Eastbound Train: A Song History

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Under the title "Going for a Pardon," this railroad ballad was published in New York in 1896 by Jos. W. Stern & Co., with words by James Thornton and Clara Hauenschild and music by Thornton; the Levy Sheet Music Collection at Johns Hopkins holds a copy.[1] The cover bills it as the "latest descriptive ballad success" and names Bonnie Thornton as the singer who introduced it.[1] In the story, a little girl with no ticket is travelling to the governor to win a pardon for her father, a prisoner who is losing his sight, and the conductor allows her to ride.[2] The Traditional Ballad Index files the song under its original title as Roud 7390 and, citing Sigmund Spaeth, places Thornton's heyday as a popular songwriter at roughly 1892 to 1898.[2]

Photograph of a steam locomotive with a tall smokestack and an open cab standing on rails, seen from the side.

John Stuart, Locomotive, albumen print from wet collodion negative, c. 1880s. A steam locomotive of the song's era, shown for its subject; it is British, not American.

Early country recordings listed by the Ballad Index carry the title "The East Bound Train" or "East Bound Train."[2] Lester McFarland and Robert A. Gardner recorded it for Brunswick on May 6, 1927.[3] Ernest V. Stoneman sang it with his Dixie Mountaineers at an Edison session in New York on April 25, 1928, and Edison issued it on both disc and cylinder.[4] Riley Puckett, accompanying himself on guitar, recorded it for Columbia in Atlanta on October 29, 1931.[5]

The Ballad Index also cites texts printed in two published collections.[2] The Max Hunter Folk Song Collection at Missouri State University includes recordings titled "Eastbound Train" sung by Mrs. Claudie Richardson at Mountain View, Arkansas, on August 31, 1971,[6] and by Floyd Clouse at Summersville, Missouri, on March 22, 1975.[7] A piece titled "Eastbound Train" appears in The Doofus - Occasional Number 3, a downloadable book of 18 waltzes and old-time songs for mountain dulcimer, notated by Neal Walters and Heidi Cerrigione, who headline the ensemble The Doofus.[8]

Our book that contains the song "Eastbound Train"

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Sources

  1. Johns Hopkins Levy Sheet Music Collection: "Going for a Pardon. Latest Descriptive Ballad Success.".
  2. Traditional Ballad Index: "Going for a Pardon".
  3. Discography of American Historical Recordings: "Brunswick 169".
  4. Discography of American Historical Recordings: "Edison matrix 18440. The east bound train / Dixie Mountaineers; Ernest V. Stoneman".
  5. Discography of American Historical Recordings: "Columbia matrix W151978. East bound train / Riley Puckett".
  6. Max Hunter Folk Song Collection, Missouri State University: "Eastbound Train" (Claudie Richardson, 1971).
  7. Max Hunter Folk Song Collection, Missouri State University: "Eastbound Train" (Floyd Clouse, 1975).
  8. Neal Walters and Heidi Cerrigione: "The Doofus - Occasional Number 3 - 18 Waltzes And Old Time Songs In 3/4 Time For Mountain Dulcimer".
  9. Image: John Stuart, Locomotive, albumen print from wet collodion negative, c. 1880s. The Cleveland Museum of Art.

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