"Let Me Be Your Sidetrack: The Influence of Jimmie Rodgers"

Bear Family Records' remarkable new release, "Let Me Be Your Sidetrack: The Influence of Jimmie Rodgers," makes a persuasive argument that Rodgers is one of the most important figures in the history of country music.

According to the liner notes for the six-disc boxed set released last week, 102 of the 109 songs Rodgers did in the late 1920s and early 1930s were later recorded by other artists -- a 94% "cover ratio" unmatched by any other country singer-songwriter, including Hank Williams.

As the set's more than 150 tracks demonstrate, Rodgers' mix of traditional "hillbilly" music and the blues was a major influence not only on his contemporaries in country music but also on such other genres as folk, rock, jazz and even pop orchestras. Among the dozens of performers whose versions of Rodgers' material are featured in the Bear Family compilation: Bob Dylan, Merle Haggard, Harry Belafonte, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, King Oliver and Pete Seeger.