This song is not related to the song of the same title in the DT, nor to the song in link posted above by Guest. It is related to a particular strike. Mark Wilson gives the background in his notes to his compilation 'Rich Man Poor Man: American Country Songs of Protest':

... only several months prior to the present recording was a major strike against the Loray Mill in Gastonia, North Carolina. Unlike the Marion uprising, led by the A.F. of L. associated United Textile Workers, the Gastonia strike was run by the communist National Textile Workers. Despite considerable red baiting, the mill workers seemed to genuinely embrace the leftist union. As in Marion, however, the strike ended in failure, with the murder of folk composer Ella May Wiggins and the framing of the chief organisers of the strike. For a first hand account of the incident by the NTWU's leader, Fred Beal, see his fascinating 'Proletarian Journey'.

The radicalism of that strike shows its impact on the present recording made by a group of hands from the Loray Mill. Although Ronald Lee Nelson reports that Watts was never a particularly strong adherent of unionism, this startingly direct homemade composition is obviously a product of the miserable treatment these workers suffered - when it would take nearly a day's (12 hours!) work to earn the cost of a 78 such as this one. Incidently, Dave McCarn [author of 'Cotton Mill Colic', 'Rich Man Poor Man' etc]is said to have shared Watts' hesitations about collectivisation. A proper understanding of such ambivalence, in light of the conditions reported in these songs, would tell us much about the nature of American political life.

The Lonely Eagles consisted of Wilmer Watts (1895-1943, guitar, often played knife style), Charles Freshour (1900-1959, guitar) and Palmer Rhyne (banjo). Together, they (and the related aggregation of Watts and Wilson) contributed one of the most unusual and ingratiating ensembles on 78s. Some of their material was quite negro-influenced and they nicely localised 'The Midnight Special' to their local experience as 'Walk Right In Belmont'. It is not known whether they were acquainted with Dave McCarn. [Mark Wilson, note on 'Cotton Mill Blues' in booklet insert to 'Rich Man Poor Man: American County Songs of Protest' Rounder LP 1026]

--Stewie.