Classic Rock Bottom

ROCKOLLECTIONS: NATIONAL TRAIN DAY PT.1

It is understandable if you missed National Train Day this past Saturday, what with Mothers Day being Sunday and far more important.
Hell, I am even late by a few days with this show, lol!
Some background- National Train Day is a holiday started by Amtrak in 2008 as a method to spread information to the general public about the advantages of Rail Travel and the History of Trains in the United States.
It is held each year on the Saturday closest to May 10th, the anniversary of the Pounding of the Golden Spike in Promontory, Utah- which marked the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad.
In short, a self-serving pseudo-holiday invented by Amtrak!
But affording me the opportunity to play some of the great and varied Train Songs produced in Rock & Roll over the years.
All Aboard!!!
 
Here are those links to listen, and Riding The Rails is still the best way to see the country, at Mike Pell Rockollections:
 

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Comment by Mike Pell on May 15, 2013 at 2:11am

Jon thanks.

At first they slowed it down, but then they kicked it up a few notches.

Me think I like UFO, and from 1980- how come I didn't hear that?
Mike

Comment by Mike Pell on May 15, 2013 at 2:01am

RJ,

They make those collections so enticing!

I think I have almost every Harry album, some aren't there...like the not-terribly-good Popeye soundtrack.

One odd thing, he started on Mercury Records, and ended there.

Thanks,

Mike

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Comment by Jon on May 14, 2013 at 6:39pm

Here's the UFO version

Comment by RJhog (Admin) on May 14, 2013 at 2:56pm

Off subject, but speaking of staples, Mike, I wonder if this might interest you...(click the underlined word "this").

Comment by Mike Pell on May 14, 2013 at 1:44pm

That's a great line by your Grandpa Scott, lol!

And that sounds so cool for a kid, living across the street from the railroad yard.

Like having real-size toy trains!

Best I can say out here in Brooklyn is we have the Subway, running underground.

And in certain places, like a church I go to, you can feel the whole place shake as the train goes by.

And I always think, man this happens all day and night, every day, and in BOTH directions.

How long can a building stand that without some structural damage?
As for me, I live close enough to the water leading to the Atlantic Ocean that on foggy nights I can hear boat horns...a nice sound too.

Comment by Scott on May 14, 2013 at 1:34pm

My Grandparents lived across the street from the railroad yard and maintenance houses.  There were literally dozens of tracks full of trains withn feet of the yard I used to play in.

 

One of my favorite stories is how that little old house use to shake as trains pulled in and how when Grandpas got too old to stay there - my aunt moved him into assisted living and when I went to visit him for the first time, I asked him how he was doing ...  His comment?  "It's too damn quiet!"  hahahahaha

Comment by Mike Pell on May 14, 2013 at 1:28pm

RJ & Scott,

Like I wrote to Jon, those train sounds are a long ago memory from my childhood.

Nowadays if I go somewhere in another State, I will occasionally be awakened or just plain hear those train whistles at night when it's quiet, from a distance- and if lucky, with a pretty woman who lives there next to me sleeping through it because she is used to the sound.

And I will briefly touch on how FREIGHT trains are definitely still viable in Part Two.

Mike

Comment by Mike Pell on May 14, 2013 at 1:12pm
Jon,
CHOO CHOO CHOO!
God bless you!
And you liked this one a lot too- I am on a streak!
UFO covered that Elvis song?
How dare they, lol?
I still have the Love song they covered that you gave me, which is actually very good- wouldn't surprise me if they did justice to Mystery Train.
Answering your question...I knew train songs could be cool, lol!
Blackfoot...who are they?
What are you, a Railroad Man, lol?
No...don't hold your breath waiting, I can't play them all.
You actually interrupted your writing to have dinner?
Ok, I'm back...took a nap, had minor surgery, read a book, and got married...TWICE, lol!
This here by you, "recently (hell it might been this past Saturday)", reminds me of Steven Wright and I will be playing it next week.
There used to be train tracks and trains where I lived in Manhattan when I was a kid, all the way West near the Hudson River where no one went except workers and me on my bike.
There was a slaughterhouse they stopped at.
Of course they are long gone, and not many people would believe me, but late at night I could hear those trains and whistles.
The train is not done with, as I will briefly talk about in Part two.
Thanks for the listen & writing, and hey, it's time for lunch,
Mike
Comment by Mike Pell on May 14, 2013 at 12:44pm
RJ,
That's good, I introduced you to some good music then.
And very sharp, noticing more staples- Harry Nilsson, The Kinks, Elvis and The Stones.
There are many others, and you'll pick up on them written right out there in stone too!
But maybe Jon wouldn't say that, after dinner he uses words like "viable", LOL!
And the Golden Pell to the Rolling Stones!
One of very many lesser known songs by them that are killer!
Yes I noticed, and you are right, there is a tremendous amount going on in that song.
It leaps out at you!
Good memory about the old getting home for Thanksgiving by Train shows I did.
As I told Scott, much of my free time was given to the Stanley Cup playoffs.
And admittedly, I remembered and stole a few ideas that I had for sets from those old shows.
Wait a minute...can you steal from YOURSELF, LOL?
NAH!!!
And those ideas were still...well, "viable", lol!
Another half coming, hope you enjoy that too.
Thanks for the listen & writing, and being so damn sharp- that's why I enjoy hearing what you have to say about these shows,
Mike
Comment by Mike Pell on May 14, 2013 at 12:03pm
Scott,
Good for me, that I chose a topic that is a large part of your family heritage.
I get the reference that you care about the railroads...and Nilsson does too, lol!
This was a rushed show because I am a hockey fanatic watching 2, 3, 4 games a night with the Stanley Cup playoffs, and I did a quick search on the web for that Golden Spike.
Honestly, I had thought it was Promontory Point from school, but I went with what it said, just Promontory, Utah.
What was I gonna do, argue with the computer, lol?
Turns out you WERE more correct!
I like this...the The Golden Pell SPIKE goes to Two Trains Runnin' by Butterfield Blues.
SPIKE is cool enough for me, lol! 
Didn't we have a conversation before though, where I stated that the album it is from, East/West was a sadly forgotten Classic album?
Drop everything and get a copy.
Glad you thought it was a nice show...but there is another half to go.
The caboose part, lol!
Thanks for the listen & writing,
Mike

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