Wabash Cannonball

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The Wabash Cannonball is an American folk song about a fictional railroad train in the United States. It was probably created at the end of the 19th century. The song was first recorded by the Carter Family in 1929 , and performed by Roy Acuff in 1936 . Many hillbilly artists played the song during the Great Depression of the 1930s and 1940s. There is a German variant of Ronny . The Wabash Railroad later named their express train between Detroit and St. Louis Wabash Cannonball .

text

Text of the version as sung by Roy Acuff in 1936.

Verse:

From the great Atlantic Ocean to the wide Pacific shore
from the green and flowing mountains to the south belt by the shore
she's mighty tall and handsome, and known quite well by all
she's the combination on the Wabash Cannonball

Verse:

She came down from Birmingham, one cold December day
as she rolled into the station, you could hear all the people say
there's a girl from Tennessee, she's long and she's tall
she came down from Birmingham on the Wabash Cannonball

Verse:

Our the Eastern states are dandy so the people always say
from New York to St. Louis and Chicago by the way
from the hills of Minnesota where the rippling waters fall
no changes can be taken on that Wabash Cannonball

Verse:

Here's to Daddy Claxton, may his name forever stand
and always be remembered 'round the courts of Alabam'
his earthly race is over and the curtains' round him fall
we'll carry him home to victory on the Wabash Cannonball

Refrain:

Listen to the jingle, the rumble and the roar
as she glides along the woodland, through the hills and by the shore
hear the mighty rush of the engine, hear that lonesome hobo squall
you're traveling through the jungles on the Wabash Cannonball

variants

There are many variations of the song:

  • In the last verse, glory is sometimes sung instead of victory .
  • Instead of “Daddy Claxton” there are also variants with “Danny Claxton” or “Boston Blackie”.
  • In a joint recording from May 12, 1964, Connie Francis and Hank Williams, Jr. sing the name Casey Jones in the last verse, referring to the real train driver of the same name who actually drove the train called the Cannonball and which ran between Chicago and New Orleans . The verse also dispenses with the words "glory" and "victory" and instead speaks of bringing Jones back to Dixie with the Wabash Cannonball , since Jones came from the southern states.
  • The following stanza is also used in part:

I have rode the IC Limited, also the Royal Blue
Across the eastern countries on Elkhorn number two
I have rode these highball trains from coast to coast that's all
But i have found no equal to the Wabash Cannonball

history

There are several theories about the origin of the song. One theory is advocated by folk singer Utah Philips . He believes that hobos invented the train called "Wabash Cannonball" - a train that travels across the country; to keep this idea alive, the song was created.

Another theory is based on a fairy tale about Cal. S. Bunyan, a brother of the legendary American woodcutter Paul Bunyan . He built a railroad called Ireland, Jerusalem, Australian & Southern Michigan Line. After two months of operation, the 700-car train was so fast that it arrived an hour earlier than it left. After all, the train was so fast that it flew into space and now flies through the cosmos forever. When the hobos heard this story, they called the train the Wabash Cannonball, meaning that its signal could be heard at every train station in America.

Kansas State University

The tradition of using the song as a battle chant at Kansas State University began in 1968. On December 13, 1968, the university's music building burned down; the fire destroyed all instruments and notes. Only one sheet of music from The Wabash Cannonball survived because music director Phil Hewett took it home. The following Monday night there was a basketball game against the University of Syracuse. The band played Wabash Cannonball as the only song with borrowed instruments . Since then it has been played again and again by the university's bands.

Jukebox Cannonball

In 1951, Jesse Rogers adapted the piece as the jukebox Cannonball by adding new similar stanzas. Between 1951 and 1955 the song was recorded by many different artists from the New York - Pennsylvania area . In addition to Rogers, there were Ray Whitley , Rex Zario and Bill Haley and The Saddlemen .

swell

  1. ↑ Connie Francis & Hank Williams, Jr., Sing Great Country Favorites , MGM Records 12 "album SE-4251, New York, November 1964, liner notes on record cover
  2. ↑ Connie Francis & Hank Williams, Jr., Sing Great Country Favorites , Bear Family Records Compact Disc Album BCD 15737 AH, Hambergen, 1993, Liner Notes for CD re-release
  3. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original dated February 11, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.utahphillips.org
  4. ↑ http://ingeb.org/songs/wabashca.html

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