5:15 by The Who
Oh yes, Taj Mahal’s “She Caught the Katy” (see below).and Vernon Dalhart’s “Wreck of the Old 97” on the Victor Tallking Machines Co, label, although his “The Prisoner’s Song” (o’er these prison walls I would fly) remains my favorite among his works. You Country guys should Wiki him to life.
Can’t reccomend the Paul Buttrerfield Band’s “Two Trains A’running” but the LP side filling “East-West” bends my mind to this day.Butterfield. Bloomfied, Natalfin, what a band, that broke up in to Electric Flag and the Supersession album with Stevie Stills from Buffalo Springfield.
“The Rock Island Line (it’s a mighy fine line)” was that Leadbelly’s or John Hurt’s ?
I’ve got all these LP’s and nothing to play 'em on. Can anyonee recommend an economical play system.? I’m way past the days when I had an Akai M9 recorder, a Dual 1019 turntable, a Pioneer tuner/amp and speakers, and an Uher portable recorder. Remember Ampex 8" tapes?
“Steel Rail Blues” I miss Hank
Rixflix
Just in case you need your emotional gas tank topped off:
Here’s another one from Canada…Gordon Lightfoot’s “Railroad Trilogy”, about the construction of the CPR.
Ulrich, thanks for the Gordon Lightfoot posting. I think it was the Canadian historian Pierre Berton who said Gordon Lightfoots song said more about the building of the CPR in seven minutes than his own book said in 400 pages. I can well belive it!
Readers of this forum over a certain age who’ve ever noticed my signature bar at the bottom of my posts know what my favourite Great Train Song is; “I’m Moving On” by Hank Snow. I’ve found a clip on Youtube of Hank performing the song on a Country Music show hosted by Johnny Cash. Johnny gives as good an introduction to Hank as I could so I won’t retype it here. I will just say what Johnny didn’t know was Hank would live until the age of 85 and die on his Rainbow Ranch at Madison Tennessee in 1999.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL_fnyHwr68
For those of you who didn’t catch my favourite line in country music here is another clip from 1950.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ti4G1AX0v-g&feature=related
Bruce
Bucyrus,
I know, I know. “She’s gone everywhere but home”. Rush’s version was sort of an amalgam of Bukka Whites “Special Streamline” and “Panama Limited” and Rush is playing it to this day. Ya know, the white rock bands always got debits for reaping the royalties that the original artists never dreamed of. But thanks to the folkies.the Brits. the Bluegrrass people, alot of rockers (think Mickey Hart from The Dead and Bob Hite of Canned Heat), the R&B and Jazz stations, like WPFW Pacifica here in DC for keeping some of their careers and all those “originals” alive.
Gonna have to pick up the Lightfoot too and always admired his “If I Could Read Your Mind”.
Wow, what a “rush”, John Prine, Leo Kottke’s “Tiny Island”, and dear Steve Goodman who died too young.
RIX
"
Here is Panama Limited by Bukka White.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DS1JMdvvd7w&feature=related
It is different from the Tom Rush rendition as you mentioned it was. I was always a Tom Rush fan, and I just stumbled across his Panama Limited on Youtube. I like those train songs that put a train into a larger emotional context of everyday life. There is a lot of “movin’ on” theme to many train songs.
Here is Bukka White’s Speical Streamline that makes up half that Tom Rush amalgam:
Apart
from known RR songs which deal with RR ‘by default’ so to speak , what I would find much more interesting is :
Do you have any music piece(s) that you feel are characterizing or describing or just fitting your favourite locomotive ? This may be Rock , Pop or Classic … and although in my parlance the term ‘locomotive’ by default means ‘steam locomotive’ I’d be curious to learn of a music piece evocative of a diesel locomotive …
Gordon Lightfoot’s song is really great to hear. Most all of the songs are interesting and this is one you might have heard that is more of a company song, but uplifting.
CZ Thanks to Utahrails for the song link. Click on http://utahrails.net/up/rollin-rr.php then on the Great Big Rolling Railroad to hear the song.
