(Blues - VA) Black Diamond Express To Hell

...an amazing ride along the railroads of America featuring hot and blues tunes from the 1920s - 1960s


Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 79:19
Size: 188.5 MB
Label: T Morpheus
Styles: Roots, Country, Americana, Folk, Jazz
Year: 2006
Art: Front

[0:36] 1. Rev. A.W. Nix - Intro: Black Diamond Express To Hell
[3:00] 2. Frank Hutchinson - Hell Bound Train
[2:48] 3. Washboard Sam - Flying Crow Blues
[2:25] 4. The Dixon Brothers - Beyond Black Smoke
[2:36] 5. Norfolk Jubilee Quartet - When The Train Comes Along
[2:34] 6. Pee Wee King - Railroad Boogie
[3:11] 7. Vernon Dalhart - Wreck Of The Old 97
[3:39] 8. Cousin Joe Pleasant - Pullman Porter
[2:46] 9. Ma Rainey - Traveling Blues
[2:21] 10. The Drifting Cowboys - Orange Blossom Special
[3:05] 11. Grayson & Whitter - Train 45
[2:19] 12. Bobby Crown - One Way Ticket
[2:55] 13. Jesse James - Southern Casey Jones
[2:59] 14. Duke Ellington - Daybreak Express
[3:07] 15. Pink Anderson - C. C. & O. Blues
[3:01] 16. Jimmy Forrest - Night Train
[3:20] 17. Darby & Tarlton - Lonesome Frisco Line
[2:46] 18. Al White - Johnny B Goode
[3:19] 19. King Solomon Hill - Gone Dead Train
[1:50] 20. The Carter Family - Engine 143
[2:51] 21. Sammy Price - Boxcar Shorty And Peter Blue
[2:49] 22. The Blue Sky Boys - Life's Railway To Heaven
[2:11] 23. Sonny Thompson - Late Freight
[3:17] 24. Carver Boys - The Brave Engineer
[3:12] 25. 'Billikin' Johnson - Sun Beam Blues
[2:47] 26. Cousin Leroy - Waiting At The Station
[2:43] 27. Nora Lee King - Cannonball
[3:23] 28. Eugene Fox - Sinner's Dream
[1:16] 29. Rev. A.W. Nix - Outro: Black Diamond Express To Hell


There are few more iconoclastic images of progress than the locomotive, preferably steam-powered. An obvious symbol of industrialization, the train replaced the chariot as the mode of transport to heaven or correspondingly to hell, brought lovers together or sped them apart, and offered a one-way ticket out of poverty to the promised land of freedom and prosperity. Its rail lines could be lonely or feted, its conductors and engineers idolized. Trains were the ultimate metaphor and the enduring image of a fast-growing and even faster-moving country. No wonder then so many artists memorialized the train in song. Black Diamond Express to Hell takes listeners on a scintillating journey back in time and across the musical landscape. 27 songs strong, bookended by the title track sermon, this set is a musical train spotter's dream come true. Stopping off to visit hillbillies and country stars, big-band legends and blues greats, and careening merrily from jazz to boogie, R&B to blues, mountain music to classic country, and speeding around the decades, this is one hell of a trip. Thankfully, Ozit Records has hired an expert conductor, Steve Hardstaff, for the journey. The music is riveting in its diversity and the myriad ways in which trains are addressed. A phenomenal trawl through the express lines to fame and the forgotten routes through forlorn pastures of Americana.


Massive respects to Jerry Leiber who is recently deceased. Thanks for your legacy...you and Mike left behind some great songs; and we won't forget you, Jerry. So night night and thanks for everything.
Requiescat In Pace you old "Hound Dog", you.