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10 Aug 02 - 08:36 AM (#762981) Subject: Train songs From: Lynn Good morning, 'Catters. Next week I'm playing for a Senior Citizens' train ride and luncheon in CNY. I could use a few more train songs, especially those that have easy choruses I can teach to them. I know the usual ones - Midnight Special; City of New Orleans; It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry; I've Been Working...; Drill Ye Tarriers Drill. Are there any you've taken a special liking to??? And how about more food songs, since we're also eating. Have a blessed Saturday! Lynn |
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10 Aug 02 - 08:58 AM (#762986) Subject: RE: Train songs From: masato sakurai There's a long thread on Train Songs. ~Masato |
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10 Aug 02 - 09:14 AM (#762991) Subject: RE: Train songs From: van lingle Hi Lynn, one that you're sure to see mentioned in the thread that Masato linked above is The Wabash Cannonball which many seniors will probably know and be able to sing along with. Regarding food, another depression era tune they might know is One Meatball. Good luck, vl. |
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10 Aug 02 - 10:44 AM (#763012) Subject: RE: Train songs From: Janice in NJ Try some songs by Bruce "U. Utah" Phillips, including Starlight on the Rails, No Round Trip Ticket, Daddy What's a Train?, Rock Me to Sleep, Phoebe Snow, and Queen of the Rails. |
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10 Aug 02 - 10:56 AM (#763013) Subject: RE: Train songs From: DMcG Don't forget "Cannily, Cannily" (in DT) either |
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10 Aug 02 - 11:08 AM (#763015) Subject: RE: Train songs From: The Walrus Lynn, Not specifically a "train" song, but if the mood is right, try "Sentimental Journey". Walrus |
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10 Aug 02 - 12:35 PM (#763038) Subject: RE: Train songs From: Wilfried Schaum Food songs: I only remember the lively chorus: Oh it's beans, bacon, and gravy, that almost drove me crazy, I ate 'em till I saw 'em in my dreams ... Wilfried |
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10 Aug 02 - 01:02 PM (#763048) Subject: RE: Train songs From: Uncle_DaveO Beans, Bacon & Gravy" is in the DT. Great song! It's one of my old standbys. Dave Oesterreich |
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10 Aug 02 - 01:46 PM (#763053) Subject: RE: Train songs From: Jim McLean How about Cosher Bailey's Engine? It's in the DigiTrad Database. Jim McLean |
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10 Aug 02 - 04:49 PM (#763091) Subject: RE: Train songs From: open mike Greg Brown's ":the train that carried jimmy Rogers home" is both about trains and the brakeman Jimmy Rogers. |
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10 Aug 02 - 05:23 PM (#763114) Subject: RE: Train songs From: Susanne (skw) Isn't there one called 'The Wreck of the F&O' (well, maybe it wouldn't be appropriate anyway ...). Or 'Poor Paddy Works on the Railway'? As to food songs, the only one I can remember is 'Colcannon' on a Black Family CD. Hope the trip goes well! |
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10 Aug 02 - 06:06 PM (#763134) Subject: RE: Train songs From: toadfrog See TRUE AND TREMBLING BRAKEMAN The DT version leaves out the first verse, which goes: See the true and trembling brakeman As he signals to the cab; There is only one thing for it And the train it is to grab. See also CHATTANOOGA CHOO CHOO, And other songs with links collected HERE I think Suzanne is thinking of ENGINE 143 a.k.a. THE WRECK ON THE C & O (Carter family). These should help for a while. |
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10 Aug 02 - 08:34 PM (#763188) Subject: RE: Train songs From: toadfrog Also, I'M MOVIN' ON (Hank Snow) |
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10 Aug 02 - 10:14 PM (#763222) Subject: Lyr Add: THE TRAIN THAT CARRIED MY GIRL FROM TOWN From: Robin2 How about THE TRAIN THAT CARRIED MY GIRL FROM TOWN?
Where was you when the train left town?
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11 Aug 02 - 07:00 AM (#763317) Subject: RE: Train songs From: GUEST,HP The best food-and-train song I know is Dave Goulder's "Footplate Cuisine", but probably not appropriate for your gig as it will put the OAPs off their food. No time to write out all the lyrics just now as I'm on the way out, but as a taster ...
