George Pullman – A Train Song

“I feel oh, so blue
I really don’t know what to do
I got a brand new job: a tip collector
It’s some job: a car protector” – Pullman Porter Blues (Clifford Ulrich & Burton Hamilton) © Leo Feist, Inc.

On June 29, 2016, the Los Angeles Times reported that Lee Wesley Gibson, a resident of Los Angeles, had “died as he lived – calm, quiet and in control – sitting in a chair at home . . . with family members at his side”. He was 106 years old. What caught my attention in this article was that it was believed that Mr. Gibson was the oldest surviving Pullman porter.

Lee Gibson was born in Keatchie, Louisiana in 1910; married Beatrice Woods – his wife of 76 years – in 1927; and in 1935, during the height of the Great Depression, moved his family to Los Angeles, in search of greater opportunities.

In 1936, a deacon at Gibson’s church who worked for the Union Pacific Railroad as a coach attendant asked his wife Beatrice if her husband would be interested in a job with the railroad. In a 2010 interview with the Times on the occasion of his 100th birthday, Mr. Gibson recalled that this was a golden opportunity.

Mr. Gibson began working for the Union Pacific as a coach attendant, later being promoted to Pullman porter. Porters were the uniformed railway men serving the first-class passengers who travelled in the Pullman Company’s luxurious sleeping cars. It was a sought after position, allowing a certain amount of prestige for African Americans that was difficult to find in other vocations. Having steady work, Mr. Gibson was able to buy a brand-new home for his family in 1945; a home in which he lived until his death.

“It’s, ‘Pullman Porter, draft on my feet’
It’s, ‘Pullman Porter, turn on the heat’
It’s, ‘Pullman Porter’, all the live long day
‘Pullman Porter, bring me water’, that’s all they say

“It’s, ‘Pullman Porter, make up my berth’
It’s, ‘Pullman Porter’, no peace on Earth
‘Oh, Pullman Porter, won’t you shine my shoes’
I got the Pullman Porter blues” – Pullman Porter Blues (Ulrich/Hamilton)

George Pullman founded the Pullman Car Company in 1862. It is said that after spending a night sleeping upright in his seat during a train trip through New York, Mr. Pullman had the idea to design a rail car that contained sleeper berths for every passenger. Although the first cars manufactured included somewhat spartan sleeping arrangements, within a short period of time the company was turning out luxury sleeping cars which featured carpeting, draperies, upholstered chairs, libraries, and card tables. Besides the unparalleled quality of the Pullman car’s accommodations, they became known for the impeccable service provided by the company’s staff of Pullman Porters.

The Pullman Car Company not only built the eponymous rail cars, they also owned & operated them along the nation’s railways. Soon after the American Civil War, George Pullman began seeking out former slaves to staff his sleeping cars. Aware that most Americans did not have servants in their homes, Pullman understood that by allowing passengers to be served by a liveried waiter or butler, he could provide the growing middle class with something they had never before experienced.

In the mid 1920s, during its peak of operations, the Pullman Company’s fleet grew to number 9,800 sleeping cars, staffed by 12,000 porters. A porter was expected to greet passengers, carry baggage, make up the sleeping berths, serve food and drinks brought from the dining car, send & receive telegrams, shine shoes, provide valet service, and keep the cars neat and orderly.

A porter was expected to be available both day & night. The job could be demeaning, and many were subjected to discrimination and abuse. Early on many porters were obligated to answer to the name “George”, as if they were George Pullman’s personal servant; a practice that grew out of slaves often being named after their owner.

Although wages were low, in an era with limited opportunities for African American men, being a Pullman porter was one of the best jobs available. Not being offered a livable wage, porters relied heavily on the tips that they received from passengers. Walter Biggs, son of a Pullman porter, shared memories of being a Pullman porter as told to him by his father:

“One of the most remarkable stories I liked hearing about was how when Jackie Gleason would ride … all the porters wanted to be on that run. The reason why? Not only because he gave every porter $100.00, but it was just the fun, the excitement, the respect that he gave the porters. Instead of their names being George, he called everybody by their first name. He always had like a piano in the car and they sang and danced and had a great time. He was just a fun person to be around.”

