As I started putting the show together, song after song just sort of jumped out and made a train theme! It all started with Blue Moon Rising's "Freight Train," which led, naturally to the Delmore Brothers' "Freight Train Boogie"--and it just kept going and going. . . . Jim Nunnally's "Big Train from Memphis" and Doc Watson's solo version of "Train that carried my girl from town" were special treats for me to play. And Seldom Scene's "Old Train" made me feel like it was 35 years ago--what's with that grey hair?? That wasn't there when I unwrapped that LP!
One of the problems with listening to LPs over and over is that they tend to wear out. . . . So I was pleased that "Cowboy's Dream" from The Fly By Night String Band's 1979 LP digitized so nicely--some other tracks from my copy of that LP have not done so well.
There are certain bluegrass and old-time country songs that, even though you know what's coming, cause a little tug on the heartstrings (e.g., "Bringing Mary Home," "Two Little Boys," etc.). Well, Charlie & Ira Louvin's "I Don't Believe You've Met My Baby" is one of those songs for me. I first heard it performed by Mary McCaslin and Jim Ringer sometime in the '70s, I think. The first time you hear it, you think it might turn into another murder ballad or broken-hearted-leaving-town-never-to-return lament, so the resolution is--or was to me on first hearing--a very pleasant surprise. Anyway, this week we went back to the source and played a version the Louvins recorded live in the mid-50s.
And then there's a little mini-set that I should explain more than I did on the air--the connection between the three songs was Jimmy Martin: I played Paul Williams & The Victory Trio's "I've been set free" from their latest Rebel CD, then Jimmy Martin's "Sunny Side of the Mountain" from the 1973 Bean Blossom, IN, festival, and then Longview's "Across the Seas Blues." Back in the day, before switching to Gospel 100% of the time, Paul Williams used to play in Jimmy Martin's "classic" version of the Sunny Mountain Boys. And Longview do a great job of covering Martin's "Across the Seas Blues"--I admit to having a lot of affection for that honkey-tonk bluegrass--Buzz Busby, Red Allen, Jimmy Martin, Osborne Brothers--a reminder that even within bluegrass, there is a lot of variety.
And do you know how much self-control it takes for me NOT to play at least one Lefty Frizzell number every week??
Enjoyed hearing from folks in PA, DE, MD, CT, and MI today. Thanks for your support! And here's today's complete playlist:
3/8/2010 1 Don Stover -- Black Diamond
3/8/2010 2 Blue Moon Rising -- Freight Train
3/8/2010 3 Delmore Brothers -- Freight Train Boogie
3/8/2010 4 Rayna Gellart & Susie Goehring -- Train on the Island
3/8/2010 5 Blue Highway -- Through the window of a train
3/8/2010 6 Jimmie Rodgers -- Waiting for a train
3/8/2010 7 Jim Nunnally -- Big Train from Memphis
3/8/2010 8 Doc Watson -- The train that carried my girl from town
3/8/2010 9 Seldom Scene -- Old Train
3/8/2010 10 Mac Martin & The Dixie Travellers -- Blue Railroad Train
3/8/2010 11 Snuffy Jenkins & Pappy Sherrill -- C&NW Railroad Blues
3/8/2010 12 Claire Lynch -- Crazy Train
3/8/2010 13 Foghorn Stringband -- Georgia Railroad
3/8/2010 14 Bluegrass Album Band -- A hundred years from now
3/8/2010 15 Bill Monroe & The Bluegrass Boys -- Walkin' in Jerusalem
3/8/2010 16 Fly By Night String Band -- Cowboy's Dream
3/8/2010 17 Lilly Brothers w/ Don Stover & Tex Logan -- Riding on my Savior's train
3/8/2010 18 Lefty Frizzell -- Give me more, more, more
3/8/2010 19 Louvin Brothers -- I Don't Believe You've Met My Baby
3/8/2010 20 Cherryholmes -- Devil in Disguise
3/8/2010 21 David Grisman -- Opus 38
3/8/2010 22 Flatt & Scruggs & Foggy Mountain Boys -- Pearl, Pearl, Pearl
3/8/2010 23 Paul Williams & The Victory Trio -- I've been set free
3/8/2010 24 Jimmy Martin -- Sunny Side of the Mountain
3/8/2010 25 Longview -- Across the Seas Blues
3/8/2010 26 Art Stamper -- The Rusty Gun
3/8/2010 27 Stanley Brothers -- Ramshackle Shack on the Hill
3/8/2010 28 Bluegrass Album Band -- Cheyenne
3/8/2010 29 Merle Travis -- John Henry
3/8/2010 30 Nashville Bluegrass Band -- Pretty Red Lips
3/8/2010 31 Jim & Jesse -- I'll wash your love from my heart
3/8/2010 32 Steep Canyon Ramblers -- Sylvie
3/8/2010 33 Bob Wills -- Sugar Moon
3/8/2010 34 Jim Eanes & Shenandoah Valley Boys (Allen Shelton, banjo) -- Whispering
3/8/2010 35 Del McCoury Band -- 1952 Red Vincent Lightning
3/8/2010 36 Chance McCoy & Appalachian String Band -- Gospel Plow
3/8/2010 37 Steep Canyon Ramblers -- I must be somebody else you've known
3/8/2010 38 Green Grass Cloggers & Smokey Valley Boys -- Backstep Cindy
3/8/2010 39 Dry Branch Fire Squad -- Adieu to Cold Weather
3/8/2010 40 Don Stover -- Black Diamond
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