Johnny Cash – A Train Song

“Riding on the city of New Orleans
Illinois Central, Monday morning rail
Fifteen cars and fifteen restless riders
Three conductors, twenty-five sacks of mail” – City of New Orleans (Steve Goodman) © Sony/ATV Music

The story goes that in 1970 Arlo Guthrie was doing five shows a night at the Quiet Knight bar in Chicago when he was approached by an unknown songwriter who asked if Guthrie would listen to his songs. Guthrie replied that if the man would buy him a beer he would listen just as long as it took him to finish that beer. The song that caught his attention that night was about a train.

When Arlo admitted that he liked the tune, the author begged him to, “give that one to Johnny Cash for me.” But claiming that Cash wasn’t interested in it, Guthrie went on to record “City of New Orleans” for himself in 1972 and peaking at #4 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart and #18 on the Hot 100 chart, it would prove to be Guthrie’s only top-40 hit.

“All along the southbound odyssey
The train pulls out at Kankakee
Rolls along past houses, farms, and fields” – City of New Orleans (Goodman)

“City Of New Orleans” was composed by Chicago singer-songwriter Steve Goodman in 1970. While traveling to visit his wife’s grandmother, he noted the things that he saw outside his carriage window, jotting down notes as his wife slept during the journey. Everything that he described in the song’s lyrics actually happened during the train ride.

City of New Orleans - Illinois Central Railroad

When he returned home he learned that the eponymous train on which he had ridden, operated by Illinois Central Railroad, was scheduled to be decommissioned due to lack of riders. Feeling encouraged to use his song in an effort to save the train, he polished the tune and recorded it for his debut album in 1971.

City of New Orleans, by Steve Goodman. Buddah Records label.

“Passin’ trains that have no names
Freight yards full of old black men
And the graveyards of the rusted automobiles” – City of New Orleans (Goodman)

City of New Orleans train route map. — City of New Orleans route

Illinois Central Railroad had begun operating the City of New Orleans in April 1947. The overnight train had the longest regularly scheduled route in the country for a time; carrying passengers from Chicago, Illinois, through the heartland of the country, and down to New Orleans, Louisiana. With declining ridership due to competition from automobile and airplane travel, the route soon went the way of so many famed lines of the 20^th Century. In May 1971, Amtrak assumed operation of US train passenger service. The City of New Orleans was then converted to a nighttime route and renamed the Panama Limited.

“Good morning America how are you?
Don’t you know me I’m your native son
I’m the train they call The City of New Orleans
I’ll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done” – City of New Orleans (Goodman)

While Goodman’s recording of his own song found moderate success, it was Guthrie’s version that popularized the refrain, “Good Morning America, how are ya?” When ABC television launched a new morning show in 1975, they called it: Good Morning America, and due to the popularity of the song during the 1970s, Amtrak chose to capitalize on the recognition, renaming the route City of New Orleans in 1981.

City of New Orleans, by Arlo Guthrie. Reprise Records label.

Steve Goodman died on September 20, 1984, at the age of 36 after a long battle with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Also that year Willie Nelson covered “City of New Orleans”, making it the title track of his album. Nelson’s version was a #1 Country hit and won the Grammy Award for Best Country Song. Being a songwriting category, the Grammy was posthumously awarded to Goodman.

“And the sons of Pullman porters
And the sons of engineers
Ride their father’s magic carpet made of steel
Mothers with their babes asleep
Rockin’ to the gentle beat
And the rhythm of the rails is all they feel” – City of New Orleans (Goodman)

A number of years ago I had the opportunity to work security at an Arlo Guthrie show being presented at Peninsula Temple Beth El, in San Mateo, California. This was a small, intimate setting for Arlo & his band, which was largely comprised of his family members. They performed within the sanctuary to a packed house. Although my main responsibility was to keep watch around the property’s perimeter, and parking area, I tried to at least be inside for a portion of the show.

Arlo Guthrie picture as an older man. — Arlo Guthrie

I couldn’t claim to have a vast knowledge of Guthrie’s music, nor had I ever seen him perform previously, but “City of New Orleans”, and specifically his recording of the song, had long been a favorite train song of mine; probably my favorite train song.

Knowing that this song would likely be performed towards the end of the show I took an opportunity to quietly steal in through a rear entrance. I couldn’t see much, but I could hear. And what I heard was rapt silence, as the singer and consummate performer held the audience in the palm of his hand. He prefaced the song he had made famous – his sole top-40 hit – by saying that he had once been admonished that every great folk singer needs a train song in his repertoire and this one he had adopted as his. The song was well received by the audience who responded with thunderous applause, as I returned to perimeter duty, having witnessed a seasoned song man & story-teller deliver a rousing rendition of a song with which he had become indelibly connected, and that he had truly made his own.

“Goodnight, America . . .