In an effort to improve working conditions and wages, A. Philip Randolph began organizing the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters in 1925. Under Randolph’s leadership, the first black union, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, was formed. These unionizing efforts were also crucial in laying the groundwork for the Civil Rights Movement, as labor organizer and former Pullman porter E. D. Nixon was instrumental in organizing the Montgomery Bus Boycott in Alabama in 1955, and was also responsible for bailing Rosa Parks out of jail when she refused to give up her seat on the bus.

“It’s, ‘Pullman Porter, turn on the light’
It’s, ‘Pullman Porter, get me a bite’
It’s, ‘Pullman Porter’ all the whole night thru
It seems to me I’m always wrong, whatever I do

“It’s, ‘Pullman Porter, what town are we at?’
It’s, ‘Pullman Porter, brush off my hat’
‘Now look here, Porter, someone stole my booze’
I got the Pullman Porter blues” – Pullman Porter Blues (Ulrich/Hamilton)

The Pullman Company would eventually become the largest single employer of blacks in America. Many people credit porters as being significant contributors to the development of America’s black middle class. Black historian and civil-rights activist Timuel Black observed in a 2013 interview:

“[The Pullman porters] were good looking, clean and immaculate in their dress. Their style was quite manly; their language was carefully crafted, so that they had a sense of intelligence about them. They were good role models for young men. . . . [B]eing a Pullman porter was a prestigious position because it offered a steady income and an opportunity to travel across the country, which was rare for blacks at that time.”

Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
Pullman Porters

Lyn Hughes, founder of the A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum in Chicago, which celebrates the contribution of African Americans to the nation’s labor history, states, “For African Americans, it was a middle-class job. It represented a sort of freedom, flexibility and education all in one bundle.”

Thurgood Marshall
Willie Brown
Malcolm X

Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, a former porter himself, was also a descendant of a Pullman porter, as was former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown. Malcolm X and photojournalist Gordon Parks were both employed as porters.

“I make their berths up, give ‘em sheets
And put ‘em all to bed
And when they’re feeling bad
Get Bromo Seltzer for their head

“I get’em soap, I get ‘em towels
And even comb their hair
Say, when it comes to giving service
Boss, I am a bear” – Pullman Porter Blues (Ulrich/Hamilton)

Lee Gibson worked on the railroad for 38 yrs. When the Pullman Co. ceased operation of sleeping cars in 1968, Pullman porters were transferred to Union Pacific, and later Amtrak. He retired from the railroad in 1974. In his LA Times interview of 2010 he spoke of rubbing shoulders with celebrities such as bandleader Duke Ellington, jazz singer Cab Calloway, and trumpeter Louis Armstrong, who Gibson recalled was always friendly and willing to talk.

Duke Ellington
Cab Calloway
Louis Armstrong

“He (Armstrong) played Vegas and would catch my train from Vegas many times,” Gibson said. “He was quite interesting.”

Although porters sometimes had to endure humiliation and racism, Gibson says he was always treated with respect; said Gibson of his career serving others on the railroad, “It was hard, but it was fun.”

“I got the Pullman Porter blues” – Pullman Porter Blues (Ulrich/Hamilton)

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pullman_Company

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pullman_porter

https://www.latimes.com/

All photos sourced through internet searches, none belong to the author.

“Heading for the station with a pack on my back
I’m tired of transportation in the back of a hack
I love to hear the rhythm of the clickity-clack
And hear the lonesome whistle, see the smoke from the stack” – Choo Choo Ch’boogie (Darling/ Gabler/ Vaughn) © Warner Chappell Music

In post-war, mid-century America, rail travel was still king. Passengers could criss-cross the vast country on any number of legendary routes, such as: 20th Century Limited, Knickerbocker & Empire State Express, all operated by New York Central Railroad out of Grand Central Station in Manhattan; Empire Builder, operated by Great Northern Railroad, connecting Chicago to Portland & Seattle in the West; Sunset Limited, running between New Orleans & Los Angeles on Southern Pacific’s line; and Chesapeake & Ohio’s flagship, George Washington, which bridged Cincinnati, with Washington D.C. & Newport News, Virginia. Travelers could ride in air-conditioned comfort aboard George Pullman’s namesake carriages, waited on by liveried “Pullman Porters”, arriving at journey’s end refreshed and unhurried.

There was, at the time, no finer way to travel, but times were changing. Soon airliners would drastically cut the amount of time it took to reach far-flung destinations. The post-war Baby Boom would see the growth of suburban communities, making automobile travel a necessity for many new families. And the 1950s would bring the creation of the Interstate Highway System. The heyday of American rail travel would eventually become history.

