As 19th-century America expanded, so too did the "ribbons of iron" that crisscrossed the vast landscape and sparked the imagination of music-makers. Work songs, ballads recounting riveting exploits, and instrumental echoes of the once familiar sounds of the steam locomotive have enshrined the railroad in our musical memory.

There's probably not a folksinger alive who doesn't have some sort of strange fascination with the railroads. At the beginning of the 20th century, thousands of workers hit the iron road in search of jobs and a better life for themselves and the folks back home.

From that period came some of the most timeless songs in American folk music, and Smithsonian Folkways managed to gather an incredible catalog of songs and artists for this compilation, Classic Railroad Songs

Over the course of the 29 tunes on Classic Railroad Songs, Smithsonian Folkways catalogs one of the most remarkable journeys and periods in American history. What started in the late 1800s and continued through the Depression was a mass exodus of, particularly, immigrant workers.

Most of them headed west to the boomtowns and empty promises of jobs in California and Oregon. When they got there, many were cheated out of pay, or just turned away from the job altogether. So they'd set out again, riding the rails in search of a new town and another promising prospect.

The songs on this record capture the spirit of the railroad years with a tenacity and spirit that is lacking in so many compilations of traditional songs. In this case, though, it's no wonder. After all, some of the best folk artists ever to have lived are featured on this record.

Twenty-one of these remarkable folk songs, field recordings, tall tales, and work songs appear on CD for the first time, from the crisp a cappella "F.F.V.," performed by Annie Watson (mother of Doc Watson), to Cisco Houston’s rousing "Drill, Ye Tarriers, Drill" from his 1968 “Sings American FolkSongs” anthology.

1. Rail Dynamics (excerpt) - Crook, Emory
2. Train 45 - New Lost City Ramblers
3. Kassie Jones - 'Furry' Lewis
4. Jay Gould's Daughter - Seeger, Pete
5. Railroad Bill - Robertson, Walter
6. Linin' Track - Leadbelly
7. Freight Train - Cotten, Elizabeth
8. Drill Ye Tarriers Drill - Houston, Cisco
9. Zack The Mormon Engineer - Hilton, L.M.
10. Lost Train Blues - Virginia Mountain Boys
11. FFV - Watson, Anne
12. He's Coming To Us Dead - New Lost City Ramblers
13. Train That Carried My Girl From Town - Watson, Doc
14. Rock Island Line - Leadbelly
15. Lonesome Train - Terry, Sonny & Woody Guthrie/Cisco Houston
16. John Henry - Guthrie, Woody & Cisco Houston
17. Wreck Of The Number Nine - Sorrels, Rosalie
18. Freight Train Blues - McGhee, Brownie
19. New Market Wreck - Seeger, Mike
20. Jerry Go Oil That Car - Haywire Mac
21. Way Out In Idaho - Sorrels, Rosalie
22. Old John Henry Died On The Mountain - Terrell, Henry Grady
23. Casey Jones - Mounce, John D.
24. Wreck Of The Old 97 - Stoneman, Pop
25. Midnight Special - Leadbelly
26. Wabash Cannonball - Watson, Doc
27. Lost Train Blues - Sutphin, Vernon
28. New River Train - Iron Mountain Band
29. Three Little Engines And 33 Cars (excerpt) - Wright, Vinton

Posted by Joski at 10:39 AM |  
Labels: Folkways, Railroad Songs