Railway Express
by Dave Ross
Once
upon
a time
everyone rode on
the
railroad,
had
a
piano
(or
parlor
pump organ)
and probably
a
gramophone
or
a
phonograph.
Trains
were
a
necessary,
interesting
and
romantic part of daily life.
Songs
about
the
journeys,
the
destinations,
the
innumerable
wrecks
and disasters
and of course
the
trains,
were
abundant.
These
songs
were recorded
by many artists
were
extremely
popular
and
sold
thousands of discs.
Some
prominent
examples are
"The
Wabash Cannonball"
and
"The
Wreck
of
the
01d
97".
A
contemporary
example
is
the
one
about the Hinton rail disaster.
But
"Casey
Jones" is
THE train
song
for
the
whole
span
of
recorded
music and there seem to be at least
three
versions
of
Casey
in
both
music and lyrics.
So far I've found
over
fifty
recorded
examples,
including
some wacky variants.Would
you believe "Casey Jones
Went
Down
on the
Robert
E.
Lee"? Anything by
Vernon
Dalhart
sold
well,
and
we
still will
find
these
records
at
Sally
Ann
and
Good Will
stores,
especially
"In
the
Baggage
Coach
Ahead". The railroad engineer in the
days of steam engines
was the great
folk hero...small
boys
were saying
"when
I
grow
up
I
want to
be
an
engineer", as
they
do
today
about
astronauts.
Perhaps
beyond
sentimentality
and
fascination
for death
and disaster
was the
way in which the sounds and
the
rhythm of the trains could
be
so
easily
incorporated
into
the
music.
For lighter types of songs,
simulated
railroad
sound
effects
were
often
added.
For
comic
records especially of the "hayseed"
variety,
as
Uncle
Josh
on
his
various
trips
by
Cal
Stewart,
whistles
and
bells
backed
up
by
hissing steam were essential.
One
of
the earliest
Canadian recordings
in
my
collection
is
a
Berliner
10"
Concert Grand, single
sided,
number
5000,
pressed
in
Montreal
in
1901, titled
"Let
Me
Off At Buffalo",
by S.H. Dudley.
As
written in 1895 by Dillon brothers,
Harry
and
John,
the correct title
was
"PUT me off..." perhaps
"LET me
off..."
was friendlier.
Both
Columbia
and
Edison
had train
songs
for
those
happy
owners
of
cylinder
machines.
Somes
examples
of
Blue Amberols
are:
from
1912 - #1501 - Gene
Austin's
version
of
"The Railroad Blues" and Billy Murray
with
"Casey
Jones"
#1550
and
from
1913
Collins
&
Harlan
doing
"When the Midnight
Choo
Choo Leaves
for Alabam'" #1719.
Right to the end of 78 rpm records,
railroad songs just kept
on
coming
down the track.
A
lot of
us
have
good
memories
of
listening
and
dancing to the big bands on records
at parties
(remember tea dances?).
Some of the best are:
Ellington's
"Take
the
A
Train",
Miller's
"Tuxedo Junction"," Chatanooga
Choo
Choo"
and
"I've
got
A
Gal
in
Kalamazoo";
along
with
Ella
or
Dinah
doing
"Sentimental
Journey"
and
"Blues
in the
Night"
by
Peggy
Lee or der
Bingle
and don't forget
Judy
Garland's
"The
Atchison,
Topeka
and
the
Santa
Fe"
or
"The
Trolley Song".
Throughout the
LP
period
(is that
almost
over
too!)
the
railroad
songs were recorded
by the Weavers,
Mitch Miller
& Peter,
Paul
& Mary.
Enhanced
by stereo, faster
tempos,
better
instrumentations
and
arrangements
they
sold
well.
My
apologies at this
point - Country
&
Western has much railroad material,
which
I
don't
know well
enough to
write
about.
Gordon
Lightfoot
has
several
recordings of songs written
and
played
by
him
about
Canadian
railways,
most
notably
"Canadian
Railroad Trilogy".
Keep
your
ears
open
for
CD
offerings of a railroad theme, they
are on the way or already arrived!
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