7012 B I Love The Name Of Texas   H-7013 A He's Tall In The Saddle   H-7013 B When It's Sundown In Old San Antone   H-7014 A My Lop-Eared Mule   H-7014 B Cowboy's Heaven   H-7032 A Days Are Long, Nights Are Longer   H-7032 B Go West, Young Man, Go West   Varsity Rec. No. Side Song Title   114 A The Yellow Rose Of Texas   114 B By Barbara Brown (Buttons and Bows)   531 A Cattle Call   531 B Other Side by Red River Dave   532 A When The Bloom Is On The Sage   532 B Other Side by Red River Dave   539 A Yellow Rose of Texas   539 B Other Side by Red River Dave   573 A Back In The Saddle Again   573 B Roll Along Prairie Moon   574 A Ridin' Down The Canyon   574 B Old Conestoga Wagon