Western Railroad Songs (American History Through Folksong)

Rusty McNeil (Performer), Keith McNeil (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Label: WEM Records
• ASIN: 1878360132
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #350,288 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...enjoyable listening...a delightful and timeless look at our past." -- Deseret News

"A valuable compilation of songs sung during the U.S. industrial revolution and labor movement from the 1860s to the 1930s...Very useful supplementary material for the teaching of this period of history to all age levels." -- Choice

"These old songs make for pleasant and interesting listening, and they're performed with feeling by the McNeils and the other musicians they've assembled." -- Trains Magazine

Getting in touch with railroading's past...pleasant, interesting listening, performed with feeling... -- Trains Magazine, February, 1995

Product Description

Fifty songs that describe the planning and construction of the five transcontinental railroads, the builders, the railroaders, railroad events, characters, scandal and corruption, placed in historic context by historical narration. Three CD's plus Notes on the Songs. Playing time: 2 hours, 45 minutes.

The Builders: Steam locomotives challenge the steamboats and canal boats. President Lincoln signs the Pacific Railroad Act. Chinese workers dominate the Central Pacific, Irish workers dominate the Union Pacific. The race begins.

The Golden Spike: The "Hell On Wheels" towns follow the rails. Mormons join the Union Pacific and Central Pacific workforces. East and west rails join at Promontory. Train robbers and gamblers fleece railroads and passengers.

The Railroaders: Railroad boomers, brakemen, switchmen, firemen, conductors and engineers worked the trains, the hoboes rode for free.

Five Transcontinental Railroads: Railroad fever grips the West. Greed and scandal come to light. Pathos, sentiment and humor fill the song sheets. East, west, north and south, the rails span the continent.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Exhaustive, September 5, 2000

By 

Kristin Kuester Morris (Charlotte, NC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Western Railroad Songs (American History Through Folksong) (Audio CD)

These people love their research, and they do a credible job of singing the songs. The music is what you'd find at a coffee shop -- pretty much sounding all the same after an hour. The style is definitely Western, i.e. not as much influenced by Scots-Irish or Appalachian styles as it is by the 1930s folk singers like Guthrie.