Customer Reviews

Boxcar Willie / King of the Hoboes

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Lecil Travis Martin, born September 1, 1931 near Ovilla, Texas, was a USAF pilot and flight engineer on the B-29 Super Fortress during the Korean War after having joined up in 1949. While still in the service, he took part in a San Jose talent show where he performed as Boxcar Willie, a name he had assumed after having written a song about someone he once saw passing by in a box car at a railway crossing who looked very much like a former colleague named Willie. He assumed the name after winning first place.

Now with a family, he left the USAF in 1976 to pursue a career as a full-time performer and both his unique name, suggesting he was a real hobo, led to a blitz of his recordings in those ubiquitous TV ads that were flooding the market at the time. In 1981 he scored his first charted hit in April 1980 when Train Medley (comprising Fireball Mail, Train Of Love, Walking Cane, Wreck Of The Old Number 97, Orange Blossom Special. Wabash Cannonball and Night Train To Memphis) reached # 95 Country b/w Lonesome Hobo on Column One 1012. Not a huge hit by any stretch, but that, combined with his popularity thanks to those TV ads which led to the sale of millions of releases such as this one fro0m Madacy, led to his being made a mamber of the famed Grand Ole Opry in 1981.

From 1982 to 1984, now with the Main Street label, he registered another nine Country hit singles, and although none were huge (the best was the # 36 Bad News in April 1982 b/w Lefty Left Us Lonely on Main Street 951), the myth about his being a hobo led to regular appearances on TV as well as the Opry. He even tried his hand at a duet when, with Penny DeHaven, We Made Memories reached # 77 in July 1982 b/w To My Baby I'm A Big Star All The Time on Mainstream 952. He also enjoyed two back-to-back two-sided hits when Keep On Rollin' Down The Line b/w Last Train To Heaven made # 70 and 80 respectively in late 1982 on Mainstream 953, and a re-issue of Train Medley b/w Country Music Nightmare got to # 61 and 76 respectively in April/May 1983 on Mainstream 954.

In late 1983/early 1984 he had his second-best hit with The Man I Used To Be, which peaked at # 44 b/w No More Trains To Ride on Mainstream 93017. That was followed in May with Not On The Bottom Yet, a # 87 b/w It Ain't No Record on Mainstream 93020, and his last came that July when Luther made it to # 69 b/w a longer version of the same song on Mainstream 93021.

As you can see, with the exception of Country Music Nightmare, none of the above hits or their B-sides are in this collection, nor are you apt to find them anywhere else. This, and others like it, pull together some of the many tracks he cut for those TV offer records and tapes. And I can't say for certain that that one exception was the actual hit version as there are no liner notes nor discography to enlighten us. But all in all, a nice sampling of his work with decent sound quality.

Martin re-located to Branson, Missouri in 1985 where he opened his own theatre on 76 Country Music Boulevard (Highway 76 actually), a music museum, and two motels. After battling leukemia since 1996, he passed away on April 12, 1999 at age 67.