RAILforum: songs about trains

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Posted by sojourner (Member # 3134) on :

What are your favorite songs about trains, and by which performers? Which do you think best capture the experience, sounds, and/or rhythm of the rails?

Posted by TwinStarRocket (Member # 2142) on :

'The Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe' by Judy Garland and cast in 'Harvey Girls'.

'Orange Blossom Special' played by a good fiddler.

'City of New Orleans' by Arlo Guthrie.

Posted by JONATHON (Member # 2899) on :

At RailRoad days they were selling CDs about RR songs, and also at the Queen Mary Train Show they had RR song CD,, sorry, didnt get the titles of any

------------------
JONATHON D. ORTIZ

Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :

Mr. Twin Star said it all.

Posted by UncleBuck44 (Member # 2049) on :

The Texas Eagle song.

Posted by chrisg (Member # 2488) on :

"Trains" by Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull fame on his Walk Into Light album.

Chris

PS Locomotive Breathe is a great song as well.

Posted by Mr. Toy (Member # 311) on :

Without question, my all time favorite train song is The City of New Orleans. Arlo Guthrie recorded that live (in a joint concert with Pete Seeger), and he does it with just a piano. It really captures the feel of a train ride better than the commercialized studio recording.

For instrumentals, my absolute all time favorite is Pat Matheny's Last Train Home which was used in Amtrak TV commercials in the late '80s. It makes me want to order tickets every time I hear it.

Honorable mention:
Orange Blossom Special (Heard a terrific version by The Hellecasters on the radio recently).

Long Train Runnin' by the Doobie Brothers

Chattanooga Choo Choo - Glenn Miller Orchestra

Rock Island Line and Folsom Prison Blues- Johnny Cash

Pacific 231, composed by Honneger, performed by Tomita.

Last Train to Clarksville. The Monkee's version is OK, but the jazz version by Cassandra Wilson is more, uh, sultry.

Waiting for The Train to Come In - Peggy Lee

AT&SF I like Bing's version

A later edit...

One Toke Over the Line - Brewer & Shipley

[This message has been edited by Mr. Toy (edited 06-13-2004).]

Posted by SilverStar092 (Member # 2652) on :

Lots of good ones in the prior posts. Here are some more I like:

Morning Train by Sheena Easton
Canadian Railroad Trilogy by Gordon Lightfoot
Steel Rail Blues by Gordon Lightfoot
Orangedale Whistle by the Rankin Family
Homeward Bound by Simon & Garfunkle
Silver Thread by Tyanna Paar
Long Train Running by the Doobie Brothers
Midnight Train to Georgia by Gladys Knight
Wabash Cannonball (I loved Dizy Ean's version on TV baseball games in the 60's)
Sentimental Journey by Glenn Miller

Posted by TwinStarRocket (Member # 2142) on :

There was an old blues tune, I think redone by Paul Butterfield, with a great title: 'It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry'.

Although not a train song, my favorite performer, Jewel, wrote her breakthrough hit 'Who Will Save your Soul' on the Southwest Chief' while moving from Michigan to San Diego.

Posted by RRRICH (Member # 1418) on :

My favorites are "City of New Orleans" by Arlo Guthrie and "Canadian Railroad Trilogy" by Gordon Lightfoot.

Posted by sojourner (Member # 3134) on :

Thanks for your suggestions. I will definitely check out those I don't know. I can't wait to here the jazz version of the Monkees song!

I didn't know "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry" was an old blues song; I thought it was by Bob Dylan. But maybe he "borrowed" it (as he did some other songs). The version I really like is by Super Session (Al Kooper, Steve Stills, Mike Bloomfield, though I don't think he plays on that song).

One song not mentioned here that I really like is To Morrow by the Kingston Trio. Another is People Get Ready by the Chambers Brothers (and many other versions).

Posted by Kairho (Member # 1567) on :

Last Christmas my wife got me 5 CDs, all crammed with railroad songs. My favorite: Next Stop Brattleboro.

