Orange Blossom Special

The fiddle tune "Orange Blossom Special", about the passenger train of the same name, was written by Ervin T. Rouse (1917-1981) in 1938. The original recording was created by Ervin and Gordon Rouse in 1939. It is often called simply The Special. It has been referred to as "the fiddle player's national anthem".^{[citation needed]}

Importance

By the 1950s, it had become a perennial favorite at bluegrass festivals, popular for its rousing energy. For a long time no fiddle player would be hired for a bluegrass band unless he could play it.

For many years, Orange Blossom Special has been not only a train imitation piece, but also a vehicle to exhibit the fiddler's pyrotechnic virtuosity. Performed at breakneck tempos and with imitative embellishments that evoke train wheels and whistles, OBS is guaranteed to bring the blood of all but the most jaded listeners to a quick, rolling boil.
 — Norm Cohen, author, Long Steel Rail: The Railroad in American Folksong

Authorship

Other musicians, including Robert Russell "Chubby" Wise, have claimed authorship of the song. As Chubby tells the story, one night, after he and fellow musician Ervin made their usual rounds, they decided to visit the Jacksonville Terminal in Florida and see what the fuss over the Orange Blossom Special train was all about . .

. . even though it was about three in the morning we went right into the Terminal and got on board and toured that train, and it was just about the most luxurious thing I had 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. 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.

Rouse copyrighted the song in 1938 and recorded it in 1939. Bill Monroe, regarded by many as "the father of bluegrass music," recorded the song (with Art Wooten on fiddle) and made it a hit. Since then countless versions have been recorded, among them Chubby's own, as an instrumental in a 1969 album, Chubby Wise and His Fiddle. And that version, said Chubby, "is the way it was written and the way it's supposed to be played."^[1]

Lyrics

Look a-yonder comin'
Comin' down that railroad track
Hey, look a-yonder comin'
Comin' down that railroad track
It's the Orange Blossom Special
Bringin' my baby back

Well, I'm going down to Florida
And get some sand in my shoes
Or maybe Californy
And get some sand in my shoes
I'll ride that Orange Blossom Special
And lose these New York blues

"Say man, when you going back to Florida?"
"When am I goin' back to Florida? I don't know, don't reckon I ever will."
"Ain't you worried about getting your nourishment in New York?"
"Well, I don't care if I do-die-do-die-do-die-do-die."

Hey talk about a-ramblin'
She's the fastest train on the line
Talk about a-travellin'
She's the fastest train on the line
It's that Orange Blossom Special
Rollin' down the seaboard line

Notable

• Johnny Cash named his 1965 album after the song. While bluegrass performers tend to play it as strictly an instrumental, Cash sang the lyrics, and replaced the fiddle parts with two harmonicas.
• The Moody Brothers' Grammy nominated country instrumental "The Great Train Song Medley" featured their father Dwight Moody playing fiddle on "Orange Blossom Special".^[2]
• Florida-native Vassar Clements also often played it during his live performances.
• A version by Doug Kershaw peaked at #9 on the RPM Country Tracks chart in Canada in 1970.
• Noted session artist Tim Watson is famous for performing the song with his band, Black Creek, in imitation of a semi-trailer truck rather than a locomotive. The interpretation includes a mock truck horn (rather than a steam whistle), a police car, and a collision with a rather unfortunate opossum.
• The song was covered by Swedish instrumental rock band The Spotnicks in 1961 and released on their first album, The Spotnicks in London – Out-a-Space!. In 1962 the Spotnicks recording entered the British Top 30.
• It was the official theme song (1949-1977) for the Texas Cowgirls basketball team who barnstormed playing men's basketball rules against male opponents. Decked out with boleros, western hats, holsters and pistols over their basketball uniforms, the team entered the courts to the tune, dropping an article of western fashion with each fancy layup.
• The song was covered by award-winning fiddler Wayne Masters and his band, the Back Creek Valley Boys, on their 2010 album Back Creek Valley Express.
• Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers played the song at the 2011 A Capitol Fourth Concert on the National Mall in Washington, DC.

See also

• Orange Blossom Special (passenger train)
• List of train songs

References

Further reading

• Randy Noles (2007). Fiddler's Curse: The Untold Story of Ervin T. Rouse, Chubby Wise, Johnny Cash, and The Orange Blossom Special. Anaheim Hills, CA: Centerstream. ISBN 978-1-57424-214-0. 
• Betsy Carter (2006). The Orange Blossom Special. New York: Dell. ISBN 0-385-33976-3. 

