PALM DESERT, California (AP) – Jimmie Rodgers, singer of the 1957 hits ‘Honeycomb’ and ‘Kisses Sweeter Than Wine’, whose music and film career was disrupted by a serious head injury ten years later, has died at 87 age.
Rodgers died of kidney disease on Jan. 18 in Palm Desert, California, and had also tested positive for COVID-19, publicist Alan Eichler said Saturday, citing family.
Rodgers performed for $ 10 a night in Nashville while stationed there with the United States Air Force after the Korean War. He appeared on a talent show and got an audition with Roulette Records, which signed him after hearing him sing “Honeycomb,” a Bob Merrill song.
With a style of singing and guitar playing that incorporated elements of country, folk and pop, the native of Camas, Washington recorded many other Top 10 hits in the late 1950s, including ‘Secretly’, ‘Oh-Oh, I’m Falling in Love Again, “and” Are You Really Mine? “
Rodgers continued to record albums for most of the 1960s, producing music ranging from traditional songs such as “The Wreck Of The ‘John B.'” and “English Country Garden” to popular music such as the ballad “Child of Clay”. “
He had established himself on television with appearances in variety shows when he started acting in films in the 1960s. His movie credits include “The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come” and “Back Door to Hell” with a young Jack Nicholson.
In 1967 Rodgers was found in his car on a Los Angeles freeway with a broken dexterity and other injuries. He said he had pulled up and pulled up in response to a driver behind him flashing his lights and that an attack by an off-duty police officer had caused his head injury.
“I rolled down the window to ask what was going on,” he told The Toronto Star in 1987. “That’s the last thing I remember.”
Police officers in Los Angeles insisted that Rodgers injured himself in a fall while playing the drums. Rodgers sued and agreed to a $ 200,000 settlement. He then developed a condition that caused spasms in the muscles of his larynx. He also had occasional seizures, which he said were the result of the seizure.
After his initial recovery, Rodgers had a summer TV show on ABC in 1969 and also performed at his own theater in Branson, Missouri.
In a 2016 interview with The Spectrum, a Utah newspaper, Rodgers recalled finding a $ 10 guitar and singing while in the Air Force and stationed in Korea in 1953.
We sat on the floor with only candles for light, and the tears of these tough soldiers ran down their cheeks. I realized that if my music could have that effect, that was what I wanted to do with my life, ”he said.
Survivors include his wife, Mary Louise Biggerstaff, and five children from three marriages.