Posted by Mr. Toy (Member # 311) on :

quote:
Originally posted by sojourner:
I can't wait to here the jazz version of the Monkees song!

I saw Cassandra Wilson on TV once, and she said the Monkees version was the express, while her's was the local.

------------------
Sing to the tune of Humoresque:
Passengers will please refrain,
From flushing toilets while the train,
Is standing in the station,
I love you.

The Del Monte Club Car

Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :

Some great songs have been mentioned. Some, such as Sheena Easton's 'Morning Train', I've not thought of in years.

Other favorites would have to be Arlo Guthrie's 'City of New Orleans' and Simon & Garfunkel's 'Homeward Bound'. Years ago I knew a fellow Army Bandsman who used to take the train home to Cleveland from Chicago. He said that he could NEVER sit in the main hall at Chicago Union Station without thinking of Simon & Garfunkel.

One favorite of mine that has not yet been mentioned would be 'Steel Rails' as performed by Allison Kraus and Union Station.

------------------
David Pressley

[This message has been edited by notelvis (edited 06-17-2004).]

Posted by whistler (Member # 2620) on :

Duke Ellington(Song) - BUILD THAT RAILROAD (1950)

Rider's In The Sky(Album) - Ridin' The Tweetsie Railroad

Posted by Kairho (Member # 1567) on :

Speaking of Duke Ellington ... how about Take the A Train.

Posted by Ira Slotkin (Member # 81) on :

Hey Whistler, you old buckaroo!! I am a long time Riders fan. First saw them in Austin, TX back in 1981. Have some signed LPs from then, too. Saw them here in Denver in February. I second your recommendation of that album and add:

Here Comes the Santa Fe - Riders in the Sky
Fireball Mail - Roy Acuff/Green Mt Boys
Wabash Cannonball - Roy Acuff/Green Mt Boys
City of New Orleans - Steve Goodman
Freight Train - Dick Rosmini (acoustic)
Charlie and The MTA - Chad Mitchell Trio

I remember seeing Roy Acuff do his train whistle as a sound effect on Wabash Cannonbal. No special equipment, he just was able to make that sound with the microphone. Don't know how he did it.

Posted by Mr. Toy (Member # 311) on :

Another from Johnny Cash: "Hey Porter"

Posted by whistler (Member # 2620) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Ira Slotkin:
Hey Whistler, you old buckaroo!! I am a long time Riders fan. First saw them in Austin, TX back in 1981. Have some signed LPs from then, too. Saw them here in Denver in February.

Hey yourself or oats if you prefer. I haven't been able to see Riders in person yet. Decided to go to Portland ME and see a group called Schooner Fare instead of driving down to NC last year when they where at Tweetsie Park. Portland ME by rail of course. Saw them first when they had their TV show on The Nashville Network. So I am a little green with envy.

Posted by MPALMER (Member # 125) on :

How about the AT&SF by Johnny Mercer? Not sure if that's the one where Bing sings or if that's a different version.

LONG TWIN SILVER LINE-Bob Seger/Silver Bullet Band
SOUTHERN PACIFIC-Neil Young/Crazy Horse
LOCOMOTION-Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) [not the Little Eva/Grand Funk/Kylie Minogue hit]

We always joked that the guy in MORNING TRAIN must have been superman. He "worked all day" and "played all night"! The Morning Train must have been his only chance to get some shuteye...

Posted by RRRICH (Member # 1418) on :

Then back in the 80's there was a short-lived rock group called "Southern Pacific" -- it was a couple guys from Creedence Clearwater Revival (John Fogerty and one of the others) with one or two new people -- no songs about trains though, just their name, and to my knowledge they only had one hit, "Reno Bound" (which I suppose COULD be about a train, since the CZ serves Reno, but that song was about a car trip, I think!)

Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :

While some may be surprised that I am contributing to this thread, here are a few songs and performers I have not seen mentioned:

Artists with railroad names:

Manhattan Transfer
Grand Funk Railroad
Phoebe Snow

Song:

The Blue Train - Johnny Cash

Lastly, wasn't "Charlie and the MTA" performed by the Kingston (vice Chad Mitchell) Trio. Pretty sure they (they all must be "seventysomething"; instead of crew cuts it's now no cuts needed)performed it during a PBS "begathon" concert aired this past week.

[This message has been edited by Gilbert B Norman (edited 06-23-2004).]

Posted by sojourner (Member # 3134) on :

Yes, "M.T.A." was a big hit for the Kingston Trio. As far as I know, they rewrote it as a sort of satirical campaign song for a local Boston-area politician who was running on a platform of protest against some sort of fare increase on the Boston MTA (Metro) in which passengers going past a certain point would have to pay an extra fare as they got off the train. "Charlie" of the song didn't have the nickel and so couldn't get off the train--he "never returned, no he never returned . . . " The tune is basically that of the traditional song "The Wreck of the 97," which has been recorded by Woody Guthrie, Patrick Sky, more recent bluegrass groups, and so on.

Posted by rresor (Member # 128) on :

I figured if I held off long enough, all my favorites would be mentioned, and finally somebody mentioned "Southern Pacific". Somebody must have given Neil Young a cab ride.

One song (more like a chant) not mentioned yet was Leadbelly's "Linin' Track". Since I've actually worked on a gang lining track by hand, I have a special fondness for this song.

Leadbelly, as most of you probably know, was Huddie Ledbetter, who acquired his nickname while working on a chain gang (not the railroad kind).

"All I know about linin' track
Is this old man's gonna break my back"

Presumably refers to the gang foreman. My sympathies exactly.

Posted by Amtrak288 (Member # 1967) on :

Very interesting that someone start a topic on this subject! I'm a huge music fan and for example, on my Cross-Country trip from Buffalo to San Diego back in 2002, I've created a quasai-soundtrack if you will about this trip. The songs listed here have something to do with the overall location of where the train operates and some don't have anything to do with the train itself, it's just how the song sounds that it somehow reminds me of that trip, here goes:

Train #49 - Buffalo To Chicago:

Silverbird - Jeff Jarvis
Street Scenes - Jeff Jarvis
Chicago Song - David Sanborn

Notes: The above 3 songs are all smooth jazz and are all instrumentals. Jeff Jarvis is a trumpet player and released an album in 2000 that contained the above two songs, they sound like something that reminded me of an overnight ride on Train #49, the third song is by saxaphonist David Sanborn, and well, the title says it all, as we all know, Train #49 ends and #3 begins in Chicago! Next up:

Train #3 - Chicago To LA

Pink Houses - John Cougar Mellencamp
Wide Open Spaces - The Dixie Chicks
Stand Beside Me - Jo Dee Messina
Mountain Music - Alabama
Ain't It Funny - Jennifer Lopez
A Horse With No Name - America
Walking On Sunshine - Katrina & The Waves

Just about any song that has to do with California can be selected for when you arrive in the Sunshine State!

About these songs: The John Cougar Mellencamp song just reminds me of the heartland! The Dixie Chicks song reminds me of Western Kansas where there's not a tree in sight for miles along wide open farmland. The Jo Dee Messina Song describes something that happened in Colorado. The Alabama Song is an old one that talks about mountain music, and well, Train #3 spends most of Day #2 of it's trip through mountains. The Jennifer Lopez song just has a sound to it that's a bit "South of the border" and reminded me of riding through New Mexico on the way to Albuquerque. The America song, well that's self-explanatory once you head West of Albuquerque. The Katrina & The Waves song, well just look out the window after sunrise on the Southwest Cheif when your in California to figure out why I picked that one!

Basically, a song for me doesn't necessarily have to be about railroading for it to remind me of an Amtrak Trip. I remember on my first Amtrak trip in 1996, I heard the song "I Love You Always Forever" By Donna Lewis some 3 times in a 3 hour period and that song has nothing to do with railroading. Music really messes with your subconsious and you'll remember a specific life event through a song, for me, since I ride Amtrak enough, music helps me remember many of the great trips I've taken. I could go on further about this but I think everyone here gets the point. Music + Amtrak = Great Memories of a great trip!

