http://www.sun-herald.com/NewsArchive4/010707/tp2de2.htm?date=010707&story=tp2de2.htm
"Orange Blossom Special" is widely considered one of the finest fiddle tunes ever composed. It's been recorded by artists like Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton and Vasar Clements. Charlie Daniels loves to play it.
But its start was anything but auspicious.
During the Great Depression, a fiddler named Chubby Wise was driving a taxi in Jacksonville when he learned the train everyone called the Orange Blossom Special was in town.
Chubby had a second job at night, playing his fiddle in area clubs, and after work one night he and fellow musician Ervin Rouse decided to visit the Jacksonville Terminal to see what all the fuss was about this train.
"Even though it was about three in the morning," Chubby is quoted as telling a writer, "we went right into the terminal and got on board and toured that train. And it was just about the most luxurious thing I'd ever seen.
"Ervin was impressed, too. And when we got done lookin' 'er over, he said, 'Let's write a song about it.' So we went over to my place and that night she was born, me sitting on the side of my bed.
"We wrote the melody in less than an hour and called it 'Orange Blossom Special.' Later, Ervin and his brother put some words to it."
Ervin Rouse copyrighted the song in 1938 and recorded it in 1939. A year later, the legendary Bill Monroe heard "Orange Blossom Special," recorded it and watched it become a hit.
Chubby Wise recorded his own version for a 1969 album, "Chubby Wise and His Fiddle."
That version, he said, "is the way it was written and the way it's supposed to be played."
That song is a classic every time I hear it.
There are other train songs out there that got inspired by trains.
1]Long Train Runnin' by the Doobie Bros.-->Mentions Illinois Central in its chorus.
2]Wabash Cannonball by Roy Acuff
3]Chattanooga Choo-Choo
Just to name a few.
My favorite- which I've heard being broadcasted over the road channel by disgusted crewman- is "Don't go riding on that long black train."
8) I might mention, that when Chubby Wise told the story, at the Lawtey Bluegrass Festival behind stage, he gave the song to Irvin, and did not recieve anything from the later sales!
One of my fav's is an 'ol boy from Northeastern Alabama, Norman Blake.
Norman lived with his back porch on the Alabama Great Southern, and recorded, "Green Light on the Southern."
He and Tony Rice, did an album together, and Tony did this song with Norman, on tour.