Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Nashville Jumps
2. Buzzard Pie
3. Skip's Boogie
4. L & N Special
5. Sittin' Here Drinking
6. Just Walkin In The Rain
7. If You And I Could Be Sweethearts
8. Baby Let's Play House
9. Christene
10. It's Love Baby (24 Hours A Day)
11. Rollin' Stone
12. You Can Make It If You Try
13. Rockin' The Joint
14. Let's Trade A Little
15. Say You Really Care
16. Somebody, Somewhere
17. Pipe Dreams
18. WLAC commercial
19. White Rose

Disc 2:

1. WLAC Air Check/Monkey Doin' Woman
2. What'd I Say
3. Really Part 1
4. Just Like Him
5. Anna (Go To Him)
6. Snap Your Fingers
7. Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean
8. Something Tells Me
9. Sunny
10. I Want To Do Everything For You
11. Bigger And Better
12. Since I Met You Baby
13. The Chokin' Kind
14. She Shot A Hole In My Soul
15. Gotta Get Yourself Together
16. Soul Shake
17. Reconsider Me
18. Everlasting Love
19. Everlasting Love - Robert Knight

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15933 in Music
• Released on: 2004-02-24
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
The most startling revelation contained on this two-CD compilation is how rich, varied, and deep Nashville's R&B scene was during a 25-year period in which the city solidified its reputation as the undisputed capital of country music. Arranged chronologically, Night Train to Nashville also traces the steady progression of African-American music beginning with the end of WWII--from jump blues, lusty R&B, and smooth-groove vocal groups to proto rock & roll, Southern soul, and Top 40 pop that drew blacks and whites together even as the Vietnam War nearly ripped the country apart. Although this collection contains well-known hits (Bobby Hebb's "Sunny", Robert Knight's "Everlasting Love") and widely acknowledged stars (Etta James and Ruth Brown, both of whom recorded some of their best work in Nashville), many of its most satisfying pleasures come courtesy of lesser-known artists, such as R&B belter Christine Kittrell, swamp bluesman Shy Guy Douglas, and balladeer Sam Baker. In the midst of many ear-opening discoveries, add one more: When listening to the countrified soul of Arthur Alexander, Joe Simon, and Johnny Adams, it's apparent that Nashville in its '60s heyday wasn't two separate but equal towns but one glorious Southern-music Mecca. --Keith Moerer

Blender, March 2004
4 out of 5 Stars!!! - Blender March 2004

Tracks, Spring 2004
Nigh Train redefines "The Nashville Sound"

Customer Reviews

What little info I know
Since Amazon failed to include the artists on this 2-CD set of classic R&B from Nashville, I thought I'd provide it, as well as what little I know of the artists & songs involved.

1. Nashville Jumps / Cecil Gant 2:57
2. Buzzard Pie / Green, Rudy & His Orchestra 2:43
3. Skip's Boogie / Kid King's Combo 2:56
4. L&N Special / Christine Kittrell 2:33
5. Sittin' Here Drinking / Christine Kittrell 3:31
6. Just Walkin' in the Rain / The Prisonaires 2:45
7. If You and I Could Be Sweethearts / The Varieteers 2:20
8. Baby Let's Play House / Arthur Gunter 2:46
9. Christene / Little Hank & The Rhythm Kings 2:46
10. It's Love Baby (24 Hours a Day) / Earl Gaines 2:41
11. Rollin' Stone / The Marigolds 2:55
12. You Can Make It If You Try / Gene Allison 2:10
13. Rockin' the Joint / Esquerita 2:02
14. Let's Trade a Little / Audrey Bryant 2:07
15. Say You Really Care / Roscoe Shelton 2:26
16. Somebody, Somewhere / Larry Birdsong 2:36
17. Pipe Dreams / Beck, Jimmy & His Orchestra 2:16
18. Royal Crown Hair Dressing Ad / Little Richard 0:29
Bonus Track
19. White Rose (Theme) / Earl Gaines 2:02
Bonus Track


DISC 2
1. John R Theme/Ernie's Record Mart Commercial /Monkey Doin' Woman / John Richbourg 3:13
2. Monkey Doin' Woman
3. What'd I Say / Etta James 3:17
--Cover of the Ray Charles classic. Live
4. Really, Pt. 1 / Jones, Johnny & The Imperial 7 2:13
5. Just Like Him / Frank Howard & The Commanders 2:35
6. Anna (Go to Him) / Arthur Alexander 2:50
--This song was later covered by the Beatles, and Alexander is the only person to ever have been covered by the Beatles, Stones and Bob Dylan.
7. Snap Your Fingers / Joe Henderson 3:00
8. Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean / Ruth Brown 2:58
9. Something Tells Me / Sam Baler 2:25
10. Sunny / Bobby Hebb 2:48
--Top 5 pop hit from 1967
11. I Want To (Do Everything for You) / Joe Tex 2:09

-- Later covered by 70's hard rock band Nazareth
12. Bigger and Better / The Hytones 2:24
13. Since I Met You Baby / The Avons 2:42
14. The Chokin' Kind / Joe Simon 2:42
--The original of the song covered by Joss Stone on "The Soul Seesions".
15. She Shot a Hole in My Soul / Clifford Curry 2:26
16. Gotta Get Yourself Together / Valentines 2:32
17. Soul Shake / Jo Jo Benson 2:26
--Covered later by Delaney & Bonnie
18. Reconsider Me / Johnny Adams 3:50
19. Everlasting Love / Robert Knight 2:59
--Terrific song that's been covered by Carl Carlton, U2, Gloria Estafan and, uhh, Rex Smith with Suzi Quatro. This is the original.

Amazonic Regression . . .
I read all the other reviews and realized that this album is many things to many people. I was impressed by how many people took the effort to review this great collector's item. For myself, it was a bolt out of the blue thanks to being featured on the SUNDAY MORNING TV show. When I was 14 years old (1954) I built a HEATHKIT short-wave radio. I strung 100' of copper wire from our TV antenna tower to the top of the basketball pole. All I had hoped for was to get the BBC or Radio Free Europe. What I got [instead] was Radio Free Nashville ! WLAC, Bill Allen and music I had only heard rumors of. "That kind of music" was not played on mainstream radio in those days. Word got around school that I was listening to Little Richard, Clarence "Frogman" Henry, and Jimmy Reed. I didn't get any more chicks because of it, but it put me in a very elite group of R&B listeners. Once again, AMAZON DOT COM makes regression to our childhoods possible! Thanks, you guys . . . Harrison T.

The Best Music You Never Heard
This is a a wonderful compilation. The title of my review is stolen from a NY Times review of the Night Train to Nashville that made me go out and buy it. It isn't totally true since I recognized some of the later songs but it was an eye opener. It is pretty sad that most of the country missed out on some of the greatest music of their time; especially when pap like How Much is that Doggie in the Window was being shoved down people throats.

My husband and I enjoyed listening to the CDs on a 5 hour long road trip and thoroughly enjoyed them. There was enough style changes and diverstity to keep you interested and a lot of solid artistry. The White Rose petroleum jelly ad and the Little Richard commercial are a hoot!