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The Train Kept A-Rollin: How The Train Song Changed The Face Of Popular Music
Correct us if we’re wrong, but we think this is the first book about train songs. It’s high time for a book on a genre of songs that runs into the hundreds (probably thousands when you think of songs like “Wabash Cannonball†or “Rock Island Line†which have been covered by numerous artists).
It’s not surprising that there are so many songs about the subject, because there’s something about a lonesome train whistle, or the rattle of steel wheels on the tracks that stir emotions deep in the human soul. Trains symbolize freedom, travel, sad partings or joyful reunions, along with a yearning to see what’s around the next bend.
Small wonder then that songwriters from Birmingham, Alabama to Birmingham, England, have taken trains to their hearts, describing the whole gamut of feelings that the sights and sounds of locomotives evoke.
Here, longtime music and train fan, Spencer Vignes, marries his two passions in a book that gets to the heart of the genre. The idea came about as Spencer was driving with his 10-year-old daughter when Elvis’s “Mystery Train†came on the car radio. His daughter, Rhiannon, innocently asked, “Daddy, why are there so many songs about trains?â€
A few years later and with over 40 interviews with leading musicians and songwriters, Spencer can finally give Rhiannon an answer to her question!
Painstakingly researched, Spencer looks at the “usual suspects†when it comes to train songs (he’d be run out of town on the midnight train to nowhere if he didn’t tip his cowboy hat to “Folsom Prison Blues†or “Hey, Porterâ€), but also some songs that we don’t normally think of as being about trains (The Kinks’ “Waterloo Sunsetâ€, for example, with Terry and Julie meeting every Friday at the celebrated London Station).
Join this journey of discovery in the company of Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull), Eric Bibb, Nick Cave, Ray Davies (The Kinks), Chris Difford (Squeeze), Sheena Easton, Brian Ferry, Tom Johnston (The Doobie Brothers), Dennis Locorriere (Dr Hook), Graham Parker, Francis Rossi (Status Quo), Brian Setzer (Stray Cats), Rod Stewart and more.
It’s amazing how many famous musicians were more than happy to talk about the subject, with some going above and beyond the call of duty to ensure this book happens.
It’s not surprising that there are so many songs about the subject, because there’s something about a lonesome train whistle, or the rattle of steel wheels on the tracks that stir emotions deep in the human soul. Trains symbolize freedom, travel, sad partings or joyful reunions, along with a yearning to see what’s around the next bend.
Small wonder then that songwriters from Birmingham, Alabama to Birmingham, England, have taken trains to their hearts, describing the whole gamut of feelings that the sights and sounds of locomotives evoke.
Here, longtime music and train fan, Spencer Vignes, marries his two passions in a book that gets to the heart of the genre. The idea came about as Spencer was driving with his 10-year-old daughter when Elvis’s “Mystery Train†came on the car radio. His daughter, Rhiannon, innocently asked, “Daddy, why are there so many songs about trains?â€
A few years later and with over 40 interviews with leading musicians and songwriters, Spencer can finally give Rhiannon an answer to her question!
Painstakingly researched, Spencer looks at the “usual suspects†when it comes to train songs (he’d be run out of town on the midnight train to nowhere if he didn’t tip his cowboy hat to “Folsom Prison Blues†or “Hey, Porterâ€), but also some songs that we don’t normally think of as being about trains (The Kinks’ “Waterloo Sunsetâ€, for example, with Terry and Julie meeting every Friday at the celebrated London Station).
Join this journey of discovery in the company of Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull), Eric Bibb, Nick Cave, Ray Davies (The Kinks), Chris Difford (Squeeze), Sheena Easton, Brian Ferry, Tom Johnston (The Doobie Brothers), Dennis Locorriere (Dr Hook), Graham Parker, Francis Rossi (Status Quo), Brian Setzer (Stray Cats), Rod Stewart and more.
It’s amazing how many famous musicians were more than happy to talk about the subject, with some going above and beyond the call of duty to ensure this book happens.
- GenresMusic
248 pages, Paperback
Published November 1, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 26, 2017
Freight railways were the only means of transportation for the bluesmen of yesteryear.
Musicians jumped into the back car not just because they could not afford a passenger ticket but simply because they weren't allowed on board a service designated for 'whites only.'
Hours spent with other artists hidden away in the cattle sections, perhaps armed with a rhythm guitar or blues harp, meant that these travelling souls often hand-crafted new songs along the way ... naturally enough those songs were dedicated to the train.
On each voyage — escape, liberation, freedom and adventure beckoned. And the freight train made it all possible. The constant noise of the locomotive, perhaps with an occasional whistle puncturing the rhythm, meant that literally hundreds of rock and blues songs were written along with the rhythmic patterns of the railroad. And in the celebration of the train.
From “All Aboard” ( Muddy Waters) to “Train of Consequences” (Megadeth) via ABBA — of course, with “Another Town, Another Train” (although not Waterloo, no matter how much the author tries to convince us...) in music, you cannot easily escape the lure of a smoky choo-choo in the night.
Now, author, journalist and broadcaster Spencer Vignes — a self-confessed music & train nut – has researched a top study of the “ Train Song” for a new publication titled “The Train Kept A-Rollin.” In the book he discusses the developmental strength of the railroad, from a composer's point of view, and interviews a number of musicians who share their secrets about the whys and reasons of train travel.
Its easy-paced style and fluid readability hides the thorough research and pure amount of factual information that's been collected in this excellent 161-page book.