Video

• Roy Clark performs The Orange Blossom Special 1987 Live
• Orange Blossom Special by The Bluegrass Babies - children's animation with a soundtrack by The Rosinators
• 9 Year Old Fiddler - Mikayla Roach - Orange Blossom Special
• Orange Blossom Special sung by Redhill Billies, Somerset, UK
• Silver Star Leaves Miami: The Orange Blossom Special performed by Ted the Fiddler, from the Hy Mayerson and Sean Corcoran travelogue Miami to New York

External links

• Orange Blossom Special by The Rosinators (free download)
• Recording of the "Orange Blossom Special" by Gamble Rogers at the 1982 Florida Folk Festival; made available for public use by the State Archives of Florida.

v t e Bluegrass music Typical instruments Acoustic guitar · Banjo · Dobro · Fiddle · Mandolin · Upright bass Stylistic origins Blues · Country music · Folk music · Old-time music Sub- and fusion genres Traditional bluegrass · Progressive bluegrass · Bluegrass gospel · Czech bluegrass Notable festivals Bill Monroe's Bean Blossom Festival · California Bluegrass Association Father's Day Bluegrass Festival · Delfest · Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival · High Sierra Music Festival · Kentucky Festival of the Bluegrass · Merlefest · San Francisco Bluegrass & Old Time Festival · South Carolina State Bluegrass Festival · River City Bluegrass Festival · Rockygrass · Telluride Bluegrass Festival · Wintergrass Other International Bluegrass Music Museum · International Bluegrass Music Association · International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame · Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America · Bluegrass Unlimited Category · Portal

v t e Johnny Cash Studio albums With His Hot and Blue Guitar Sings the Songs That Made Him Famous The Fabulous Johnny Cash Greatest! Sings Hank Williams Now, There Was a Song! Now Here's Johnny Cash The Sound of Johnny Cash All Aboard the Blue Train Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash I Walk the Line Orange Blossom Special Everybody Loves a Nut Happiness is You Old Golden Throat More of Old Golden Throat Hello, I'm Johnny Cash Man in Black A Thing Called Love Any Old Wind That Blows Ragged Old Flag Junkie and the Juicehead Minus Me John R. Cash Look at Them Beans One Piece at a Time The Last Gunfighter Ballad I Would Like to See You Again Gone Girl Silver Rockabilly Blues The Baron The Adventures of Johnny Cash Johnny 99 Rainbow Johnny Cash is Coming to Town Classic Cash: Hall of Fame Series Water from the Wells of Home Boom Chicka Boom The Mystery of Life American Recordings Unchained American III: Solitary Man American IV: The Man Comes Around American V: A Hundred Highways American VI: Ain't No Grave Concept albums Songs of Our Soil Ride This Train The Lure of the Grand Canyon Blood, Sweat and Tears Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian Sings the Ballads of the True West From Sea to Shining Sea America: A 200-Year Salute in Story and Song The Johnny Cash Children's Album The Rambler Gospel albums Hymns by Johnny Cash Hymns from the Heart The Holy Land Sings Precious Memories A Believer Sings the Truth Believe in Him My Mother's Hymn Book Christmas albums The Christmas Spirit The Johnny Cash Family Christmas Classic Christmas Johnny Cash Country Christmas Collaborations Carryin' On with Johnny Cash and June Carter Johnny Cash and His Woman The Legend of Jesse James The Survivors Live Highwayman Heroes Class of '55 Highwayman 2 The Road Goes on Forever VH1 Storytellers Live albums At Folsom Prison At San Quentin The Johnny Cash Show På Österåker Strawberry Cake At Madison Square Garden A Concert Behind Prison Walls Soundtrack albums I Walk the Line Little Fauss and Big Halsy The Gospel Road Return to the Promised Land Compilation albums Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 Heart of Cash The World of Johnny Cash Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 Sunday Morning Coming Down International Superstar Five Feet High and Rising Greatest Hits, Vol. 3 The Unissued Johnny Cash Johnny & June Tall Man Encore Biggest Hits The Man in Black 1954–1958 The Man in Black 1959–1962 Come Along and Ride this Train Wanted Man The Man in Black 1963–1969 16 Biggest Hits Love, God and Murder The Essential Johnny Cash Unearthed The Legend The Legend of Johnny Cash 16 Biggest Hits: Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash Personal File The Legend of Johnny Cash Vol. II Songs "25 Minutes to Go" "Any Old Wind That Blows" "The Ballad of Ira Hayes" "Ballad of a Teenage Queen" "Big River" "Blistered" "A Boy Named Sue" "Busted" "Cat's in the Cradle" "Cocaine Blues" "Cry! Cry! Cry!" "Daddy Sang Bass" "Dark as a Dungeon" "Don't Take Your Guns to Town" "Engine 143" "Flesh and Blood" "Folsom Prison Blues" "Get Rhythm" "Goodnight, Irene" "Green, Green Grass of Home" "Greystone Chapel" "Guess Things Happen That Way" "Hey Porter" "Home of the Blues" "Hurt" "I Still Miss Someone" "I Walk the Line" "If I Were a Carpenter" "It Ain't Me Babe" "In My Life" "In the Jailhouse Now" "Jackson" "Kate" "The Man Comes Around" "Man in Black" "The Matador" "Oh Lonesome Me" "One Piece at a Time" "Oney" "Orange Blossom Special" "The One on the Right Is on the Left" "Remember the Alamo" "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky" "Ring of Fire" "Rock Island Line" "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down" "Tennessee Flat Top Box" "A Thing Called Love" "Understand Your Man" "What Is Truth" "What'd I Say" Family June Carter Cash John Carter Cash Rosanne Cash Carlene Carter Vivian Liberto Tommy Cash Carter Family Related articles Discography Sun Records discography Highwaymen Walk the Line Book:Johnny Cash