Some like a wilderbeast stewed in red wine, |
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11 Aug 02 - 05:28 PM (#763503) Subject: RE: Train songs From: Genie Another one I get a lot of requests for in senior citizens' homes (especially from the folks who are under 90) is "Five Hundred Miles." They also like Elizabeth Cotten's "Freight Train," as well as "Chattanooga Choo Choo" and "Wabash Cannonball." One I get requests for but don't do (cause it really needs a fiddle or something) is "Orange Blossom Special." "Waiting For A Train" (sung by Jimmie Rodgers) is also requested from time to time, as is "Rock Island Line." Genie |
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11 Aug 02 - 05:50 PM (#763510) Subject: RE: Train songs From: Genie "Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?" ("Once I built a railroad, I made it run... .") Night Train "Blues In The Night" ("...Hear that lonesome whistle blowin' 'cross the trestle, 'Whoo-ee," ..."...Clickety-clack, it's echoing back the Blues In The Night.") Engine 143 (The Wreck on the C & O) -- and the parody "Georgie on the IRT." Bill Grogan's Goat (where the goat is tied to the railroad track for eating Grogan's red shirts and then coughs up the shirts and flags the train). An accordion player/singer who plays regularly at retirement homes around Portland, OR, does a very popular rendition of "Casey Jones," complete with a train-impression done on the accordion. -------------- Re: food songs, how about "Shoo-Fly Pie & Apple Pan Dowdy?" There's also a parody of the old song "In The Shade Of The Old Apple Tree" called "'Neath The Crust Of The Old Apple Pie." Or how about "Home Grown Tomatoes?" (Guy Clark?) |
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12 Aug 02 - 03:26 PM (#763995) Subject: RE: Train songs From: GUEST,shrbw@abertay.ac.uk It might not be widely known across the pond, but how about that old somg by the famous Percy French? It's called "Are Ye Right There, Michael, Are Ye Right", and is a very funny but affectionate tribute to an old Irish narrow gauge line that is sadly no longer with us. It lends itself to a humorous delivery/burlesque and it has a simple but catchy chorus.... Barry Worthington |
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12 Aug 02 - 04:58 PM (#764006) Subject: RE: Train songs From: GUEST,DonMeixner Hi Lynn, I'm in the Syracuse phone book. Give me a call and I'll see what I can do to help you. Don |
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12 Aug 02 - 05:57 PM (#764034) Subject: RE: Train songs From: GUEST,Jerry The senior demographic would probably know "Alabamy Bound" which has that great lyric, "Just gave the meanest ticket man on earth all I'm worth/ To put my tootsies in a upper berth." Unfortunatly it has no refrain. There's always "I've been working on the Railroad" and "Midnight Special" both of which have choruses. A light rail song that many might know is "Charlie and the MTA." Have fun. Jerry |
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13 Aug 02 - 01:37 AM (#764208) Subject: RE: Train songs From: Genie Barry, thanks for reminding me of that Percy French song. It slipped my mind when I was thinking of train songs. One other train song I thought of is the children's song "Down By The Station." There was also a version of this song popularized by somebody like the Chad Mitchell Trio or the Brothers Four in the 1960s.
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13 Aug 02 - 06:48 AM (#764302) Subject: RE: Train songs From: van lingle ...then there's Chicken Cordon Blues by Steve Goodman. |
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13 Aug 02 - 07:12 AM (#764307) Subject: RE: Train songs From: Jim McLean There's another children's song "The Train" which starts The train is a-comin', oh yeah Train is a-comin', oh yeah Train is a-comin' Train is a-comin' Train is a-comin' oh yeah.
Better get your ticket.... |
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13 Aug 02 - 07:55 AM (#764321) Subject: RE: Train songs From: Abuwood How about tshosholosa Click Here |
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13 Aug 02 - 10:52 AM (#764401) Subject: RE: Train songs From: Deda Hobo's lullaby (Listen to the steel rails humming, that's the hobo's lullaby). |
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13 Aug 02 - 06:40 PM (#764727) Subject: RE: Train songs From: Genie Or how about the "This Train" that PP&M sang?
