Of the three vocalists featured on this CD, Jimmie Rodgers is the best-known, and to my mind the tracks which feature him are the most successful in blending the accompaniment to the genre. The prime example is "Waiting for a Train", with its eerie introduction and heartfelt lyrics. Blue Yodel No. 9 features accompaniment by Louis Armstrong and his then wife Lil, and the Louisville Jug Band give a good account of themselves accompanying "My Good Gal's Gone Blues", of which the alternate take is included. But I'm sorry that the February 1929 session, which produced "Desert Blues" and "Any Old Time", and which is listed in Rust's "Jazz Records" has not been included.
Rodgers' yodelling seems natural and unforced, which cannot be said of Roy Evans, who switches frequently into falsetto mode, and whose yodels have a curious bubbling tone which I find somewhat disconcerting. His four 1930 recordings of popular songs strike me as the most successful. Emmett Miller made his principal recordings in the late 1920s, accompanied by his Georgia Crackers. His was a vaudeville background, and he performed in blackface, occasionally assisted by a foil with whom he engaged in humorous dialogue. The 1936 recordings included in this set were an endeavour to recreate earlier successes, but fail to achieve the same standard. At just over an hour's playing time this compilation could have accommodated another five numbers, perhaps bringing in Lee Morse from the distaff side.
