Rogers made his recorded debut as a leader in 1947 for the tiny Ora-Nelle logo, then saw his efforts for Regal and Apollo go unissued. When Smitty split, Little Walter was welcomed into the configuration, Rogers switched over to second guitar, and the entire post-war Chicago blues genre felt the stylistic earthquake that directly followed. Rogers was playing harp with guitarist Blue Smitty when Muddy Waters joined them. Rogers settled in Chicago during the early '40s and began playing professionally around 1946, gigging with Sonny Boy Williamson, Sunnyland Slim, and Broonzy. Lockwood all influenced him, the latter two when he passed through Helena. Big Bill Broonzy, Joe Willie Wilkins, and Robert Jr. Actually, Rogers started out on harp as a teenager. Lane (Rogers was his stepdad's surname), the guitarist grew up all over: Mississippi, Atlanta, West Memphis, Memphis, and St. Instead of basking in world-wide veneration, he was merely a well-respected Chicago elder boasting a seminal '50s Chess Records catalog, both behind Waters and on his own.īorn James A.
Guitarist Jimmy Rogers was the last living connection to the groundbreaking first Chicago band of Muddy Waters (informally dubbed "the Headhunters" for their penchant of dropping by other musicians' gigs and "cutting their heads" with a superior on-stage performance).