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Wreck Of The Old 97/ Wreck of the Old Southern 97
Old-Time Ballad; Widely known; Melody based on Henry Clay Work's "The Ship That Never Returned."
ARTIST: David George
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes
EARLIEST DATE: Based on 1903 train wreck; Frist recording 1923 Henry Whitter
RECORDING INFO: The Wreck Of Old Ninety-Seven [Laws G 2/Me I-B 74]
At - Wreck of the Old Ninety-Seven (Air Force)
Rm - Nine to Five; Ship That Never Returned; Ship in the Sky
Sm - Lover That Never Returned
Mf - Tale of Johnny Faulk; Wreck on the Somerset Road; Speakers Didn't Mind; On a Summer Eve
Pb - Super Skier; Long Line Skinner ; Stephen Brady's Last Ride
Laws, G. Malcolm / Native American Balladry, Amer. Folklore Society, Bk (1964/1950), p213
Wernick, Peter (ed.) / Bluegrass Songbook, Oak, Sof (1976), p 99 (Wreck of the Old 97)
Friedman, Albert B. (ed.) / Viking Book of Folk Ballads of the English-S, Viking, sof (1963), p319 [1930s]
Shay, Frank (ed.) / My Pious Friends and Drunken Companions and More ..., Dover, Sof (1961/1927), p131 (Wreck of the Old 97)
Banjo Newsletter, BNL, Ser (1973-), 1977/08,p21b (Wreck of Old 97)
Leisy, James F. (ed.) / Folk Song Abecedary, Bonanza, Bk (1966), p299
Arizona Wranglers (1920-30's). Cohen, Norm (ed.) / Long Steel Rail. The Railroad in American Folksong, U. Illinois, Sof (2000/1981), p197 [1929/08ca] (Wreck of the '97)
Bailey, Mike. Banjo Newsletter, BNL, Ser (1973-), 1982/04,p 9 (Wreck of Old 97)
Blake, Norman and Nancy. Blind Dog, Rounder 0254-C, Cas (1988), trk# 11
Boarman, Andrew F. Mountain State Music, June Appal JA 025, LP (1978), trk# 14
Boxcar Willie. King of the Road, Warwick WW 5084, LP (1980), trk# A.08 (Wreck of the Old 97)
Campbell, Lena. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume IV, Religous Songs and Others, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p132/#683 [1927/04/12] (Wreck of the Southern Old
Cotten, Elizabeth. 20th Aniversery Concert, Flying Fish FF 090, LP (1986), trk# A.05 (Wreck of the Old 97)
Dalhart, Vernon. Wreck of Old 97 and other Early Country Hits, Old Homestead OHS 167, LP (1985), trk# 1 [1927/02ca?]
Dalhart, