Classic Railroad Songs from Smithsonian Folkways (2006)

101 	An excerpt from "Rail Dynamics" 	n/a 	0:24
102 	Train 45 	The New Lost City Ramblers 	2:18 	
103 	Kassie Jones 	Furry Lewis 	2:56 	
104 	Jay Gould's Daughter 	Pete Seeger 	2:38 	
105 	Railroad Bill 	Walt Robertson 	2:08 	
106 	Linin' Track 	Lead Belly 	1:15 	
107 	Freight Train 	Elizabeth Cotten 	2:43 	
108 	Drill, Ye Tarriers, Drill 	Cisco Houston 	2:30 	
109 	Zack, the Mormon Engineer 	L. M. Hilton 	2:02 	
110 	Lost Train Blues 	The Virginia Mountain Boys 	2:57 	
111 	The FFV 	Annie Watson 	3:52 	
112 	He's Coming to Us Dead 	The New Lost City Ramblers 	3:15 	
113 	The Train That Carried My Girl from Town 	Doc Watson 	2:18 	
114 	Rock Island Line 	Lead Belly 	2:03 	
115 	Lonesome Train 	Sonny Terry, Woody Guthrie, and Cisco Houston 	3:31 	
116 	John Henry 	Woody Guthrie and Cisco Houston 	2:42 	
117 	The Wreck of the Number Nine 	Rosalie Sorrels 	1:36 	
118 	Freight Train Blues 	Brownie McGhee 	3:36 	
119 	The New Market Wreck 	Mike Seeger 	3:39 	
120 	Jerry, Go Oil That Car 	Harry "Haywire Mac" McClintock 	2:37 	
121 	Way Out in Idaho 	Rosalie Sorrels 	3:34 	
122 	Old John Henry Died on the Mountain 	Henry Grady Terrell 	1:55 	
123 	Casey Jones 	John D. Mounce 	0:20 	
124 	Wreck of the Old 97 	Ernest V. Stoneman 	2:51 	
125 	Midnight Special 	Lead Belly 	2:03 	
126 	Wabash Cannonball 	Doc Watson 	3:17 	
127 	Lost Train Blues 	Vernon Sutphin 	1:13 	
128 	New River Train 	Iron Mountain String Band 	4:26 	
129 	Excerpt from "Three Little Engines and 33 Cars" 	n/a 	0:25 	

Personnel: 
Mike Seeger (vocals, guitar, banjo, autoharp); 
Tracy Schwarz (vocals, guitar, fiddle); 
Doc Watson (vocals, guitar, harmonica); 
Cisco Houston, Elizabeth Cotten, Furry Lewis, Walt Robertson , Leadbelly, Woody Guthrie, Brownie McGhee (vocals, guitar); 
Eric Davidson, Pete Seeger (vocals, banjo); 
Henry Grady Terrell (vocals, percussion); 
Rosalie Sorrels, Annie Watson (vocals); 
John Cohen (guitar, banjo); 
Bobby Harrison (guitar); 
Ivor Melton (mandolin); 
Caleb Finch, Glen Neaves (fiddle); 
Vernon L. Sutphin, Sonny Terry, John D. Mounce (harmonica).

Compiled by Jeff Place

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. Classic Railroad Songs mines the Smithsonian Folkways archives to create this tribute to a favorite American source of inspiration. --- folkways.si.edu

Smithsonian Folkways ninth installment of its popular Classic Series chronicles the golden age of the American railroad. Classic Railroad Songs from Smithsonian Folkways picks up where 2004's Classic Maritime Music collection left off, unearthing previously unheard of gems from their archives along with classics from some of the genre's finest practitioners. 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 Folk Songs anthology. Compiled by Grammy Winner Jeff Place, Classic Railroad Songs is enriched by rare photos from the Library of Congress and there are detailed liner notes for each and every one of the 29 cuts which provide a glimpse into the hobo lifestyle of legendary characters like Harry McClintock, Leadbelly, and Furry Lewis -- the latter lost a leg in 1917 in a railway accident. --- James Christopher Monger

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 their recent release, Classic Railroad Songs. --- Kim Ruehl, About.com Guide

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