Elegant little vignettes, like how Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart came up with “Last Train to Clarksville” for the Monkees, flesh out this book and add hours of entertainment. “I read one article that said there were 26 Clarksvilles in the United States” said Hart “So if anybody asked us [which one Clarksville we referred to in the song] we would probably say the one by Nashville...” But the story in the book suggests that the famous songwriting duo did the opposite. They made the place up.
Perhaps English rock has been over-stressed in this book (Vignes lives in Wales, UK so perhaps you can forgive him. ) For example there is almost half a chapter dedicated to the writing of the Kinks “Waterloo Sunset” ( incidentally, a song that is also about rivers and taxis, and hardly about trains at all, but that's by-the-by) although the titbit about Davies meeting Rod Stewart on his daily commute makes for an interesting read. Though has nothing to do with the writing of that particular song.
And some of the alleged 'train songs' have only a passing acquaintanceship with the theme of this book: For example, would you describe “Johnny B Goode” as a train song? (Johnny would, “sit beneath the tree by the railroad track...”) or Stevie Wonder's “Uptight, Everything is Alright”? That song includes reference to being born “across the railroad tracks...” or “Sylvias Mother” a song by Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show that's clearly about telephone operators — though we concede that Sylvia's mother does tell the fool that: “she's catching the nine'o'clock train...” to get rid of him.
Having said all that, you can't complain about the thoroughness of this author's investigations. And you can spend many happy hours discussing the definition of “train songs” and debating their inclusion.
There are several excellent illustrations, some in colour, in this book. And a long list of the musicians favourite train songs and their comments about each one. This means that this will be a satisfying quality read cover-to-cover but you'll also enjoy dipping into the book as a resource time-and-time again. So it's one to keep for reference on your bookshelf.
This is thoroughly recommended for anyone who loves music. And trains.
Musicians jumped into the back car not just because they could not afford a passenger ticket but simply because they weren't allowed on board a service designated for 'whites only.'
Hours spent with other artists hidden away in the cattle sections, perhaps armed with a rhythm guitar or blues harp, meant that these travelling souls often hand-crafted new songs along the way ... naturally enough those songs were dedicated to the train.
On each voyage — escape, liberation, freedom and adventure beckoned. And the freight train made it all possible. The constant noise of the locomotive, perhaps with an occasional whistle puncturing the rhythm, meant that literally hundreds of rock and blues songs were written along with the rhythmic patterns of the railroad. And in the celebration of the train.
From “All Aboard” ( Muddy Waters) to “Train of Consequences” (Megadeth) via ABBA — of course, with “Another Town, Another Train” (although not Waterloo, no matter how much the author tries to convince us...) in music, you cannot easily escape the lure of a smoky choo-choo in the night.
Now, author, journalist and broadcaster Spencer Vignes — a self-confessed music & train nut – has researched a top study of the “ Train Song” for a new publication titled “The Train Kept A-Rollin.” In the book he discusses the developmental strength of the railroad, from a composer's point of view, and interviews a number of musicians who share their secrets about the whys and reasons of train travel.
Its easy-paced style and fluid readability hides the thorough research and pure amount of factual information that's been collected in this excellent 161-page book.
Elegant little vignettes, like how Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart came up with “Last Train to Clarksville” for the Monkees, flesh out this book and add hours of entertainment. “I read one article that said there were 26 Clarksvilles in the United States” said Hart “So if anybody asked us [which one Clarksville we referred to in the song] we would probably say the one by Nashville...” But the story in the book suggests that the famous songwriting duo did the opposite. They made the place up.
Perhaps English rock has been over-stressed in this book (Vignes lives in Wales, UK so perhaps you can forgive him. ) For example there is almost half a chapter dedicated to the writing of the Kinks “Waterloo Sunset” ( incidentally, a song that is also about rivers and taxis, and hardly about trains at all, but that's by-the-by) although the titbit about Davies meeting Rod Stewart on his daily commute makes for an interesting read. Though has nothing to do with the writing of that particular song.
And some of the alleged 'train songs' have only a passing acquaintanceship with the theme of this book: For example, would you describe “Johnny B Goode” as a train song? (Johnny would, “sit beneath the tree by the railroad track...”) or Stevie Wonder's “Uptight, Everything is Alright”? That song includes reference to being born “across the railroad tracks...” or “Sylvias Mother” a song by Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show that's clearly about telephone operators — though we concede that Sylvia's mother does tell the fool that: “she's catching the nine'o'clock train...” to get rid of him.
Having said all that, you can't complain about the thoroughness of this author's investigations. And you can spend many happy hours discussing the definition of “train songs” and debating their inclusion.
There are several excellent illustrations, some in colour, in this book. And a long list of the musicians favourite train songs and their comments about each one. This means that this will be a satisfying quality read cover-to-cover but you'll also enjoy dipping into the book as a resource time-and-time again. So it's one to keep for reference on your bookshelf.
This is thoroughly recommended for anyone who loves music. And trains.
January 22, 2018
Well written with insightful interviews with many well-known musicians, I would have given 5 stars but the author is English, and as such, the book has a very Britain-centric focus. I wasn't familiar with many of the songs and artists (or trains, cities and landmarks) but to a British reader this book would definitely be 5-star.
February 8, 2023
This is a wonderful book that explores how railroads and trains have impacted music since their existence. The origins of many songs are explored in depth; and a great many musicians throughout the decades of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st relate their attachment to railroads and the influence they have played in their lives.
December 7, 2025
I have been trying to get a copy of this for ages and it was well worth the wait
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews