Trains were a prominent image in American folk and popular music early in the 20th century, and there are countless 78s and 45s floating around out there with trains serving as the central metaphor. Trains represented motion, mobility, and power, and they moved goods from coast to coast, creating bustling crossroads and towns at each stop along the way.
Trains also moved people, whisking lives away to better places or worse places, depending on one’s luck and fortune. This wonderful four-disc, 100-track set collects some of those American train songs in an expansive litany of motion and metaphor.
Most of the tracks are old blues or string band tunes, with contributions from Furry Lewis (“Kassie Jones”), Frank Hutchison (“Hell Bound Train”), Mississippi John Hurt (“Spike Driver Blues”), Charley Patton…
320 kbps | 691 MB | UL | CL | RG | BS
…(“Pea Vine Blues”), Robert Johnson (“Love in Vain”), and others, but there are also a few modern tracks here, as well, from Elvis Presley (“Mystery Train”), Johnny Cash (“Folsom Prison Blues”), and Chuck Berry (“Down Bound Train”), giving this collection a powerful panoramic feel. — AMG
Disc 1
1 The Wreck On the Southern Old 97 – Kelly Harrell (3:40)
2 The Brave Engineer – Roy Harvey (3:19)
3 I Wish My Mother Was On That Train – Blind Joe Taggart (2:43)
4 I Raised My Window and Looked At the Risin’ Sun – Ollie Rupert (3:20)
5 Yellow Dog Blues – Sam Collins (2:32)
6 Gonna Die With My Hammer In My Hand – Williamson Bros & Curry (3:27)
7 C & O Blues – Blind Joe Amos (3:27)
8 The Wreck of the Virginian No. 3 – Roy Harvey (3:09)
9 The Longest Train I Ever Saw – The Tenneva Ramblers (3:04)
10 K.C. Railroad Blues – Andrew & Jim Baxter (3:30)
11 Mean Conductor Blues – Ed Bell (2:56)
12 Frisco Whistle Blues – Ed Bell (2:49)
13 Rambler Blues – Blind Lemon Jefferson (2:48)
14 Sunshine Special – Blind Lemon Jefferson (2:46)
15 Train 45 – Henry Whitter (3:08)
16 Ramblin’ Reckless Hobo – Burnett & Rutherford (3:25)
17 Chattanooga Blues – Allen Brothers (3:07)
18 Sun Beam Blues – Fred Adams (3:12)
19 Big Railroad Blues – Cannon’s Jug Stompers (3:19)
20 If I Die a Railroad Man – The Tenneva Ramblers (2:47)
21 C.C. & O. Blues – Simmie Dooley (3:07)
22 The Red and Green Signal Lights – Henry Whitter (3:14)
23 Royal Palm Special Blues – Sloppy Henry (3:09)
24 Kassie Jones, Pt. 1 – Furry Lewis (3:07)
25 Hell Bound Train – Frank Hutchison (2:58)
Disc 2
1 North-Bound Train – Nelstone’s Hawaiians (3:14)
2 Waiting For a Train – Jimmie Rodgers (2:46)
3 Texas and Pacific Blues – Frenchy’s String Band (3:05)
4 Spike Driver Blues – Mississippi John Hurt (3:16)
5 Engine One-Forty-Three – The Carter Family (3:19)
6 The Train’s Done Left Me – The Carolina Tar Heels (3:05)
7 Old Rock Island Blues – Lonnie Coleman (3:14)
8 The New York Hobo – Darby & Tarlton (3:11)
9 Western Kentucky Limited – Hack String Band (3:01)
10 Riding the Blinds – Eddie Mapp (2:49)
11 The Hobo’s Last Ride – Buell Kazee (3:01)
12 Pea Vine Blues – Charley Patton (3:05)
13 Cannonball Blues – Frank Hutchison (3:24)
14 Train Whistle Blues – Jimmie Rodgers (2:59)
