Jimmy Rogers recorded for Chess from 1950 to 1959, coming up with a number of classics that have been performed by blues bands ever since, but during much of his recording heyday he was also employed as a member of the Muddy Waters band and did not tour on his own, never joining the ranks of the major stars in blues. Known for his engaging, Delta-rooted Chicago style and memorable songs, Rogers actually only had one brief hit on the Billboard charts — ‘Walking By Myself’ — and wrote very few of the songs that fans and musicians often think of as Rogers originals. His most familiar tune, ‘That’s All Right,’ he admitted, came from Robert Jr. Lockwood and others; ‘Ludella’ was from Yank Rachell, ‘Chicago Bound’ derived from Memphis Slim’s ‘Harlem Bound,’ and other songs were based on records by Walter Davis, Sonny Boy Williamson No. 1, Tony Hollins and others. But Rogers had a knack for making them his own, with exemplary Chicago blues ensemble backing from Little Walter, Big Walter, Muddy, Lockwood, Willie Dixon, Otis Spann, and others. There was no flamboyance or fireworks in Rogers’ tasteful, sensitive singing and playing, but his Chess sides, especially those chosen for the Chicago Bound album, captured the heartfelt essence of pure 1950s blues as it was played in the South and West Side clubs of the Windy City.
Tracks: You’re The One/Money Marbles And Chalk/Ludella/Act Like You Love Me/Back Door Friend/Last Time/I Used To Have A Woman/Sloppy Drunk/Blues Leave Me Alone/Out On The Road/Goin’ Away Baby/That’s All Right/Chicago Bound/Walking By Myself
Released as Chess 407 (LP) in 1970.