Track Listing

1. An excerpt from “Rail Dynamics” recorded by Emory Cook
2. Train 45 — The New Lost City Ramblers
3. Kassie Jones — Furry Lewis
4. Jay Gould’s Daughter — Pete Seeger
5. Railroad Bill — Walt Robertson
6. Linin’ Track — Lead Belly
7. Freight Train — Elizabeth Cotten
8. Drill Ye Tarriers, Drill — Cisco Houston
9. Zack, the Mormon Engineer — L. M. Hilton
10. Lost Train — The Virginia Mountain Boys
11. The F. F. V. — Annie Watson
12. He’s Coming to Us Dead — The New Lost City Ramblers
13. The Train That Carried My Girl from Town — Doc Watson
14. Rock Island Line — Lead Belly
15. Lonesome Train — Sonny Terry, Woody Guthrie, and Cisco Houston
16. John Henry — Woody Guthrie and Cisco Houston
17. The Wreck of the Number Nine — Rosalie Sorrels
18. Freight Train Blues — Brownie McGhee
19. The New Market Wreck — Mike Seeger
20. Jerry, Go Oil That Car — Haywire Mac
21. Way Out in Idaho — Rosalie Sorrels
22. Old John Henry Died on the Mountain — Henry Grady Terrell
23. Casey Jones — John D. Mounce
24. Wreck of the Old 97 — Pop Stoneman
25. Midnight Special — Lead Belly
26. Wabash Cannonball — Doc Watson
27. Lost Train Blues — Vernon Sutphin
28. New River Train — Iron Mountain String Band
29. Excerpt from “Three Little Engines and 33 Cars” recorded by Vinton Wight

---

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #96784 in Music
• Released on: 2006-01-10
• Number of discs: 1

Album Description
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

Too much revivalist material
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.

Good topic, but the choices don't always work...
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.

My first Smithsonian recording, probably will not be my last
I've listened a couple of times now. Leadbelly's work is my favorite on the recording--naturally! Cisco Houston and Pete Seeger are also great. I personally am going to look for Rosalie Sorrel's songs covered by another artist--her versions are too fast and not quite as strong as the other artists.