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
Juniatha
@ 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)
http://www.lyricsmania.com/life_is_a_rock_but_the_radio_rolled_me_lyrics_reunion.html
Ulrich 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... .
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 RainSee the sky about to rain,broken clouds and rain.Locomotive, pull the train,whistle blowingthrough 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 glorySome 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 Dixie Land,played a silver fiddlePlayed it loud and then the manbroke it down the middle.See the sky about to rain.
greyhounds Ulrich: 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... . 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.
Ulrich: 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... .
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.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hdB5B5QuvE
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 Juniatha
Juniatha, thanks for sharing... It's been years since I heard that one. Never thought of it in a rail context until now..but the 70s was a great decade in so many ways.
Bucyrus 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 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hdB5B5QuvE
Nice tune Bucyrus..the sort that just grows on you after a few listens...great rhythm and beat as well.
SSW9389 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 RainSee the sky about to rain,broken clouds and rain.Locomotive, pull the train,whistle blowingthrough 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 glorySome 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 Dixie Land,played a silver fiddlePlayed it loud and then the manbroke it down the middle.See the sky about to rain.
Substitute RS-18 for "locomotive" horn for whistle, and voila, we have our first diesel locomotive song.
I almost mentioned "See the Sky about to rain" but absolutely forgot about "locomotive pull the train", thinking only of "signals curlin on an open plain".
See the Sky is a great song from a very rich, yet depressing album which was very reflective of the mid 70's, the hippie days were gone and we were left with the ugliness of post Viet Nam, post Nixon, and the beginning of reality.
Ed
( >> Substitute RS-18 for "locomotive" horn for whistle, and voila, we have our first diesel locomotive song.<< )
.. first ..?
= J =
Hi all
Some links to songs – I’d like to read your comments :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZZAQT6IsX8&feature=related
Life is a Rock ( but the radio rolled me ) – here sung by the Byrds
– my EMD diesel tune ( well , maybe someone would like to recite names of RR , builders , locomotives , trains and stations instead of names in the music scene ? that would be something *g* )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORZutckKlGU
Life is a Rock ( but the radio rolled me ) – sung by Tracey Ullman
– what type of diesel would that relate to ?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vof-DhWSoU&feature=related
Life is a Rock ( but the radio rolled me ) – sung life by Alexis O’Hara
– life !? my goodness , how does she hold the air for that breathless sequence ..????
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ef-f-l2Pbn8&feature=related
Joss Stone trying to emulate Janis Joplin ‘Cry Baby’
– can she stand up to ‘Janis Pennsy steam’ ?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WISX2oSExIA&feature=related
singer remembering Janis Joplin , combined with JJ picture show
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iX-EcRKXJw&feature=related
Janis Joplin singing ‘Me and Bobby McGee’ in 1970 combined with video showing her singing ‘Cry Baby’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE_m8gB5hAs&feature=related
Joss Stone – Don’t cha wanna ride
– listen , there’s another tune in the background , just a few tunes of it ..
à quiz question : what was the title of that tune ??
( hint : it was a one hit wonder , by which group)
Since it seems you guys don’t want to engage in conjuring freelance connotations , but rather keep to ‘songs prescribed by the authors’ , I’ve got two LPs here with train songs :
1 - An old record , recorded Los Angeles, CA on Dec 15 & 16 1962 – the record incl cover is like new since it’s from my late father’s collection (I tend to think my records are kept in good shape but this one is at least as good as new ; I put it on for once , just to describe the music to you – that’s how far I go for postings in this forum – *g*)
The record’s title is ‘Night Train : The Oscar Peterson Trio’
Ok – no one would deny Oscar Peterson did perform some very good music – however , this Night Train sounds more like an afternoon seasonal local freight to me , with maybe a 2-8-0 up front , rambling some odd freight yards , leisurely picking up a load here , dropping another one there . The piece is 4:50 – see , Oscar already felt it would take some time for this train to get anywhere . Side one continues at about the same tempo with : C Jam Blues / Georgia on my Mind / Bag’s Groove / Moten Swing / Easy does it – and that does it for this side . Back side : Honey Dripper / Things ain’t what they used to be ( gee , back then already ?) / I got it bad and that ain’t good ( 5:05 , sigh , time passes slowly if you have it bad ) / Band call / Hymn to freedom ( a lasting hymn , relatively , at 5:30 )
2 – A newer DLP of 2001 – recorded 2000 and 2001 , in the final months before 9/11 :
The record’s mysterious title is CHESSIE – overnight
( Chessie ? I thought .. hmm, there is a vague enough graphic picture of night over snow covered mountains and a sketchy train on curved line .. intriguing ) The track titles are :
A – Electro Motive / Daylight ; B – K Tower / Lineside ; C – Pantograph Up / Cross Harbour Interchange ; D – Northern Maine Junction / S Tou / Eyes and Smiles .
