Lyr Req: The Orange Blossom Special Don't Stop ...

Subject: Lyr Req: The Orange Blossom Special don't stop...
From: Håvard
Date: 13 Jun 07 - 06:01 AM

in Waldo anymore... Looking for lyrics, chords and background. The song can be heard on Youtube by Folk Lure (search for Orange Blossom SPecial).

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Orange Blossom Special don't stop...
From: GUEST,Geoff the Duck
Date: 14 Jun 07 - 04:28 AM

I've heard bluegrass people playing the Orange Blossom Special and they just don't seem to stop wherever they are playing it ;@}
Quack!
GtD.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Orange Blossom Special don't stop...
From: Håvard
Date: 18 Jun 07 - 05:16 AM

hehe..!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Orange Blossom Special don't stop...
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 19 Jun 07 - 01:47 PM

Here's a link to the video at YouTube.

"Folk Lure" is the name of a Florida cable access TV show from which the video was taken.

According to the notes at YouTube, the band is called The Green Grass Boys. I suspect this is a one-off grouping of (former?) members of The Green Grass Revival. (Members: Fiddlin' Elan Chalford, Raiford Starke, & Sunset Beach Pete Gallagher.)

In the video, they sing a short intro, which includes (at the end of the first verse) the line "The Orange Blossom Special don't stop in Waldo anymore". At the end of the second verse, the line changes to "The Orange Blossom Special don't stop in Clearwater anymore." After 2 verses of this introductory song, they segue into a conventional performance of ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIAL. The TV show seems to have given the title ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIAL to the entire medley.

Unfortunately, my home computer is lousy at playing videos, so it would be quite a chore for me to transcribe all the lyrics.

Radio station WUFT-FM once played a concert tape that included a performance of THE ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIAL DON'T STOP IN WALDO ANYMORE by Don Grooms & Vassar Clements, made at the Florida Folk Festival in White Springs in 1997.

I suspect, but can't prove, that Don Grooms might be the author of THE ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIAL DON'T STOP IN WALDO ANYMORE.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIAL DON'T STOP ...
From: Håvard
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 09:01 AM

Thanks, Jim. I've made an effort at transcribing the lyrics myself (not all that difficult). THe lead guitar seem to be a "three-chord trick" in D-major.

Here goes:

Well, the greatest train that ever ran down America's railway tracks
Was the Orange Blossom Special, bringing my baby back
From New York to Miami you could hear those drivers roll
And the Orange Blossom Special don't stop in Waldo anymore

Well, people would line the railroad track to watch the OBS go by.
It made grown men shiver, and little babies cry
It shook the ground for miles around, fifty years ago
And the Orange Blossom Special don't stop in Clearwater no more

Well, just tonight for old time sake, we're gonna make the engine one
Bring the Orange Blossom Special right down the Clearwater line
Elan he is the engineer, Raiford is the light
And the Orange Blossom Special shines in Clearwater tonight

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Orange Blossom Special Don't Stop ...
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 02:30 PM

Thanks, Håvard. The transcription is much appreciated.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Orange Blossom Special Don't Stop ...
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 19 Mar 10 - 02:23 PM

I hear "make the engine whine" or perhaps "...wind." Anyway, it rhymes better.