PALM DESERT, California (AP) – Jimmie Rodgers, singer of “Honeycomb” and “Kisses Sweeter Than Wine,” whose music and film career was cut short by a severe head injury a decade later, has died at the age of 87. for years.
Rodgers died of kidney disease on Jan. 18 in the Palm Desert, California, and tested positive for COVID-19, publicist Alan Eichler said Saturday, citing the family.
Rodgers worked for $ 10 a night around Nashville while stationed there with the U.S. Air Force after the Korean War. He appeared in a talent show and received an audition with Roulette Records, who signed him after hearing him perform “Honeycomb,” a Bob Merrill song.
With a style of singing and playing guitar that included elements of country, folk and pop, the native of Camas, Washington, recorded many other top 10 hits in the late 1950s, including “Secret”, “Oh-Oh” , I fall in love “Again” and “Are you really mine?” ”
Rodgers continued to make albums for most of the 1960s, producing music that ranged from traditional songs such as “The Wreck Of The ‘John B.” and “English Country Garden” to popular rates such as the ballad “Child of Clay”. ”
He settled on television with variety shows when he first starred in movies in the 1960s. His films included “The Little Shepherd of the Kingdom, Wine” and “Back to Hell,” with a young Jack Nicholson.
In 1967, Rodgers was found in his car on a Los Angeles highway, suffering from a fractured ability and other injuries. He said he stopped and stopped in response to a driver behind him turning on his lights and that an attack by an off-duty police officer injured his head.
“I rolled the window down to ask what the problem was,” he told The Toronto Star in 1987. “That’s the last thing I remember.”
Los Angeles police officers insisted that Rodgers was injured in a fall while on the road. Rodgers filed a lawsuit and agreed to a $ 200,000 settlement. He later developed a condition that caused spasms in the muscles of his voice. He also had occasional seizures, which he said were due to the attack.
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 Utah newspaper The Spectrum, Rodgers recalled finding a $ 10 guitar and playing when he was in the Air Force and stationed in Korea in 1953.
“I was sitting on the floor with only candles for light, and these tough soldiers had tears running down their cheeks. I realized if my music could have that effect, that’s what I wanted to do with my life “, he said.
Survivors include his wife, Mary Louise Biggerstaff, and five children from three marriages.