Hotfox63, who is writing an excellent music blog, saw my previous post about songs for the road. He commended me for the compilation and – I assume jokingly – added he’s now waiting for the best train songs. While I found it much easier to create a playlist for the car, I thought it would actually be fun putting together a compilation of train-related tunes.
I’m not sure these are the best train songs, but I suppose the list below at least is a start. Since Hotfox63 lives in Europe, I figured there is a chance he might ride with the Bundesbahn. The federal railways of each Austria, Germany and Switzerland are called Bundesbahn. As such, I felt it was appropriate to include Der Bundesbahn-Blues, a cabaret song about the Austrian Federal Railways.
Now, don’t ask me about a plane or a ship list!:-)
People Get Ready/The Impressions (People Get Ready, 1965)
Locomotive Breath/Jethro Tull (Aqualung, 1971)
Peace Train/Cat Stevens (Teaser And the Firecat, 1971)
Long Train Runnin’/The Doobie Brothers (The Captain And Me, 1972)
The City of New Orleans/Arlo Guthrie (Hobo’s Lullaby, 1972)
Love Train/O’Jays (Back Stabbers, 1972)
Midnight Train to Georgia/Gladys Knight & The Pips (Imagination, 1973)
Train in the Distance/Paul Simon (Hearts and Bones, 1983)
Last Train/Mavis Staples (You Are Not Alone, 2010)
Der Bundesbahn Blues/Helmut Qualtinger (Schallplattl Vor’m Mund, 1956)
Sources: Wikipedia, YouTube
Christian's Music Musings 
Thanks! Looks good your train compilation. The funk-pop-number from the Doobie Brothers is somehow immortal and also “Locomotive Breath” by the Jethro Tull with the long intro through the flute remains unforgettable.
Before the trucks came on American highways, the goods were transported by railways. There were countless stories about trains that found musical entrance into the C & W scene, R & B scene, rock & roll scene and also into pop music. The classic of Little Junior’s Blue Flames – here in the version of Elvis – belongs to them:
LikeLike
Thanks, the Elvis version is great! I also completely forgot about “Train Kept A-Rollin’,” which is another tune I really like – suppose I still need to brush up on my train songs!:-)
LikeLike
Just popped in to have peek at your stuff. This particular post caught my attention. Some good choices above. Fred Eaglesmith ‘I like Trains’ You can’t get any more train than that. Cool post. CB loves Trains. Lots of great train songs. I’ll be back. CB
LikeLiked by 1 person
Train songs are in abundance in my record pile. Too many to mention. So many good ones. Along with the one i commented on here are two more that I’ve recently listened too. Both very good. John Prine ‘Morning Train’ and the Blasters ‘Jubilee Train’ just a taste along with your choices.
LikeLike
Thanks, good stuff!
Prior to this post, I had not specifically looked into train songs and frankly had no idea how many such tunes exist.
So for all train song fans I’m adding your suggestions to the list, as well as Train Kept A-Rollin’ by Tiny Bradshaw.
Morning Train/John Prine
Jubilee Train/The Blasters
I Like Trains/Fred Eaglesmith
Train Kept A-Rollin’/Tiny Bradshaw
LikeLiked by 1 person
Those are just the ones that popped up lately. Like i said there are so many good ones. The Yardbirds version of ‘Train Kept a Rollin’ is great. Great post. I’ll be back for more of your takes.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, you’re definitely much more of a train song expert than I am, so really appreciate the feedback. And, BTW, totally agree about the Yardbirds version!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Look forward to your other takes. (If there is one thing that CB is not, is an expert on anything)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank, for a “non-expert,” you sure as heck seem to know a lot about music! 🙂
I’ve been listening to music for about 40 years. I also used to play as a bassist in a couple of bands for some time in my late teens/early 20s – granted, none of this doesn’t automatically means I know a lot about music. In fact, since I’ve started the music blogging thing, I’ve increasingly realized how little I know!
The way I make myself feel better about my ignorance is to say to myself, it’s actually not a terrible thing – after all, it would be boring if I knew “everything” there is to know about the type of music I like. It turns out blogging about this stuff is a great way to learn about it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well said. I just know what I like and what sounds good to me. That’s the bottom line. A personal thing. Bass player? Man there are so many good players in the music world. Where do you start.? It’s like train songs.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha, great bass players (I’d say at the time I was average at best, so I’m not including myself here). Could be a good theme for another list…
LikeLiked by 2 people
BTW, I just posted the list of bass players, or I should better say a list!
LikeLike