Classic Train Songs

This page contains a sort of library of songs that I think every railfan should know and that almost every railfan already enjoys. I started out just publishing links to Amazon clips to some of my favorite versions of several songs, with the idea of coming back later and adding more songs. But the ancient folk-singer and amateur historian in me insisted I tell the story of each song as well, and provide the sheet music if it's available (and not under copyright). So instead of adding more songs, I started telling the story of the songs I've already listed, dedicating a page to each songs. A few songs don't have their own pages yet, and there are many more songs to add. But I think providing the history of the song (and in many cases, the facts behind the song) will make this feature more useful to people in the long run.

For now I'm leaving a few of my favorite song clips on this page for easy access. But if you want to hear more clips, read the lyrics, learn the history, and (in some cases) see You-tube videos of famous folks performing the songs, click on the link to take you to each page.

If you have a favorite train song, or a favorite performer that you'd like to see added next, please contact me and I'll try to track them down. Also, if you don't see the link for a particular song, hit refresh - it seems like Amazon can never populate all of the links at the same time.

Update for 2014 - Two years after our big move to a new server, we're running into other obstacles, like links to songs we like on Amazon randomly changing to links to songs we hate. Turns out this is usually the record publisher's fault - they stop selling one "greatest hits" album and start promoting another one by the same artist, and all the product IDs change. So all the links break, and Amazon's software automatically plugs the same top-40 hit into every link. We've been able to restore many of the links, but we've changed the format of several to make them easier to maintain in the future.

In some cases, the link has just moved and if you search on Amazon you can still find it. In other cases, such as Johnny Cash's rendition of Casey Jones, the mp3 has been removed not only from Amazon, but from the entire internet (you should see the Cease and Desist order). My guess is they're going to come out with an "ultimate" Johnny Cash collection, and they want to make sure nobody has access to certain tunes in the months (or years) before it comes out. Gotta Love 'em!

We were looking at adding several new songs before all of this happened. As of Septermber, 2014, we've been able to plug most of the gaps and get back onto that goal. Still, if a week from now some cheesy pop track appears in a link that used to be populated by a classic artist like Charlie Daniels, Bill Monroe, or Johnny Cash, it's not my doing.

If you're a fan of Americana music in general, you might be glad to know that we've added two new related features.

• Our new "Mama Don't 'Low" newsletter reports on developments in our music sites, including:

  • Creek Don't Rise,

  • SchoolOfTheRock^TM, and

  • Classic Train Songs^TM

  To jump to a page that describes the newsletter, click here.

  To jump to the signup sheet, click here.

• A new discussion forum on our Creek Don't Rise^TM page. Though we're just getting started, we will have discussion areas for guitars, banjos, other folk instruments, songs of the Heartland, and more.

  • To visit the Creek Don't Rise discussion forum without signing up, click the following link:
    http://CreekDontRise.com/forums

  • To sign up for the forum (and this newsletter, if you wish), click the following link:

    http://creekdontrise.com/creek_forum_signup.htm

  • To jump right to the Train Songs discussion on the forum, click here:
    http://creekdontrise.com/forums/viewforum.phpf=24

City of New Orleans

City of New Orleans - Steve Goodman Song by the original composer, who wrote the song when traveling with McGovern's presidential campaign in 1972
City of New Orleans - Willie Nelson Willie's classic take on this favorite

Wabash Cannonball

Wabash Cannonball - Willie Nelson Willie's classic vocal over a western swing accompaniment.
Wabash Cannonball - Roy Acuff A traditional "Smoky Mountain" style arrangement, with harmonica and train whistle.

Orange Blossom Special

For a more sound clips, lyrics, history, and links to popular YouTube performances, please click here.

Orange Blossom Special - Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys Bill's interpretation was the best known version for many years, featuring fiddler Art Wooten.
Orange Blossom Special - Charlie Daniels The fiddle's on fire in this live performance - a serious toe-tapper.
Orange Blossom Special - Johnny Cash A harmonica-centered version with the words, and the Tennessee Three's persistant backing. Taped live at Folsom Prison

Casey Jones

Casey Jones - Tom Rush This verion has a nice up-tempo folksy sound. It includes verses borrowed from other train songs.
Casey Jones - Craig Duncan A very nice, traditional instrumental arrangement with fiddle and flat-picked guitar solos.

Rock Island Line

Rock Island Line - The Weavers From the group that kick-started America's Folk music revival, back when Pete Seeger had hair
Rock Island Line - Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee An original folk duo's take.

Rock Island Line - Johnny Cash - this version tells the story as well as singing the verses.

This Train (Don't Carry No Gamblers)

New for 2014! Engine, Engine Number 9

Because this song is still under copyright, I can't legally post the whole song or the sheet music for it. However, you can sample the song and or download the whole song from Amazon.

Engine, Engine Number 9 - Roger Miller - the original artist.

New for 2014! Freight Train

Freight Train - Elizabeth Cotton - the original artist.
Freight Train - Peter, Paul, and Mary - their 1963 cover with all of their great harmonies and picking.

New for 2014! Down by the Station

Down by the Station - Tommy Dorsey - who publicized Ricks and Gaillard's version with a very clever arrangement.
Down by the Station - Slim Galliard - Galliard's own version of this song

New for 2014! King of the Road

Technically this song is about a hobo, not about trains, but I kept tripping over it when I was writing up Roger Miller's "Engine, Engine Number Nine" (above). This was one of Miller's best-loved songs and it is certainly the song that was most often covered well by other artists.

For more information click here

King of the Road - Roger Miller - the original artist.
King of the Road - Dean Martin - who made this song famous
King of the Road - Randy Travis - whose faithful cover was one of the best.