Jimmie Rodgers had fourteen charted hits between 1957-67, but after a disastrous assault never resumed the popularity he had earlier. He was born in 1933 in Camas, Washington, a small town across the Columbia River from Portland, Oregon. He is no relation to the country-folk giant Jimmie Rodgers, probably the most influential country singer/composer in music, who died the same year the younger Rodgers was born. Taught by his mother, Rodgers was signed to Roulette Records after a successful appearance on the popular Arthur Godfrey talent show. His easygoing vocal style shot him to the top of the charts almost immediately with his "Honeycomb", which stayed four weeks at No. 1. He followed that later in 1957 with another big hit, the No. 3, "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine." He actually had twelve singles in the Top 40 between 1957-60 but did not hit the charts again until 1966 with "It’s Over", at 37. The early ‘50s were hardly a strident era (known as the Ike Years after President Eisenhower) and singers like Rodgers, Johnnie Ray and Perry Como (as well as Frank Sinatra and others) were pretty much what pop music was about. The evolution had come from swing and big bands to pop singers and before the ‘50s were over, Elvis Presley had opened the eyes and ears of the younger generation to different sounds. American pop music was also popular in Great Britain, which was going to come back home to roost with the British Invasion of the Beatles and Rolling Stones and others in the ‘60s. Rodgers managed to make the Top 10 in the United Kingdom. His "English Country Garden" was a significant hit at No. 5 in the UK, but curiously enough failed to be released in America. Rodgers was mugged in 1967 and the physical assault resulted in a serious injury, a fractured skull. He left the stage until recovering some time later but never regained his previous stature. He continued singing into the ‘80s.