15 Railroad Bill – Will Bennett (3:01)
16 John Henry (The Steel Driving Man), Pt. 1 – Furry Lewis (2:52)
17 Long Train Blues – Robert Wilkins (3:05)
18 K.C. Moan – Memphis Jug Band (2:33)
19 Freight Train Ramble – Darby & Tarlton (3:07)
20 Lonesome Frisco Line – Darby & Tarlton (2:52)
21 Travelin’ Blues – Blind Sammie (3:13)
22 Wabash Cannonball – The Carter Family (2:59)
23 The New ‘Frisco Train – Washington White (3:00)
24 M & O Blues – Willie Brown (3:08)
25 M & O Blues – Walter Davis (3:08)
Disc 3
1 Travelin’ Railroad Man Blues – Alabama Sheiks (2:56)
2 True and Trembling Brakeman – The Lullaby Larkers (2:32)
3 Railroad Man Blues – Walter Davis (3:20)
4 The Gone Dead Train – King Solomon Hill (3:18)
5 Too-Too Train Blues – Big Bill Broonzy (2:51)
6 B & O Blues No. 2 – Blind Willie McTell (3:01)
7 Railroad Blues – Sam McGee (3:14)
8 Chickasaw Train Blues (Low Down Dirty Thing) – Memphis Minnie (3:16)
9 Blow Yo’ Whistle, Freight Train – The Delmore Brothers (2:46)
10 B & O Line Blues – Bumble Bee Slim (2:55)
11 Flying Crow Blues – Dallas Jamboree Jug Band (2:58)
12 Honky Tonk Train Blues – Meade “Lux” Lewis (2:56)
13 New River Train – The Monroe Brothers (3:41)
14 The Heavenly Train – Bill Carlisle (2:19)
15 Depot Blues – Crowder Brothers (2:44)
16 My Saviour’s Train – The Monroe Brothers (2:53)
17 A. & V. Railroad Blues – Little Brother Montgomery (2:38)
18 The Flying Crow – Black Ivory King (2:46)
19 The Katy Blues – Blind Norris (2:43)
20 Train Carry My Girl Back Home – Wade Mainer (2:22)
21 Love In Vain – Robert Johnson (2:23)
22 Riding On That Train Forty-Five – Zeke Morris (2:34)
23 Golden Gate Gospel Train – The Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet (2:38)
24 Station Boy Blues – “Roosevelt” Antrim (3:03)
25 Train Whistle Blues – Shelly Lee Alley & His Alley Cats (2:32)
Disc 4
1 Special Agent (Railroad Police Blues) – Sleepy John Estes (2:51)
2 Streamline Train – Cripple Clarence Lofton (3:56)
3 Santa Fe Blues – Smith Casey (4:21)
4 Orange Blossom Special – The Rouse Brothers (2:58)
5 Special Stream Line – Bukka White (2:55)
6 The Midnight Special – Huddie Ledbetter (3:03)
7 Rock Island Line – Huddie Ledbetter (2:36)
8 C. & N.W. Railroad – Byron Parker & His Mountaineers (2:39)
9 Gospel Cannon Ball – Karl & Harty (2:52)
10 Hobo Blues – Yank Rachell (3:32)
11 Mean Old Frisco Blues – Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup (2:36)
12 Lining Track (Line ‘Em) – Leadbelly (1:12)
13 Lonesome Train – Sonny Terry (3:31)
14 G.M. & O. Blues – Sonny Boy Williamson I (2:42)
15 Pan American – Hank Williams (2:50)
16 Hard Travelin’ – Woody Guthrie (2:32)
17 Train Fare Home – Muddy Waters (2:46)
18 Railroad Station Blues – T-Bone Walker (2:45)
19 This Train – Rev. Robert Ballinger (2:52)
20 Mystery Train – Elvis Presley (2:29)
21 Folsom Prison Blues – Johnny Cash (2:48)
22 Smokestack Lightnin’ – Howlin’ Wolf (3:05)
23 Down Bound Train – Chuck Berry (2:50)
24 Train Kept a Rollin’ – Johnny Burnette & the Rock ‘n’ Roll Trio (2:15)
25 I Heard That Lonesome Whistle Blow – Johnny Cash (2:21)