"This train, she's bound for glory, this train. (x2) |
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13 Aug 02 - 07:01 PM (#764745) Subject: RE: Train songs From: SeanM I think one of my faves will probably always be Paddy on the Railway. Also, if you want a big ol' list, you can always enter "@railroad" or "@train" into the Digital Tradition search box for a list of specific rail and train related songs - 23 for the first, 82 the second. Hope this helps... M |
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13 Aug 02 - 07:15 PM (#764759) Subject: RE: Train songs From: Gareth Or you could try this Australian classic When the Coal Blew Away and dare I mention "John Axon" Gareth |
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13 Aug 02 - 09:27 PM (#764847) Subject: RE: Train songs From: pattyClink "Let the train blow the whistle when I go". I don't know who wrote it but Johnny Cash put it on "American Recordings", it's great and funny and memorable with an easy chorus. And there's always David Allan Coe's Perfect Country Western song, for those wonderful lines "I was drunk the day my Mom got out of prison, and I went to pick her up in the rain, but before I could get to the station in my pick-up truck, she got runned over by a danged old train". Have fun whatever you do! One of the most memorable days of my life was on a train which had to stop for a derailment ahead. Wound up in the club car singing songs with a traveling eccentric millionaire who liked to play hobo and a belly dancer from New Orleans. Ya never know what's gonna happen on a train... |
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13 Aug 02 - 11:53 PM (#764928) Subject: RE: Train songs From: Genie "Nine Hundred Miles" |
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14 Aug 02 - 12:08 AM (#764931) Subject: RE: Train songs From: john c Nobody´s mentioned The Runaway Train (came down the track and she blew). Great fun when the train starts picking up speed and an easier chorous you´ll find nowhere.................WHOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOO! J. |
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14 Aug 02 - 01:30 PM (#765252) Subject: RE: Train songs From: GUEST,Elaine I remember one from grade school: Oh, the Rock Island Line is a mighty good road, Oh, the Rock Island Line is a mighty good road, Oh, the Rock Island Line is a mighty good road, If you're gonna ride it Gotta ride it like you're flyin' Get your ticket at the station For the Rock Island Line. If a little jazz is okay, there's always Take the A Train. |
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14 Aug 02 - 02:33 PM (#765306) Subject: RE: Train songs From: Train Guard Now this is my home territory - though from a British perspective. Given that, and the fact that the audience would probably want something bright and breezy, I'm going to suggest a song by the immortal Percy French. (Purists can leave at this point...) It's probably not well known across the pond, but "Are Ye Right There Michael, Are Ye Right" (as it's usually known) is a grand old comic song based on the writer's experience of a narrow-gauge line in Ireland that is (sadly) no longer with us... It has a good rumbustious (loud!) chorus that is easy to pick up, and the song lyrics lend themselves to characterisation and a comic approach. Though whether you can find a copy of the song and learn it (though you may already know about it) in good time for the big day is anybody's business.... Good luck, anyway! Train Guard |
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14 Aug 02 - 03:16 PM (#765339) Subject: RE: Train songs From: beadie An old favorite of mine was one by Tom T. Hall called "The Engineers don't wave from the trains anymore." I only saw it on one album that he did, a bilateral mutual appreciation disc with Earl Scruggs (I forget the title, but its a great album) The engineers don't wave from the trains anymore, Not like they did in 1954 They got computers and diesels and such And the engineers don't wave from the trains anymore, The engineers don't wave from the trains. When I was a little boy I'd hang around the track I'd watch them trains going to Louisville and back I had my dreams, and I had my plans, I was going to be a train driving man.
There's more, but memory fails at the moment.
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14 Aug 02 - 03:32 PM (#765356) Subject: RE: Train songs From: beadie I checked and the album (not released on CD) was titled "The Storyteller and the Banjoman." Apparently, the lyric to this cut wasn't ever put on anyone's database, but it should have been. |
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19 Aug 02 - 12:58 PM (#767987) Subject: RE: Train songs From: Genie I had forgotten about Blue Water Line until someone asked for the lyrics and chords a couple of days ago. Genie |
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14 Sep 04 - 12:30 PM (#1271901) Subject: I love Train Songs! From: Once Famous I do not know, nor have I checked if this has been talked about before, but it's time for more talk about American music. American folk, country, and bluegrass music has long been extremely rich with songs about trains, which everyone knows helped build this great land and continues to be the backbone of our transportaion system. I love songs about trains because I love trains. I have even been a serious collector of antique electric trains for almost the last 20 years. Trains are a subject of much romaticism in American song and I find this so much more appealing than politics in song. Who of you loves songs about trains and what are your favorites? I am currently learning a wonderful song called "Jenny Dreams of Trains" written by Guy Clarke and Vince Gill. What do you play? |
