Cliff Carlisle

Cliff Carlisle was a prolific star of the 1930s who specialized in a raunchy, double-entendre-laden hybrid of Hawaiian music and the blues. Modeling himself after Jimmie Rodgers, Carlisle utilized the Hawaiian steel guitar to play sliding, bluesy accents underneath his yodeling. He helped carry the Rodgers-style blue yodel influence forward after Rodgers was gone, serving as a primary conduit for blues themes entering mainstream country music.