Well , before you rush the internet for this record I should maybe add that it presents quite a remote and abstract reminiscence of the ‘old Chessie RR’ – still , for me ‘S Tou’ evokes the mood and prowess of late Super Power steam – be it a 2-10-4 , 4-8-4 or even H-8 2-6-6-6 standing in the yard at night under a stary sky ; the piece transcribes a certain feeling of chillness ( winter night in mountainous scenery ) and latent steely force ( locomotive , waiting for next call ) that is really .. uhm .. chilling . Pantograph Up is pretty abstract but not without relation to electric power – which is somewhat abstract by itself . Electro Motive .. uhm .. dunno , after one initial listening I have never put that side on again ( not because of the title but because the tracks don’t grab me )
Probably take too much space to get into here, but you could do an interesting article on the history of the "Wabash Cannonball" and it's different variations going back to the 1890's or so...a folk song that was discovered and published and then forgotten and then became a folk song again, and was rediscovered by A.P. Carter and recorded, and then to the Crazy Tennesseans recording which really popularized it (with Roy Acuff on fiddle and train whistle sound - but not vocals!! He didn't record his own solo version until I think 1947.)
Well , isn't it intriguing that train songs with very few exceptions were from the 1950s , 1940s , 1930s or earlier ? And then they were mostly country and folk songs .
I feel that tells something about RRs vanishing from view in the public mind and certainly from the citizen's minds ...
You folks must believe me, for this be the truth. I seek no glory or fame. I seek only to speak the truth and be judged accordingly. There is a song about a diesel powered train. It's title is: "Texas - 1947". Johnny Cash covered the song in his album "Look At Them Beans".
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Now bein' six years old, I had seen some trains before, so it's hard to figure out what I'm at the depot for. Trains are big and black and smokin' - steam screamin' at the wheels, bigger than anything they is, at least that's the way she feels Trains are big and black and smokin', louder'n July four, but everybody's actin' like this might be somethin' more. . . . . .than just pickin' up the mail, or the soldiers from the war. This is somethin' that even old man Wileman never seen before. And it's late afternoon on a hot Texas day. somethin' strange is goin' on, and we's all in the way. Well there's fifty or sixty people they're just sittin' on their cars, and the old men left their dominos and they come down from the bars.
Everybody's checkin', old Jack Kittrel check his watch, and us kids put our ears to the rails to hear 'em pop. So we already knowed it, when they finally said 'train time' you'd a-thought that Jesus Christ his-self was rollin' down the line. 'Cause things got real quiet, momma jerked me back, But not before I'd got the chance to lay a nickel on the track. Chorus Look out here she comes, she's comin', Look out there she goes, she's gone, screamin' straight through Texas like a mad dog cyclone. Big, red, and silver, she don't make no smoke, she's a fast-rollin' streamline come to show the folks.
Look out here she comes, she's comin' Look out there she goes, she's gone, screamin' straight through Texas like a mad dog cyclone. . . .Lord, she never even stopped. She left fifty or sixty people still sittin' on their cars, and they're wonderin' what it's comin' to and how it got this far. Oh but me I got a nickel smashed flatter than a dime by a mad dog, runaway red-silver streamline. . . train Chorus
That is a great capturing of the American Experience in art. These people in a small Texas town have a concept of what a train is, then that concept is altered in a few seconds by a fast diesel streamliner. It's great! And it is about a diesel train.
.
There are some good train songs on 'Chessie's 8,000 Mile Birthday Party' that I've never heard elsewhere (A video commissioned by Chessie to document their stream excursions at the time). No clue what their names or who the artist were.
