Shine a Light: Field Recordings from the Great American Railroad | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Live album by Billy Bragg and Joe Henry | ||||
Released | 23 September 2016 | |||
Recorded | Various railway stations between Chicago and Los Angeles March 2016 | |||
Genre | Folk | |||
Length | 42:58 | |||
Label | Cooking Vinyl | |||
Producer | Billy Bragg, Joe Henry | |||
Billy Bragg chronology | ||||
| ||||
Joe Henry chronology | ||||
|
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
The Arts Desk | [2] |
The Guardian | [3] |
Popmatters | [4] |
Shine a Light: Field Recordings from the Great American Railroad is a 2016 album of field recordings made by British singer Billy Bragg and American musician Joe Henry as they performed in waiting rooms and trackside at railway stations on a journey between Chicago and Los Angeles in March 2016. The project was conceived after Henry produced Bragg's thirteenth studio album Tooth & Nail at his home studio in South Pasadena. It was released on the Cooking Vinyl label on 23 September 2016. The project is named after a lyric in the traditional folk song "Midnight Special" (mistakenly credited to Lead Belly after a 1934 recording he made). [5]
In March 2016, English singer-songwriter Billy Bragg and fellow troubadour and producer Joe Henry set off from Chicago's Union Station with the intention of "reconnect[ing] with the culture of American railroad travel and the music it inspired." [5] They undertook a 2,700-mile, 65-hour train ride recording songs that ""reflect the railroad’s impact on the nation’s social and cultural life." [6] Goebel Reeves's Hobo's Lullaby (well known from Woody Guthrie performances) was captured at an Amtrak station in Alpine, Texas; the folk ballad Railroad Bill at St Louis Gateway station, Lonesome Whistle by Hank Williams in a sleeping berth near Whistle Junction, Missouri. [7]
A short documentary Shine a Light by director Ray Foley was made of the trip and streamed for free on the official website. [5]
All songs performed by Billy Bragg and Joe Henry; music composers are listed below.
A hobo is a migrant worker in the United States. Hoboes, tramps and bums are generally regarded as related, but distinct: a hobo travels and is willing to work; a tramp travels, but avoids work if possible; and a bum neither travels nor works.
Stephen William Bragg, known as Billy Bragg, is an English singer-songwriter and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes. His music is heavily centred on bringing about change and involving the younger generation in activist causes.
Yodeling is a form of singing which involves repeated and rapid changes of pitch between the low-pitch chest register and the high-pitch head register or falsetto. The English word yodel is derived from the German word jodeln, meaning "to utter the syllable jo". This vocal technique is used in many cultures worldwide. Recent scientific research concerning yodeling and non-Western cultures has shown that music and speech evolved from a common prosodic precursor.
Joseph Lee Henry is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer. He has released 15 studio albums and produced multiple recordings for other artists, including three Grammy Award-winning albums.
Same Train, A Different Time is the ninth studio album by American country music artist Merle Haggard backed by The Strangers, released in 1969, featuring covers of songs by legendary country music songwriter Jimmie Rodgers. It was originally released as a 2 LP set on Capitol (SWBB-223).
The Legend is a box set by country singer Johnny Cash, released in 2005 on Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings. It is one of the few multi-disc sets that contain songs recorded throughout Cash's entire career, from 1955 to 2003. Over four CDs, most of Cash's biggest hits are covered, in addition to numerous traditional compositions Cash recorded versions of, and several collaborations with other known artists, including Rosanne Cash, U2 and Bob Dylan. In keeping with Cash's persona as the Man in Black, the data surface of the discs is black. In 2006, the set won the Grammy Award for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package. It was certified Gold on January 11, 2006, by the RIAA.
C. W. McCall & Co. is country musician C. W. McCall's sixth and last album of original songs, released on Polydor Records in 1979, before McCall announced his retirement from the music industry. Out of the ten tracks, only one was written as a collaboration between McCall and Chip Davis, Fries's songwriting partner, while one other, "Silver Cloud Breakdown", was composed by Davis several years earlier and was featured in the movie Convoy, though it was not present on its soundtrack.
"Rock Island Line" is an American folk song. Ostensibly about the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, it appeared as a folk song as early as 1929. The first recorded performance of "Rock Island Line" was by inmates of the Arkansas Cummins State Farm prison in 1934.
The discography of British singer-songwriter Billy Bragg includes 13 studio albums, 6 live albums, 12 compilation albums, 5 extended plays, and 20 singles.
Original Folkways Recordings: 1960–1962 is the title of a recording by Doc Watson and Clarence Ashley, released in 1994.
Sittin' Here Pickin' the Blues is the title of a recording by American folk music and country blues artists Doc Watson and Merle Watson, released in 2004. It contains songs taken from albums that Doc and Merle recorded on the Flying Fish label in the 1980s. It contains all the songs from Pickin' the Blues, three from Doc and Merle Watson's Guitar Album, three from Red Rocking Chair and a live version of "Deep River Blues".
Double Time is the second studio album by singer/guitarist Leon Redbone, released in 1977. It peaked at #38 on the Billboard pop album charts.
Goebel Leon Reeves was an American folk singer. His most famous song is "Hobo's Lullaby", which has been covered by various singers, especially Woody Guthrie. Among other artists who later performed the song were Woody Guthrie's son Arlo, Emmylou Harris, and Billy Bragg with Joe Henry. A 2016 article in the Los Angeles Times said the song is "one of the most disarmingly endearing train songs ever written", and is "inextricably linked with American folk music icon Woody Guthrie".
The Capitol Years is a compilation album of the American folk music group the Kingston Trio's recordings from their time with the Capitol Records label.
Jack Elliott at the Second Fret is a live album by American folk musician Ramblin' Jack Elliott, released in 1962.
"(I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle" is a song written by Hank Williams and Jimmie Davis. It became his fourteenth consecutive Top 10 single in 1951.
Elsie McWilliams was a songwriter who wrote for Jimmie Rodgers. McWilliams, even though she is only officially credited with writing twenty songs, actually wrote or co-wrote 39 songs for Rodgers. McWilliams was his most frequent collaborator. She was the first woman to make a career as a country music songwriter.
"Waiting for a Train" is a song written and recorded by Jimmie Rodgers and released by the Victor Talking Machine Company as the flipside of "Blue Yodel No. 4" in February 1929. The song originated in the nineteenth century in England. It later appeared in several song books, with variations on the lyrics throughout the years.
The Million Things That Never Happened is a 2021 studio album by the English singer Billy Bragg. The title track refers to various social events which could not take place due to lockdowns in the COVID-19 pandemic.