Other cultural changes were afoot as well in post-war America, most notably in popular music. The big bands of the 30s & 40s were now giving way to smaller groups, with the rhythm section becoming the more prominent feature. One of the artists having the greatest success breaking away from the larger pop orchestras of the swing era was Louis Jordan.

Louis Thomas Jordan was born on July 8, 1908, in Brinkley, Arkansas, where his father, James Aaron Jordan, was a prominent music teacher and bandleader. Under his father’s tutelage, he would learn to play clarinet, piano, and all forms of saxophone. Although early on he played piano professionally, alto saxophone would eventually become his main instrument.

In late 1936 Jordan was invited to join Chick Webb’s orchestra, based at the Savoy Ballroom in New York City. Webb, who had a physical disability, was a gifted musician, but not a great showman. Jordan, a very talented singer with a comedic flair, gained great confidence while working with Webb, and was often mistaken as the band’s leader. After a couple of years with the orchestra, and yearning to break out on his own, he was fired by Webb for trying to persuade Ella Fitzgerald (the Webb Orchestra’s female singer) to join his new band.

With his band, The Tympany Five, Jordan would shortly find himself at the forefront of a new wave of popular music that became known as jive or jump blues. Essentially a hybrid of jazz, blues & boogie-woogie, jump blues was an up-tempo, dance-oriented blend that became favored by a new generation of popular music lovers. Performed by smaller groups, based around rhythm sections of piano, bass & drums, this music would prove to be the forerunner to rock ‘n’ roll. Indeed, in a Tonight Show appearance in 1987, Chuck Berry would acknowledge that Louis Jordan was his main inspiration; this led to Jordan’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, where he is described as “the Father of Rhythm & Blues” and “the Grandfather of Rock ‘n’ Roll.

“Gonna settle down by the railroad track
Live the life of Riley in the beaten-down shack
So when I hear a whistle I can peek through the crack
And watch the train a-rolling when it’s balling the jack
I just love the rhythm of the clickity-clack
So, take me right back to the track, Jack!” – Choo Choo Ch’boogie (Darling/ Gabler/ Vaughn)

In late 1942 Jordan and his band would relocate to Los Angeles, where in addition to playing major venues up & down the coast, he would begin making “soundies”, an early precursor of modern music videos. Throughout the 1940s he would record for Decca Records, where he would find his greatest success as a recording artist and would become known as “King of the Jukebox”. Although he wrote or co-wrote many of his most notable tracks, in 1946 he released “Choo Choo Ch’Boogie”, written by Vaughn Horton, Denver Darling, and Milt Gabler. The side was produced by Gabler, then vice-president of Decca Records, who just a few years later would produce Bill Haley’s seminal anthem, “Rock Around the Clock”. Bill Haley would also go on to record “Choo Choo Ch’Boogie”, as a tribute to Louis Jordan.

Choo Choo Ch'Boogie by Bill Haley record label

The record was one of the biggest hits of Jordan’s career. A “smash” with both black & white audiences, the record peaked at number seven on the national chart. Although the song’s authors wrote mainly for country and western artists, Jordan’s version provided an important link between country & blues: a veritable prototype for the style of music that would become known as “rock and roll”.

“You reach your destination, but alas and alack!
You need some compensation to get back in the black
You take your morning paper from the top of the stack
And read the situation from the front to the back
The only job that’s open needs a man with a knack
So put it right back in the rack, Jack!” – Choo Choo Ch’boogie (Darling/ Gabler/ Vaughn)

For contemporary audiences “Choo Choo Ch’Boogie” offers an exuberantly nostalgic look at train travel in the middle part of the 20th century. The song’s up-tempo buoyancy belies the vexation likely experienced by the narrator in verse two as he peruses the help wanted listings and finds nothing for which he believes himself to be qualified; a familiar predicament for many soldiers returning home after serving their country during World War II. And yet the recording expresses a joy and optimism that was shared by many as the US bounded into a new era, with promises of numerous social and cultural changes; and a beat that, while reminiscent of historic train travel, surely heralded the advent of a brand new genre of music.

“Take me right back to the track, Jack!”

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choo_Choo_Ch%27Boogie

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Jordan

https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/louis-jordan

All photos sourced through internet searches, none belong to the author

Tag: George Pullman

Pullman Porter Blues

Take Me Right Back to the Track, Jack!