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14 Sep 04 - 12:32 PM (#1271904) Subject: RE: I love Train Songs! From: Wolfgang old thread: Love affair with trains Wolfgang |
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14 Sep 04 - 12:34 PM (#1271907) Subject: RE: I love Train Songs! From: Wolfgang or: Railroad song buffs Wolfgang |
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14 Sep 04 - 01:04 PM (#1271928) Subject: RE: I love Train Songs! From: Uncle_DaveO For whatever it's worth, I'm in the process (slowly) of planning my next CD, working title, Steam, Steel Rails & Hoboes. All solo railroad-oriented songs, about 18 of them, I think, with guitar, banjo, or unaccompanied. Dave Oesterreich |
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15 Sep 04 - 10:31 PM (#1273025) Subject: RE: Train songs From: GUEST,Puck Best ever train song,,,, 'City of New Orleans'. Arlo Guthrie's version on Alice's restaurant is sh**hot, as is Willie Nelson's. |
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05 Oct 15 - 10:35 PM (#3741998) Subject: Lyr Add: CHOO-CHOO CH'BOOGIE From: Jim Dixon CHOO-CHOO CH'BOOGIE Words and music by Vaughn Horton, Denver Darling, Milton Gabler. ©1945 As recorded by Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five, 1946. Headin' for the station with a pack on my back, I'm tired transportation in the back of a hack. I love to hear the rhythm of the clickety-clack, And hear the lonesome whistle, see the smoke from the stack, And pal around with democratic fellows named Mac, So take me right back to the track, Jack. CHORUS: Choo-choo, choo-choo ch'boogie. Woo-woo, woo-woo, j'boogie. Choo-choo, choo-choo ch'boogie. Take me right back to the track, Jack. You reach your destination but, alas and alack, You need some compensation to get back in the black. You take a mornin' paper from the top o' the stack, And read the situation from the front to the back. The only job that's open needs a man with a knack, So put it right back in the rack, Jack. Gonna settle down by the railroad track, Live the life o' Riley in the beaten-down shack, So when I hear a whistle I can peep through the crack, And watch the train a-rollin' when it's ballin' the jack, For I just love the rhythm of the clickety-clack, So take me right back to the track, Jack. |
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06 Oct 15 - 01:24 AM (#3742003) Subject: RE: Train songs From: GUEST,HiLo City of New Orleans by Arlo Guthrie is not onAlice's Restaraunt. It is on his album Hobo's Lullaby . |
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06 Oct 15 - 02:07 AM (#3742005) Subject: RE: Train songs From: GUEST,Eddie1 - Sans cookie as ever Hi I have presented radio shows on Train songs. Playlist here: Artist Title Gordon Lightfoot Canadian Railroad Trilogy Pete Seeger Hobo's Lullaby Nanci Griffith Southbound Train Various Artists The Runaway Train Johnny Cash On the Evening Train The Band Mystery Train Van; Lonnie; Railroad Bill Pete Seeger Last Train to Nuremberg Various Artists Golden Gate Gospel Train Various Artists Night Train to Memphis Various Artists Wreck of the Old '97 Beryl Bryden Casey Jones Various Artists Wabash Cannonball Trains 2 Johnny Duncan & Blue Grass Boys Last Train to San Fernando ErnestTubb_WabashCannonBall GlendaleTrain GlendaleTrain - Big Fat Gap Grandpa Jones Grandpa Jones 12 - Waiting for a train Grateful Dead Monkey And The Engineer Hank Williams Pan American Janis Joplin Janis Joplin - Bobby McGee Jerry Garcia & David Grisman Freight Train Last Train to Heaven Last Train to Heaven - Boxcar Willie Various Artists Midnight Special - CCR (4.10) Unknown O B Special - Ramblehouse Right Track Right Track -Wrong Train - Confederate Railroad Rock Island Line Rock Island Line - Johnny Cash Runaway Train Runaway Train - Kasey Chambers (2.59) Runaway Train Runaway Train - various The Notting Hillbillies Railboard Worksong And Food/Drink Songs: Artist Title Length Chet Atkins Country Champagne 02:36 Various Artists Strawberry Fields Forever 02:21 Jean Jacques Milteau Gumbo 01:49 Willie Nelson Whiskey River 04:04 Archie Fisher Gunsmoke & Whisky 03:34 The Carter Family Chewing Gum 03:05 Chet Atkins Java 02:41 Chuck McCabe Meats in a Can 01:48 Virginia Boys Dill Pickle Rag 01:30 Emmylou Harris Another Pot O' Tea 03:03 Flatt & Scruggs Hot Corn, Cold Corn 02:32 Grandpa Jones Mountain Dew 02:13 Gretchen Wilson One Bud Wiser 03:39 Hamish Imlach Goodbye Booze 03:10 Harry McLintock Big Rock Candy Mountain 04:39 Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Jambalaya 03:22 Janis Ian Hunger 06:28 Jerry Garcia Whiskey in the Jar 04:17 Jimmy Rodgers Peach Pickin' Time in Georgia 02:51 Lefty Frizell CigarettesAndCoffeeBlues 02:37 Lonnie Donegan Take a Drink on Me 03:15 Merle Haggard I Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink 03:58 Hank Thompson What Made Milwaukee Famous 02:08 Burl Ives Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly 02:39 Slim Dusty Pub With No Beer Slim Dusty 03:00 Eddie Put Another Log 01:39 Red Hot Chilli Pipers 02:22 Red Ingles Cigareets & Whuskey 02:42 RedFoleyErnestTubb Too Old To Cut The Mustard 02:54 Johnny Paycheck The Bottle Let Me Down 04:23 The Dubliners Rare Old Mountain Dew 01:27 Iain MacKintosh The New Restaurant 02:15 Tom Paxton Bottle of Wine 02:54 Tom T Hall Old Dogs & Children 04:10 Emmylou Harris Two More Bottles of Wine 03:15 George Jones White Lightnin' 02:45 Young Tradition Chicken on a Raft 03:34 |