ANOTHER MUSICAL MUSING, 15 September 2023, Ridin’ the Rails with Another Earworm.

I’m old enough to remember that traveling from place to place by passenger train was “the glamorous” way to go.  

Sleepers, dining cars, porters, grand “central” stations were all a part of the fun.  The top-of-the-line were the “express trains”—”The 20^th Century Limited,” 

“The Super Chief,” and a couple of others that have achieved musical fame such as “The City of New Orleans,” . . .  

Click or tap on the triangle in the next image for this classic American train tune. Have a look and listen! Alas, the Arlo Guthrie version of this song he wrote is blocked from use by our friends at YouTube. Willie Nelson’s cover–with some nice illustrations–will do just fine!

. . . and “The Orange Blossom Special.”

Click or tap on the triangle in the next image to be blown away down the track with this bluegrass classic!

I just had to put those great train tunes in, but the most famous—albeit mythological—of the musical express train songs was “The Wabash Cannonball.” Lookout earworm; hear we come!  

Sources vary on this, but the Wabash Railroad (not Cannonball!) ran on the Great Rock Island Route through the middle and western United States in the late 1800s and early 1900s. “The Great Rock Island Route,” the grandfather of our song, was published in 1882; the “reimagined” grandchild, “The Wabash Cannonball” was published in 1904. A bit of musical genealogy!

Click or tap on the triangle in the following image to begin this week’s earworm with the 1882 original!

No “Cannonball” here!

Now listen to the jingle, and the rumble, and the roar,
As she dashes thro’ the woodland, and speeds along the shore,
See the mighty rushing engine, hear her merry bell ring out,
As they speed along in safety, on the Great Rock Island Route.

There are many theories about the origin of the name “Wabash Cannonball” and most predate the use of the name for an actual express train.  Some scholars say that hobos—those infamous “riders of the rails”—imagined a mythical train by that name that appeared at the death of one of their own to carry his soul to its reward.  

Another theory states that the song is based on a tall tale in which Paul Bunyan’s little brother (who knew?) constructed a railroad line known as the “Ireland, Jerusalem, Australian, & Southern Michigan Line.”  It was said that, after two months of service, this 700-car train was traveling so fast that it arrived at its destination an hour before its departure!  When the hobos learned the tale of this train, they called that one the “Wabash Cannonball.” 

Tall tales from around the hobo campfire!  But aren’t those what folk songs are all about?

Historical veracity aside, the later edition stuck as of one of the most enduring “railroad songs” in American folk and country music.  

The lilting melody of this song has remained unchanged while the verses have been updated by singers over the years including the Carter Family, Roy Acuff, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Bing Crosby, Chuck Berry, and Woody Guthrie. Guthrie, in fact, borrowed the melody for his depression era song, “Grand Coulee Dam.”  Click or tap on the triangle in the next image to listen to a real hobo’s take on this one!

The name lived on through World War II, albeit on a plane not a train.

After World War II, in the wake of the song’s popularity, the Wabash Railroad named its express run between Detroit and St. Louis the “Wabash Cannon Ball”–the only actual train to bear the name and well AFTER the song was written, not the other way around.  Go figure!

For you Rock and Roll fans, “The Wabash Cannonball” was added to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 songs that shaped that musical genre. In fact, it’s the oldest song on the list!  How’s that for a musicological bit of trivia?

So, sit back in the club car, or hop a freight, get that penny-a-point card game going,  but, stay tuned!  Even our favorite little instrument can capture this one! Click or tap on the triangle in the next image for a look and listen.

I’m sure this is a baritone ukulele! The case seems to be held together with what is affectionately known as “West Virginia chrome.”

Just to help erase the “Cannonball earworm”, let’s end up this musing with one of the greatest train ride musical/theatrical interpretations out there. Click or tap on the triangle in the next image to “ride” along with the traveling salesmen on the train with the infamous traveling salesman Harold Hill–“The Music Man.”

Did that get rid of the “Wabash Cannonball” earworm? No? Sorry. But, STAY TUNED and travel by train whenever you can and make the experience as glamourous as you can!