Rock Island Line, a Classic Train Song from Family Garden Trains™

The Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific railroad connected Chicago to most of the midwestern states west of the Mississippi, as well Louisiana, Texas, Colorado, and New Mexico. For over a century, the "Rock Island" competed successfully with other railroads that covered essentially the same ground. But in the 1960s and 1970s, rail traffic fell off in general, and offering essentially the same services as two or three other railroads wasn't enough to keep "The Rock" in the black. The railroad fell behind in payments to creditors and even further behind in maintaining its own infrastructure. After garnering national attention, political support from President Carter, and many attempts at mergers or refinancing, the Rock finally closed down for good in 1980. Most of its assets were divided among competitors, but the old Rock Island connections between Chicago and Joliet survive as the "Rock Island District" of the Metra commuter rail service.

The Song - The song "Rock Island Line" has been around for the better part of a century. Pete Seeger and others have hypothesized that it started out a a work song, and the name may have been changed depending on who was paying you to pound steel or break rocks. It was first "collected" by folk song scholar John Lomax, in a 1934 visit to an Arkansas state prison. Not long after, folk singer Hudie "Leadbelly" Ledbetter, rearranged and recorded his version in the 1940s.

The English Connection - In a strange twist, English singer Lonnie Donegan claimed authorship in Britain, after his 1955 recording of Leadbelly's arrangement became a huge hit there. In fact Donegan's recording of "Rock Island Line" is often given credit for starting the "skiffle" music movement in Britain, the analogue to the folk movement in the U.S., eclipsing Rock and Roll for several years on the radio. If you want to draw an even stranger connection, you should know that Paul McCartney, John Lennon, and George Harrison first started working together in a skiffle band. So just think - if Lomax hadn't recorded the song, Leadbelly hadn't rearranged it, and Donegan hadn't "borrowed" it, the Beatles might never have existed.

The Song's Evolution - In Leadbelly's version of the song, the guitar imitates a train whistle that is presumably signalling to a toll gate operator that he is hauling only livestock, which should pass for free. In some later versions, the engineer actually talks to the toll agent. In still later versions, the story part of the song disappears altogether. In the 1960s, I recall folks singing this song just to draw attention to the then-struggling railroad's plight.

If you have a favorite train song, or a favorite performer that I've left out, please contact me and I'll try to track him down. Also, if you don't see the link for a particular song, hit refresh - it seems like Amazon can never populate all of the links at the same time.

Chorus
Oh, the Rock Island line is a might good road
Oh the Rock Island line is the road to ride
The Rock Island line is a mighty good road
If you want to ride, you gotta ride it like you find it
Get your ticket at the station for the Rock Island line

I may be right and I may be wrong
But you're gonna miss me when I'm gone

A, B, C, double-X, Y, Z,
Cat's in the cupboard, but she can't see me.

(These are verses that often appear in other railroad songs, which occasionally find their way to live performances of this song as well:)
The engineer said "Before I die,
There's two more drinks I'd like to try."
Fireman said, "What could they be?"
"Hot cup of coffee and a cold glass of tea."

It was cloudy in the west, looked like rain,
But round the corner come-a passenger train.
North-bound train on the south bound track,
You were all right a-leavin but you won't be back

Roll Your Own

Oh, the Miami Valley Club is a mighty good club,
The Miami Valley Club is the club to join,
The Miami Valley Club is a mighty good club,
Well, I beg your pardon but we do it in the garden,
See the membership committe of the Miami Valley Club.

MP3 clips from Amazon

Rock Island Line - The Weavers From the group that kick-started America's Folk music revival, back when Pete Seeger had hair
Rock Island Line - Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee An original folk duo's take.
Rock Island Line - Johnny Cash More story than song, I think. :-)

More Great Sound Clips of This Song

Click here to hear more sound clips of this song on Amazon

You-Tube Videos of This Song

Two of the "videos" below are actually just sound tracks with photos of the performers, but they're worth a listen. Carl Perkins, who wrote "Blue Suede Shoes" provides a version somewhere between Leadbelly's and Johny Cash's. Below that is a recording of Hudie "Leadbelly" Ledbetter's original version and a much later version by folk and traditional singer Odetta. The Little Richard/Fishbone version is preceded by some of Richard talking (what performance of his isn't?), but it cooks in a sizzling rockabilly/gospel style you don't hear every day. (That recording, by the way, was made for an all-star album of songs paying tribute to Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly .)

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