railroad mixin' (*everybody* read the spooky update on page 5!)

[Nick Ink]

The Woodentops were briefly very good indeed. I'm pretty sure they were British, maybe Irish. The first  couple of Peel Sessions they did, versions of which songs are mostly on Giant, were great. I think they had a little in common with James then - it was very dancey, juddering, fast, stop-start jangley indie. But I also have the second album which is far glossier, slower, shinier and all round less interesting. Giant is all you need.

[davy]

The Guadalcanal Diary one is on davey's second upload mix there. It's on Jamboree.

the sound is not so good, though. i think it's dubbed off a record. only one i could find.

[davy]

hey, somebody bring that 10,000 maniacs song!

[ellaguru]

I can do that if I have to, but I only have it on vinyl, so we'll see if somebody has an already-digital version.

In the meantime, though, I got ambitious last night and came up with a second set for you:

The O'Jays - Love Train
Jane Siberry - Something About Trains
Holly Cole - Train Song (Tom Waits cover)
Phish - Back on the Train
Phish - Train Song
Abigail Washburn - Who's Gonna Shoe
Michelle Shocked - If Love Was a Train
Michelle Shocked - The L&N Don't Stop Here Anymore
Wilson Pickett - Engine Number 9

[davy]

woo!

i just finished downloading the first one, so i here i go again!

i've got that wilson pickett song already, and damn is it bad ass.

ooh! isn't there a phish (almost spelled it "fish") song about a monkey on a train?!?!?!? i haven't heard it in 10 years, probably. i think it was a live version i had. a dear friend of mine once made a great mix tape for my birthday in high school, and that phish song was the last song on it. sadly, i have no idea where the tape is, but i would LOVE to hear that song again. thanks for reminding me!

[davy]

Here it is: Can't Ignore the Train


Now I think I'll listen to My Mother the War on repeat for the rest of the day... just like old times.

LPTJ is so awesome.

[YojimboMonkey]

ooh! isn't there a phish (almost spelled it "fish") song about a monkey on a train?!?!?!? i haven't heard it in 10 years, probably. i think it was a live version i had. a dear friend of mine once made a great mix tape for my birthday in high school, and that phish song was the last song on it. sadly, i have no idea where the tape is, but i would LOVE to hear that song again. thanks for reminding me!

Sleeping Monkey is the name of the song.  I don't think it was ever released on a studio album.  I may have a couple of live versions of it banging around somewhere.  I'll see if I can find it.

[davy]

I'll see if I can find it.

that's it! please do!

[YojimboMonkey]

hoooooome on the traaaaaaaaaiiiin
why'd you send my monkey on the train?

[davy]

YES

[davy]

ok, last one, promise:

RAILS 3

the pogues - the donegal express & poor paddy on the railway
don reno & dan smiley - kansas city railroad blues
andy partridge - my train is coming
bon jovi - homebound train [IS FUCKING AWESOME I'M NOT EVEN KIDDING]
bruce springsteen - john henry
the flying burrito brothers - the train song
creedence clearwater revival - midnight special
john fogerty - southern streamline
new grass revival - all night train
silkworm - waiting on a train
tom waits - 2:19
doc watson - greenville trestle high
rufus thomas - the memphis train

[ellaguru]

i've got that wilson pickett song already, and damn is it bad ass.

Hey, davy, your version is the What It Is! version you uploaded? Because the version I put up is a bit over twice as long (6:28 v. 2:51), so you might want both. It's off an old/cheap best of CD, so the mix doesn't kick as hard as the one you put up, but the version itself is pretty swank, it's got a much longer funky break.

[davy]

in that case, i'll scoop it up!

[davy]

SPOOKY UPDATE IS HERE:

ok, people: this is fucking weird.

you all know i've been hoarding train songs this week in preparation for my first (passenger) train ride to alabama tomorrow. i'm at about 172 now, which is almost 11 hours of train songs. i thought i was done.

but then yesterday, erin and i went to the thrift store. she headed towards the clothes, and i walked back to where they keep their (terrible) collection of records and books. i looked through the books, found some stuff, looked through the records, found nothing, and then, on a whim, nothing to lose, i started looking through the CDs. this place never has anything worthwhile in the CD section. but they're only a dollar, so i looked anyway. first i found a graham coxon album, then a robbie fulks album. cool! but then i saw a pretty spine with the name "scott miller" printed on it. i picked it up to look at it and noticed he was a sugar hill artist (i love that label), but there were no liner notes. bummer. nonetheless, i flipped it over and read the back.

 

it was a single. the song's name?

"AMTRAK CRESCENT"

wtf!

that's the EXACT train i'm riding tomorrow. wtf again! if you had told me three days ago that there was a song out there called "amtrak crescent" i would've been VERY surprised and excited to hear it. if you had told me that the artist who performed it was on sugar hill records, i would've been even more excited. if, in a record store, i had randomly come across the CD that this song was on, i would've FLIPPED OUT. i mean, what are the odds?

BUT TO CLUELESSLY COME ACROSS THE SONG ON A CD SINGLE BURIED IN A STACK OF WORTHLESS CDS IN BROKEN JEWEL CASES IN A SECOND-RATE THRIFT STORE THAT I HARDLY EVER VISIT, TWO DAYS BEFORE I STEP ONTO THE TRAIN...!

 

[sashwap]

wow!

[Maaik]

kismet!

[RavingLunatic]

I've never listened to him, but I've heard good things about that Scott Miller guy. I think he has some albums under the name Scott Miller and the Commonwealth or something like that.

[davy]

yeah, that's him. this song was originally released on one of those commonwealth albums.

[davy]

Lee Hazlewood - No Train to Stockholm

this could be my favorite of all the train-related songs i've downloaded this past week. just so happens that it's my introduction to solo hazlewood.

obviously, a new lee hazlewood thread is needed.

[Brian Doherty]

A band I was in 20 yrs ago called Target Practice had a song called "Train Song." some lyrics:
Climb aboard/An old freight train/refrigerator car/full of idaho spuds/my momma's gonna make/a plate of french fries/She ain't never/Been on a train/this song about a train/is making me sane/there ain't been a train/around here for years.

Wish I had a recording of it. Or maybe I don't. It was a slow blues. We tried to sound like Tex and the Horseheads and succeeded in our best moments. Girl singer, Johnny Thunders inspired guitarist, most of our songs about heroin.