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Little Red Caboose Behind The Train/Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane, The
Old-Time, Song Tune. Music by William Shakespeare Hays, 1837-1907 Dedicated To George J. Cowan, Louisville, KY.
ARTIST: The Little Red Caboose Behind The Train (Sung To: Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane) Paul Warmack and his Gully Jumpers, recorded Nashville, TN 10/1/28 From The Railroad In Folksong, RCA Victor Vintage Series 532, 1966. .
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes; DATE: 1871
RECORDING INFO: Carson, Fiddlin' John. Old Hen Cackled and the Rooster's Gonna Crow, Rounder 1003, LP (1987), cut# 1. Clark, Carroll C.. Minstrels and Tunesmiths, JEMF 109, LP (1981), cut#B.07. George, Franklin/Frank. Swope's Knobs, Anachronistic 001, LP (1977), cut#3.07a. Kincaid, Bradley. Mountain Ballads and Old Time Solos. Album Number Six, Bluebonnet BL 123, LP (1963), cut#A.01. Mainer, Wade. Old Time Banjo Tunes, Old Homestead OHS-90168, LP (1984), cut#A.01 (Little Log Cabin in/by the Lane). Pegram, George. Union Grove, The Hub of the Universe, Union Grove SS-4, LP (1970), cut# 3. Pegram, George. George Pegram, Rounder 0001, LP (1970), cut# 3. Pegram, George. O Love Is Teasin', Elektra BLP-12051, LP (1985), cut#1.14 . Possum Hunters. Death on Lee Highway, Takoma A-1010, LP (196?), cut# 2 (Little Log Cabin in/by the Lane). Seeger, Peggy. Our Singing Heritage. Vol I, Elektra EKL-151, LP (195?), cut# 3. Tennessee River Boys. Good Old Mountain Music, Cumberland MGC 29505, LP (196?), cut# 1 (Log Cabin in the Lane)
OTHER NAMES: “Little Old Log Cabin Down the Lane;” “Hungry Hash House (Blues);” “Fiddle and Bow;” “Little Joe, the Wrangler,” “Lily of the Valley;” “Little Old Sod Shanty (on the Claim);” “Little Red Caboose Behind the Train,” “Another Fall of Rain” “Little Joe the Wrangler,” “Beans, Gravy and Bacon.”
SOURCES: Traditional Music in America, Folklore Associates, Bk (1940/1965), p281. Levy site; A Fiddler’s Companion; Digital Tradition;
NOTES: The song was written and published in 1871 by a Kentucky riverman turned vaudeville songwriter, Will Hayes.
William Shakespeare Hays was born in Louisville, KY on July 19, 1837 and died there at the age of 70 on July 23, 1907. His parents were Hugh and Martha (Richardson) Hays. He married Belle McCullough in July of 1865. His known children are Mattie Belle Hays (dedicated to, in the song O, Let Me Kiss the Baby, 1867), Susie Hobbs Hays (dedicated to, in the song Kiss Me, Good Night, Mama, 1870) and Samuel Brown Hays (dedicated to, in the song How Much Does the Baby Weigh, 1880).
His most popular songs were Evangeline (1862), The Drummer Boy of Shiloh (1863), We Parted by the River (1866), The Little Old Cabin in the Lane (1871), Molly Darling (1871) [with 3 million copies published], Susan Jane (1871), Oh! Sam (1872), Angels Meet Me at the Cross Roads (1875). Early in de Mornin' (1877), Roll Out! Heave Dat Cotton (1877). He composed approximately 350 songs. Two significant collections, detailed as items 286 (manuscripts) and 813 (prints and photographs), are at The Filson Club Historical Society of Kentucky.
The “Little Old Log Cabin Down the Lane” melody has been adapted and used in a number of different settings and has spawned a number of parodies: “Hungry Hash House (Blues);” “Fiddle and Bow;” “Little Joe, the Wrangler,” “Lily of the Valley;” “Little Old Sod Shanty (on the Claim);” “Little Red Caboose Behind the Train,” “Another Fall of Rain” “Little Joe the Wrangler,” “Beans, Gravy and Bacon.”
Bob Bolton from DT: I just realised that the tune I know to this is virtually the same as Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane (known here as several songs, including a shearing song Another Fall of Rain or Waiting for the Rain - the lament of a bunch of worn out shearers, hoping for rain to bring a break in activity so their sore wrists and back can recuperate.
The southern gospel hymn, “Lily of the Valley,” with words by Charles W. Fry (1881) was adapted from Hays' “Little Old Log Cabin.” The earliest recording was by (Frank) Welling & (John) McGhee in Ashland Kentucky 1928 (Vo 5251). Charles W. Fry lyrics first appeared in the Salvation Army's The War Cry, December 29, 1881. Fry wrote the lyrics in Lincoln, England, while working with the Salvation Army there.
The “Little Old Log Cabin Down the Lane” was recorded in October, 1925 for Edison by Fiddlin' Cowan Powers and Family, who had waxed an earlier version for Victor, in August, 1924 (though for that particular side the Victor company brought in Carson Robison to perform the vocal). The piece was first released in 1923, however, when Fiddlin' John Carson's (north Georgia) version became the second best-selling country music record for that year. Yet another performance, Ernest Stoneman's, made the charts that decade, in 1926 when his version became the fifth best-selling country music record.
The Little Red Caboose Behind The Train was sung by Paul Warmack and his Gully Jumpers, recorded Nashville, TN 10/1/28 From The Railroad In Folksong, RCA Victor Vintage Series 532, 1966.
From the notes:The Grand Ole Opry, in its first decade, featured a handful of Tennessee String Bands like Paul Warmack's Gully Jumpers. The Little Red Caboose Behind The Train is a folk parody of Will Hay's minstrel classic "The Little Log Cabin In The Lane." Railroaders delighted in caboose ditties which evoked the warmth of a trainman's home and the spirit of his final parting. ARCHIE GREEN
Here are the lyrics to “Little Red Caboose Behind The Train:”
I am growing old and weary, And my sight is getting dim
I have laid my links and pins away to rust
And the only friend that's left to me, In this wide world to stand
Is the Little Red Caboose Behind The Train.
CHORUS: Oh, I'm growing old and feeble now, And my sight is getting dim
And I cannot see those signals anymore.
I can hear those whistles blowing, And I know I'll soon be going
To a better home I know that, far away.
There are young ones coming on, It is time for me to go
They'll be pestered with the rain, the sleet and snow
And they'll find a heap of trouble, When those hills they have to double
With the Little Red Caboose Behind The Train.
CHORUS
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