Per Juniatha’s post asking if any of us have a piece of music that reminds us of a locomotive, well, I do. For some reason Wagners “Overture to Tannhauser” reminds me of an excursion behind the Norfolk and Western Class “J”, the mighty 611. I can’t tell you why, it just does. 611’s, not German, and Wagner never heard of it, but you’d have to listen to the piece to see (hear?) what I’m talking about.
By the way, “Ride of the Valkyries” does NOT make me think of “Apocalypse Now”! On the other hand the “William Tell Overture” DOES make me think of the “Lone Ranger”! God bless Clayton Moore!
Neil Young’s “Southern Pacific”.
" I drove the Highball, I fired the Daylight, when I turned 65, I couldnt see right"
“It was Mr. Jones, we got to let you go, it’s company policy, you’ve got a pension tho.”
Roll on Southern Pacific!
I can’t think of any songs that are about a specific diesel locomotive…maybe because railroads were nolonger much in the public eye when diesels came in. Personally, the rhythmic cadence of an idling 251 engine IS music to my ears… they are almost like a living and breathing being. Maybe someone should write a song about an RS-18… .
@ Firelock
Wagner’s Tannhäuser - oh , I can see why …
Richard Wagner’s compositions generally were heavy stuff - that’s fitting since the N&W J class isn’t exactly without some aspects of massiveness , too .
( I have deleted my associations of Rock songs with European RR stuff )
Regards
Ju
@ Ulrich :
The point is , if you have a piece of music (not intentionally RR connected by the composer) that you personally feel reminds you of a RR locomotive in action or at rest / a train or RR scene ?
Gee - I can’t think of any song characterizing a specific diesel locomotive - but I believe that wouldn’t be surprising … Or , oops – wait a minute I have one :
Life Is a Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me) !
You’ll have to listen to it to understand - no transcription here , the sound , folks , it’s in the constant bubbling sound …
[](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_Is_a_Rock_(But_the_Radio_Rolled_Me)
Well, not about a specific diesel, but…
Johnny Cash had one about a fast rollin’ “Streamline” come to show the folks. My 33 RPM LP has been long lost to history and progress but…
As best I remember parts of it::
“Trains are big and black and smoke and steam, bigger than anything there is, at least that’s the way it feels’”
“There’s somethin’ big goin’ on, and we’re all in the way”.
Something about silver then:
"She don’t lay no smoke, she’s fast rollin’ “Streamline” come to show the folks.
There was a restaurant chain called “Victoria Station” that constructed their facilities out of old boxcars. The Cash album was a part of their promotion. They hired him as a pitchman.
The business failed and the boxcars were junked. Nice try guys… Maybe next time a boat theme might work?
Edit: Gotta’ love the Internet.
The Johnny Cash song is “Texas - 1947” from his album “Look At Them Beans”.
“Big and red and silver, she don’t lay no smoke, she’s a fast rollin’ streamline come to show the folks”.
“Look out here she comes, she commin’, look out there she goes, she’s gone.”
Download from Amazon for $0.99.
I see Ed posted a Neil Young song so here is another:
See The Sky About To Rain
Written and performed by Neil Young
From the 1974 Album “On The Beach”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Beach_(Neil_Young_album)
See The Sky About To Rain
See the sky about to rain,
broken clouds and rain.
Locomotive, pull the train,
whistle blowing
through my brain.
Signals curling on an open plain,
rolling down the track again.
See the sky about to rain.
Some are bound for happiness,
some are bound to glory
Some are bound to live with less,
who can tell your story?
See the sky about to rain,
broken clouds and rain.
Locomotive, pull the train,
whistle blowin’
through my brain.
Signals curlin’ on an open plain,
rollin’ down the track again.
See the sky about to rain.
I was down in </
Well…that rules out anything made by Alco…
This is one of those “movin on” songs that I always thought felt like a train. It has that persistence of a train ride, and trains were always emotionally connected to leaving someone behind.
Will You Miss Me
[quote user=“Juniatha”]
@ Ulrich :
You’ll have to listen to it to understand - no transcription here , the sound , folks , it’s in the constant bubbling sound …
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_Is_a_Rock_(But_the_Radio_Rolled_Me)
http://www.lyricsmania.com/life_is_a_rock_but_the_radio_rolled_me_lyrics_reunion.html
Regards