Posted by sojourner (Member # 3134) on :

Amtrak 288: The reason I started the strand is because I've done something like what you have and was looking for more ideas. I like to make CDs and listen to them when I ride the train and have two of favorite train songs but am making another and was looking for new song ideas. I also have other thematic CDs that I play at appropriate times and on appropriate trips--mountains, rivers, morning, night, sunshine, rain, Georgia, New York City, California, New Orleans, and so on. Including one on going home that I play on the return trip.

I enjoyed reading about your suggested songs as well as all the others here.

Posted by CoastStarlight99 (Member # 2734) on :

Unclebuck, whats the texas eagle song? IS there a starlight song ?

------------------
--Anton L.
pillsbury09@excite.com
AIM: pillsburyMN

Posted by sojourner (Member # 3134) on :

I am not sure but I think Uncle Buck meant "Texas Eagle" by Steve Earle with the Del Mccoury Band (a bluegrass band with whom Earle teamed up just for this album, called The Mountain). It's one of my favorite train songs (though it mentions Amtrak in a not-all-that-favorable light, in contrast with the older trains it is about).

Posted by MPALMER (Member # 125) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Amtrak288:

Pink Houses - John Cougar Mellencamp

About these songs: The John Cougar Mellencamp song just reminds me of the heartland! !

Did you ever see the video? It had scenes of a Chessie System local freight, presumably traveling through his home state of Indiana.

Posted by George Harris (Member # 2077) on :

Not exactly songs about trains, but:

There are a lot of music videos here with trains in them, usually apparently the love leaving or arriving type. Most of the trains are the branch line DMU's and sometimes diesel hauled open-window coaches.

I really can't tell you much more than that because, even as long as I have been here my understanding of Chinese is virtually nil and I am simply not into music videos even when I can understand the words. I just notice them from time to time on the TV when looking for things of interest on the local channels.

I would assume the same would also likely be true in Japan where trains are also still much a part of general daily life.

Posted by travelplus (Member # 3679) on :

How about Midnight Flyer by The Eagles? My friend knowes Joe of the Eagles and I love this song. Sure reminds me of taking an Amtrak trip.

Posted by Railroad Bob (Member # 3508) on :

This is a very good thread, and I would like to refer the forum members to a Website specifically involved in RR songs:
www.tuneville.net.

My personal fav's are anything by Utah Phillips, and Merle Haggard's "Train Whistle Blues" and anything by Jimmie Rodgers, the "Singing Brakeman." Back in the 80's I took care of a singer named John Prine in my sleeping car, late one rainy night on the California Zephyr, #5 coming into Salt Lake City, UT. He had earlier enjoyed a few "adult beverages" and was more than happy to sing a few train songs for us in the vestibule, while rolling through the outskirts of SLC. One I remember was "Muhlenburg County..." something about Mr. Peabody's "coal train had hauled it away..."

Posted by Ira Slotkin (Member # 81) on :

Refrain goes:

"Oh Daddy won't you take me back
to Muhlenberg County,
Down by the Green River
where Paradise lay"
I'm sorry my son but
you're to late in askin'
Mr. Peabody's coal train
done hauled it away."

Great old song. Lament to lost Appalachia. Great memory. John Prine is well known and well regarded in music circles.

Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :

For the ascent of the Rockies on #5, what could top "Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi" (the best known passage) from Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana" eminating from your I-Pod?

[This message has been edited by Gilbert B Norman (edited 01-19-2005).]

Posted by Steve Dunham (Member # 924) on :

A few more:

"The Train" by the Roches, about riding on a commuter train and spying on the passenger in the same seat who's "drinking two beers and reading the New York Post."

"Green Line Blues" by a Chicago blues band the name of which I forget.

A song about the Blue Mountain & Reading that I heard performed at railfan day on that line years ago.