This train’s got the disappearing railroad blues” – City of New Orleans (Goodman)

City of New Orleans, by Arlo Guthrie; 45 rpm sleeve — Arlo Guthrie 45 rpm sleeve

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_New_Orleans_(song)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_New_Orleans_(train)

https://www.arloguthrie.com/about

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

http://www.stevegoodman.net/bio.html

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

“I hear the train a-comin’, it’s rolling ’round the bend
And I ain’t been kissed lord since I don’t know when
The boys in Crescent City don’t seem to know I’m here
That lonesome whistle seems to tell me, Sue, disappear” – Crescent City Blues (Gordon Jenkins)

“Folsom Prison Blues”, is surely one of the best known train songs of the modern era. If not the most popular song in singer Johnny Cash’s catalog, it certainly ranks in the top five. The song’s distinctive boom-chicka-boom rhythm fairly set the tone for what would become Cash’s signature sound, with even the most casual music fan capable of identifying the song after just a couple notes of that unmistakable electric guitar intro played by Luther Perkins. And what I know as a working musician is that playing “Folsom” is a surefire way to fill the dance floor, with folks immediately deserting their chairs after those first telltale notes ring out. What I didn’t know until just a few years ago, is that this song that has become so identifiable with its author, really isn’t Johnny’s song at all.

“When I was just a baby my mama told me, Sue
When you’re grown up I want that you should go and see and do
But I’m stuck in Crescent City just watching life mosey by
When I hear that whistle blowin’, I hang my head and cry” – Crescent City Blues (Jenkins)

“Crescent City Blues”, is a song written by composer/arranger Gordon Jenkins. In 1953 the song was included on an album entitled Seven Dreams, released by Decca Records, where Jenkins was the label’s musical director. As the title implies, the experimental concept album consisted of seven radioplay-style musical segments named for their protagonists, where the characters have embarked on a train trip from New York to New Orleans. The “Second Dream” was entitled “The Conductor”, and featured the voice-over work of bassist Bill Lee (Spike Lee’s father), and Thurl Ravenscroft (Tony the Tiger). On the track, as the train makes an unscheduled stop, the title character steps off the train for “a breath of middle-western air”. He then describes how as he lit a cigarette he “heard a voice from the shack across the way”.

“I see the rich folks eatin’ in that fancy dining car
They’re probably having pheasant breast and eastern caviar
Now I ain’t crying envy and I ain’t crying me
It’s just that they get to see things that I’ve never seen” – Crescent City Blues (Jenkins)

The song, with a melody inspired by the 1930s instrumental, “Crescent City Blues”, by Little Brother Montgomery, is sung by Beverly Mahr. Mahr was Jenkins second wife, and mother of their son, Bruce (San Francisco Chronicle sports columnist). Styled as a torch song, the lyrics are delivered in a sultry manner, bearing a strong resemblance to Johnny Mercer’s “Blues in the Night”. It begins with bluesy guitar licks accompanying the vocals, with later verses punctuated by big band horn arrangements. Certainly Jenkins composition would never be mistaken for Cash’s up-tempo rockabilly anthem, but there is absolutely no question as to the genesis of Johnny’s tune.

“If I owned that lonesome whistle, if that railroad train was mine
I bet I’d find a man a little farther down the line
Far from Crescent City is where I’d like to stay
And I’d let that lonesome whistle blow my blues away” – Crescent City Blues (Jenkins)

Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues” was released on Sam Phillips’ Sun Records label in December of 1955. Johnny Cash is the only songwriter credited on the release. He claims that he heard “Crescent City Blues” on the radio during his stint in Germany, serving with the US Air Force, and adapted it for his own purposes. In a 1990s interview Cash stated, “At the time, I really had no idea I would be a professional recording artist; I wasn’t trying to rip anybody off”. According to Cash’s manager Lou Robin, Cash had acknowledged the influence of Jenkins’s song, but was reassured by Sam Phillips that he had no reason to fear a plagiarism suit.

In 1968, a live version of the song, from the album At Folsom Prison, was released and the song once again hit the charts, eventually reaching #1 on the country singles chart, and #32 on the Hot 100. It was then that Gordon Jenkins decided to sue for royalties. Reportedly Cash paid Jenkins a cash settlement with some sources naming the amount of $75,000, while others mention $100K. In an interview Cash was quoted as saying, “So when I later went to Sun to record the song, I told Sam Phillips that I rewrote an old song to make my song, and that was that. Sometime later I met up with Gordon Jenkins and we talked about what had happened, and everything was right”.

Sources have stated that Cash & Jenkins agreed to share songwriting credits for the song, but on the Walk the Line soundtrack from the 2005 biopic starring Joaquin Phoenix, Johnny Cash is the sole songwriter credited for “Folsom Prison Blues”. As of May, 2006 the soundtrack was certified platinum by the RIAA with over one million copies sold. That same release went on to win the Grammy award for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album.

For years Johnny Cash would open his concerts with “Folsom Prison Blues”, following his trademark introduction of, “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash”. Clearly this is the song by which Cash wished to be identified. The song has been recorded by numerous other artists, many of which were likely unaware of its origins. In June 2014, Rolling Stone ranked “Folsom” No. 51 on its list of the 100 greatest country songs of all time, with no mention of Gordon Jenkins. Which may only serve to reinforce the words of the great composer Igor Stravinsky, who said,” Lesser artists borrow; great artists steal”.

Decide for yourself:

Sources:

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

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2015/12/15/johnny-cash-gordon-jenkins-dispute-folsom-prison-blues

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

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2015/12/15/johnny-cash-gordon-jenkins-dispute-folsom-prison-blues

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

Tag: Johnny Cash

Good Mornin’ America

I Hear the Train A-Comin’