Lyr Req: Grand Canyon Line

Subject: Grand Canyon Line
From: GUEST,PR
Date: 17 Apr 00 - 10:20 AM

I've been trying to find the lyrics to an Amerocan folksong (?)titled The Grand Canyon Line.

CHORUS: On the GCL I was riding along,
On the GCL I was singing a song,
he GCL I was riding along,
dn't go back to Texas 'cause I know I done wrong.

I've checked Lomax, Lib of Congress, etc. Does anyone out there know this song?

Many thanks,
Phyl R.

Subject: RE: Grand Canyon Line
From: katlaughing
Date: 17 Apr 00 - 10:33 AM

That sounds like something Miss Katie Lee would know. If you have access to a copy of her book, Ten Thousand Goddam Cattle, you might check it. I am sure someone else, here, will know more.

All the best,

katlaughing

Subject: RE: Grand Canyon Line
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 17 Apr 00 - 11:10 AM

Michael Hurley recorded it on Armchair Boogie back in the early '70s (or possibly late '60s).  So far as I know, he wrote it; though of course he may just have re-made an older song.  I'll see if I can find the tape.

Malcolm

Subject: Lyr Req:GRAND CANYON LINE
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 17 Apr 00 - 02:37 PM

Apparantly, Burl Ives recorded On The Grand Canyon Line some time in the 1950s ( Burl Ives, Vol. 3, Decca DL 5093, LP (195?), cut#B.04), but I haven't managed to discover if it's the same song as the Michael Hurley recording, which goes:

GRAND CANYON LINE

On the Grand Canyon Line I was riding, riding along
On the Grand Canyon Line I was singing no song
On the Grand Canyon Line I was riding along
Couldn't go back to Texas;I know I done wrong.

I passed the State Bank and no money I had
It wasn't that I really meant to be bad
But I robbed the State Bank with a trembling hand
With the pistol and the money, through the big door I ran.

Sitting all alone in a boxcar with four walls
Just 'cause of a break in a rich man's law
I thought about my sweetheart and I started to cry
When I get caught, by the neck I die.

The boxcar door opened, and a posse walked in
The Sherriff said "Now grab him, boys,I think that's him."
They took me to a jailhouse and now I must die.
Five hours to live; how the time flies.

I hope that helps a bit.  I'm guessing at the moment that Hurley's song is just a partial re-write of the earlier one.  It seems that The Grand Canyon Line was a nickname (1903) for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company -but you probably knew that already.

Malcolm

Subject: RE: Grand Canyon Line
From: GUEST,PRobbins
Date: 22 Apr 00 - 09:54 PM

Thank you both for the info. I've checked sources, asked around and noone else has known it. The lyrics are the ones. I remembered only the first 2 verses, so this really helps.

Subject: RE: Grand Canyon Line
From: Stewie
Date: 23 Apr 00 - 04:04 AM

I have the 'Armchair Boogie' LP - one of my most treasured records - which gives no information, but it has a marvellous 'Boone and Jocko in the Barren Choking Land' comic book insert. The label sticker on the record itself credits Hurley with the song. It is pure Hurley, but it may be based on something else such as the Ives recording that Malcolm noted.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Grand Canyon Line
From: Tiger
Date: 24 Apr 00 - 07:20 AM

Malcolm....

That is the Burl Ives version as I remember it, with a few minor word tweaks. The 'rents used to have the album, a 10" LP.

Thanks - this has been on my wish list for years.

....Tiger