Here is a link to Texas - 1947: Johnny Cash-Texas 1947 - YouTube
Ok , now since train music seems to be much identified with Johnny Cash and a few more country singers mostly before autumn 1949 , here’s a record of old Johnny Cash songs , the record’s title is ‚Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two - Story Songs of the Trains and Rivers’ ; there’s even a steam loco graphic on the cover and it contains the following titles :
Side A
Hey Porter 2:12 ( Johnny Cash , Hi-Lo Music ) / Train of Love 2:22 ( Johnny Cash , Knox Music ) / I Heard that Lonesome Whistle 2:24 ( Williams & Davis , Peer Int’l ) / Port of Lonely Hearts 2:33 ( Johnny Cash , Knox Music ) / The Wreck of the Old 97 1:47 ( Johnny Cash , Hi-Lo Music )
Side B
Rock Island Line 2:09 ( Johnny Cash , Hi-Lo Music Inc ) / Big River 2:31 ( Johnny Cash , Hi-Lo Music Inc ) / Wide Open Road 2:23 ( Johnny Cash , Hi-Lo Music Inc & Johnny Cash Music Inc) / Down the Street to 301 2:03 ( Jack Clement , Jack Clement Music Inc ) / Life Goes On 1:58 ( Jack Clement & Johnny Cash , Jack Clement Music Inc )
Sorry , Big River is apparently not the name of a freight yard and Nō 301 isn’t a train Nō either but a house Nō .
As for my efforts at dieselizing train songs , one more try and that’ll be it ( I’m not EMD )
– so , how about that one : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5e3M6v-rCQ
– or this version : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0qbBQABx6E
( I think the first one is slightly better – you can play both in canon if you can hit the right timing )
At least for 3:28 it conveys some feeling of length and momentum of a long American freight train running – why diesel ? well , 1973 , Album ‘The Captain and me’ ..
Here’s a bass play-along version for ‘more mass inertia’ : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0NkBPBagX0&feature=related
and live bass to playback original : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vXlBVEklDc&feature=related
However .. maybe you would listen to this :
Norah Jones – Tribute to Johnny Cash :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ufjeTqOhuM&feature=related
Norah Jones – Long way Home :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCQDWjN22X0&feature=related
Norah Jones and Eva Cassidy – Tennessee Waltz :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ps8XPSkY_5Q&feature=related
Tennessee Waltz – acoustic guitar and singing Eva Cassidy :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1TD-7k52y4&feature=related
In the early morning rain ( Gordon Lightfoot ) – Eva Cassidy :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRI-TawlghI&feature=related
People get ready there’s a train a-coming – Eva Cassidy :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8W9rPxxnP4&feature=related
Poor Wayfaring Stranger – Eva Cassidy :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sDyE98AGzw&feature=relatedsmae
– same by Johnny Cash :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OD---gVU06k&feature=related
( I have deleted some links that I felt not fitting to the topic )
Leaving this thread with regards
"peanut sitting on a railroad track, it's heart all a flutter. Trains comes rolling down the track. Toot! Toot! Peanut but-ter!"
That's part of a great children's song.
I love Johnny Cash's train songs, particularly " Rock Island Line"
"Well the engineer said before he died there were two more drinks he'd like to try. Conductor said what could they be? Hot cup of coffee and cold glass of tea."
Merle Haggard put out an album in the ear;ly seventies of entirely train songs. If you can find a copy, get it. All the songs are great.
Here is a nice railroad work song. Nice video too. Lots of faces looking back at you across time. I wonder what the world looked like to them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9dOrghwDE0
Personal favorites-City of New Orleans-Arlo Guthrie version
We also liked Johnny Cash-Orange Blossom Special and Ride That Train-Dad had the album.
And the oldies like Chattanooga Choo Choo
Juniatha Well , isn't it intriguing that train songs with very few exceptions were from the 1950s , 1940s , 1930s or earlier ? And then they were mostly country and folk songs . I feel that tells something about RRs vanishing from view in the public mind and certainly from the citizen's minds ... = J =
That steam whistle was the call to adventure to a lot of bored farmboys who at days end probably said to themselves, "***, there's GOT to be something better than THIS!" Probably a lot of farmgirls thought the same thing, but the oppotunities for escape for young women just weren't a good as they were for young men. Boredom's probably the reason a lot of young men rushed to the colors when the Civil War started in 1861, but that's another story.
Railroads may nolonger be part of the common folklore, but that's also true of trucking and aviation. Remember back in the 70s with the CB craze? 10-4 good buddy, breaker 19, and all that nonsense? Mostly gone now...And so is much of private aviation because even your Cessna is beyond the reach of most people's pocketbook. The romance is gone...and with it went the music.
Hi Firelock
Well , actually I’m off this thread – however to answer to you :
That steam whistle was the call to adventure to a lot of bored farm boys who at days end probably said to themselves, "***, there's GOT to be something better than THIS!"
Oh , I guess that was so …
Probably a lot of farm girls thought the same thing, but the opportunities for escape for young women just weren't a good as they were for young men.
Yes … dim chances indeed . Unless in a curious twist of fate some high class city dandy on his way to prospect a remote site for possible oil drilling or the like , got lost and had to stop his marvellous sparkling white Auburn convertible in front of the local general store to ask his way and it so happened , Mary the only daughter of the owner of the biggest ranch was in there with servants to pick up the usual goods for the week and he got struck by her unspoiled natural beauty , prompting him to offer her a ride , ‘to show the way’ … she heard the words , saw that worldly , good looking dude with his winning smile , felt getting dizzy , didn’t know what to think of it , considered the consequences of town folk seeing her in that outlandish road yacht and talking , turned it down because it seemed so unreal – forever to be left in the dark about maybe having thrown away the chance of her lifetime or rather having avoided to become the talk of the town – later on marrying the lonesome rider who had come from nowhere to find work on the ranch and having had the grit to ask her father for her hand …
( how that ? well it’s from a short story I wrote in connection with a riddle )
Boredom's probably the reason a lot of young men rushed to the colors when the Civil War started in 1861, but that's another story
… one that I feel Buster Keaton had told in unsurpassable way in his simply ingenious tragic-comical film ‘The General’ of the stoic , slightly melancholic yet never giving up locomotive driver who rose above himself on the occasion – a film of great insight into the absurdity of tests and trials of life , human nature .. and besides , offering a great view at old times and railroad scenes for us people of today .
God bless America !
“One veteran of the rails expressed the opinion of thousands when he said, “When I was a kid, boys did not go to work on the railroad simply because their fathers did. What fetched them was the sights and sounds of moving trains, and above all the whistle of a locomotive. I’ve heard the call of the wild, the call of the law, the call of the church. There is also the call of the Railroad—or there used to be in my day.” wrote Era Ross Standefer in her 1949 thesis The Romance of Railroading.
“One veteran of the rails expressed the opinion of thousands when he
said, “When I was a kid, boys did not go to work on the railroad simply
because their fathers did. What fetched them was the sights and sounds of
moving trains, and above all the whistle of a locomotive. I’ve heard the call
of the wild, the call of the law, the call of the church. There is also the call of
the Railroad—or there used to be in my day.” wrote Era Ross Standefer in
her 1949 thesis The Romance of Railroading.
SSW9389 “One veteran of the rails expressed the opinion of thousands when he said, “When I was a kid, boys did not go to work on the railroad simply because their fathers did. What fetched them was the sights and sounds of moving trains, and above all the whistle of a locomotive. I’ve heard the call of the wild, the call of the law, the call of the church. There is also the call of the Railroad—or there used to be in my day.” wrote Era Ross Standefer in her 1949 thesis The Romance of Railroading.
It still works that way...sort of. When I was a kid back in the 70s the sound of trains rolling through the valley got me interested and thinking about a career on the railroad. That didn't happen, but I did get into trucking, and now I get to see my family name rolling down the highway in big 36 in. letters.. Not quite the same with the romance and all...but close enough.
There are a lot of train songs. I really like the train wreck ballads. Wreck of the Sportsman, Wreck of the C&O #5 was sang to me as a child by my grandparents. The Wreck of the Old 97 of course is a great one. There is a great book entitled "Scalded to Death by the Steam" that lists and has lyrics to most of these tunes.
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