Listen to ‘Wabash Cannonball’, one of the earliest influences on rock n’ roll
Some time ago now, the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame shared a list of 500 songs that shaped rock music. The very oldest song on that list was ‘Wabash Cannonball’, a country music staple with a long and curious history that has been cited as one of the earliest influences on rock ‘n’ roll. Let’s take a closer look.
There are countless theories surrounding the origins of ‘Wabash Cannonball’. One popular tale claims that the song took its name from a train said to carry the souls of hobos to a balmier plain. Another states that the song was inspired by a tale in which Cal S. Bunyan, the brother of giant lumberjack Paul Bunyan, builds an enormous railroad known as the Ireland, Jerusalem, Australian and Southern Michigan Line, which is said to be so fast that it often arrived as its destination an hour before departure. With that kind of speed, it’s little wonder the tale ends with the 77-car train lifting off into outer space.
Though it was later established that no train named the ‘Cannonball’ existed when this song debuted in the 19th century, it remained a firm favourite among folk, country and bluegrass musicians. The first recorded example of ‘Wabash Cannonball’ was made by The Carter Family in 1929. Interestingly, the folk group’s second incarnation featured Johnny Cash’s future wife, June Carter. Cash would later record a version of the song himself.
In 1936, Roy Acuff released his own take on ‘Wabash Cannonball’. It became a huge hit. In fact, Acuff’s ‘Wabash Cannonball’ is one of less than 40 singles to have sold more than ten million physical copies worldwide. Acuff based his version on a 1903 composition by William Kindt, which was itself based on older train songs, including J.A. Rolfe’s ‘Great Rock Island Route’. With his harmonica player, Dynamite Hatcher, filling in on vocals, Acuff provided steam whistle effects to evoke the sound of a passing train. The track remained one of the group’s main standards, benefitting from the rising popularity of AM Radio. By 1934, 60% of American households had a radio, and ‘Acuff’s ‘Wabash Cannonball’ was a common fixture.
Since then, the track has been covered countless times over. In October 1956, British skiffle king Lonnie Donegan released a high-energy rendition, introducing the track to listeners on the other side of the Atlantic, where skiffle groups were cropping up all over the place, many of them featuring musicians who would later make their name in rock ‘n’ roll, including Jimmy Page, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, who remained a lifelong fan of Donegan.
