In the early days of recorded blues, trains were frequently a subject, reflecting the performer’s affinity with the railroad as a way of travel around the South – One of the most timeless,has to be ‘Midnight Special’, recorded by Leadbelly in 1934. Running past Sugar Land Prison, where Leadbelly had served time, the light of the Midnight Special represents the light of hope. Bukka White was another pioneering bluesman who spent time behind bars, and whose track‘Special Stream Line’ is a classic in bottleneck slide playing, which sees him introduce each train motif played on his guitar with verbal cues.

From a life on the railways came a whole tradition of railroad songs; arguably the most famous was ‘John Henry’, the story of a steel driver who became a folk hero. The song, essentially tells the story of a man who hammered himself to death attempting to beat a mechanised steel drill. Mississippi John Hurt’s ‘Spike Driver Blues’ differs however, in that the sombre lyrics and melody don’t dramatically glorify John Henry but explain the narrator’s decision to walk out on a deadly job and not die in vain. Likewise, Furry Lewis’ ‘Kassie Jones’ is another take on a traditional American folk song about a railroad engineer’s death at the controls of a locomotive.

The powerful singing of Dora Carr, added a dimension to songs about trains. Similarly, the heartfelt vocals of legendary artists such Memphis Minnie and Lucille Bogan give expression to railroad-inspired lyrics about the parting of ways when love goes wrong in their respective ‘Chickasaw Train Blues’ and ‘I hate that train called the M & O’. Blues culture from the start has been energised by possessive romantic passion and the concept of the railway that has always provided a great source of lyrical potential for separation and loss. Indeed, let us agree that the railroads helped to shape the blues.