Classic Railroad Songs From Smithsonian Folkways

Classic Railroad Songs from Smithsonian Folkways (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 10, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Smithsonian Folkways
• ASIN: B000C4Y0TG
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,906 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #7 in Music > Country > Classic Country > Old-Time Country
  • #30 in Music > Country > Bluegrass > Traditional
  • #51 in Music > Blues > Traditional Blues

Editorial Reviews

This album features powerful performances by legends Lead Belly, Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Brownie McGhee, Mike Seeger, Pop Stoneman, Cisco Houston, and Rosalie Sorrels, among others. Elsewhere, National Heritage Fellowship Award winners Elizabeth Cotten and Doc Watson, who has won six Grammy Awards to date, are represented. Of the 29 tracks on the album, a full 21 appear on CD for the first time, all newly remastered by Grammy winner Pete Reiniger.

Bookended by actual recordings of trains from the 1950s, the compilation evidences the continuing influence of these essential American ballads, work songs, blues and broadsides. "Midnight Special," represented here by Lead Belly, has been covered by Creedence Clearwater Revival, Paul McCartney, and Van Morrison. Alt-country band the Old 97s named itself after "The Wreck of the Old 97," which has been interpreted by Johnny Cash and John Mellencamp, among many others. The compilation also includes iconic American songs "Rock Island Line," "John Henry," "Wabash Cannonball," and "Railroad Bill," all presented here in riveting performances. Bluesman Furry Lewis, who sings about the legend of "Kassie Jones," actually lost a leg to a railroad accident in 1917.

Grammy winner Jeff Place compiled and annotated Classic Railroad Songs from Smithsonian Folkways, which also contains rare photographs from the Library of Congress.

Classic Railroad Songs from Smithsonian Folkways is the ninth entry in the label's Classic Series and serves as a doorway into Folkways' incredible catalog of recordings. The Classic Series, which has covered blues, bluegrass, folk, and mountain music, among other genres, also illustrates the role Moses Asch and his Folkways label played in preserving a vital piece of American history. December 6, 2005 marks the 100th anniversary of this American documentarian's birth.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Too much revivalist material, June 25, 2007

By 

Dixie Diamond "DD" (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Classic Railroad Songs From Smithsonian Folkways (Audio CD)

There are a lot of good songs on here but I was disappointed that so much of the album is made up of Folk Revival era covers rather than "roots" versions. I cannot imagine that there weren't enough Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, and older songs about trains for them to fill this out without resorting to pop-type groups like the New Lost City Ramblers.

There are other CD's in this series, though, that are very good.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ridin' The Rails, January 30, 2009

By 

Alfred Johnson (boston, ma) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Classic Railroad Songs From Smithsonian Folkways (Audio CD)

The first paragraph is taken from a PBS review of railroads in the 1930's

"American Experience: Riding The Rails, PBS Productions, 1998

Growing up in the 1950's I had a somewhat tenuous connection with trains. My grandparents lived close to a commuter rail that before my teenage years went out of service, due to the decline of ridership as the goal of two (or three) car garages gripped the American imagination in any age when gas was cheap and plentiful. In my teens though, many a time I walked those above-mentioned abandoned tracks to take the short route to the center of town. As an adult I have frequently ridden the rails, including a cross-continental trip that actually converted me to the virtues of air travel. Of course, my `adventures' riding the rails is quite different than that being looked at in this American Experience documentary about a very, very common way for the youth of America to travel in the Depression-ridden 1930's, the youth of my parents' generation. My own experiences were merely as a paying passenger. Theirs was anything but. The only common thread between them and me is the desire expressed by many interviewees to not be HERE but to be THERE."

That said, for those who have an remembrance of the old rails or who long for a slower, more thoughtful way to travel (if only in the mind) here is a compilation that should fit right into your dreams. I note that, as was to be expected, the western railroads have first place in the railroad song pantheon. Moreover, it does not hurt to have certain knowledge about the nicknames for the various lines and some railroading terminology. For that the Smithsonian Folkway booklet of copious liner notes, as always, is very helpful, for the historian and the novice alike.

So what is interesting here? Furry Lewis' "Kassie Jones", here a shorter version, which I have reviewed elsewhere for one. The classic, much-covered "Railroad Bill", the saga of a train outlaw who will not be captured alive for another. Of course Elizabeth Cotten's "Freight Train" that was a rite of passage for a whole generation of folk singers in the early 1960's. The same for Lead Belly's "Midnight Special" and "Rock Island Line" , Woody Guthrie (with long time hoboing pal Cisco Houston) on the also much-covered "John Henry" and Doc Watson on "Wabash Cannonball".

My favorite here though, and call me perverse if you like, is L.M. Hilton doing "Zack, The Mormon Engineer". This is the tale of a polygamous Mormon railroad man who has a wife in every town on his route. The railroad tries to transfer him but he says "no way" his wives are on the line his is on now. The elders of today's Mormon Church may not like it but I definitely got a chuckle out of it. I admire Zack's executive management style and as long as the wives didn't mind the set up why should we.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good topic, but the choices don't always work..., January 21, 2008

By 

William E. Adams (Midland, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Classic Railroad Songs From Smithsonian Folkways (Audio CD)

I think I would love a job in the recording industry in which I dig back through an archive and assemble 20-30 songs for a compact disc. I like, however, those which represent a single artist or group more than I like the thematic compilations featuring a wide variety of musicians with varying skills, recorded over 30 or 40 years, with all the differences even in recording technology displayed. Smithsonian did a great job with their "Cisco Houston: The Folkways Years" and with "Woody Guthrie Volume One". Their "Don't Mourn, Organize" tribute to Joe Hill was excellent, and their "Maritime Classics" is worth the money. This one falls beneath the quality of the above titles. For sure, as one reviewer posted below apparently does not realize, being limited to the tracks Moses Asch got from his friends in the NYC Folkways Studios from the '40's through the '60's is one reason the disc is inconsistent. Yet I am familiar enough with the Folkways catalogue to believe that a much more satisfying album could have been made with fewer artists doing better songs. Cisco Houston's output for Folkways had great versions of "Wreck of the Old '97" and "Railroad Bill." Pete Seeger laid down good renditions of better hobo songs than the deservedly obscure "Jay Gould's Daughter." Of the 27 full tunes on here, my favorites are the two by Doc Watson, and Cisco's solo, and the two showcasing Woody, with Cisco and Sonny Terry along for the ride. If this was titled "Classic Railroad Singers" its contents would be more justified. When you call something "Classic Railroad Songs" you should release the finest versions of each set of lyrics you can get your hands on, even if only four or five artists end up on the product.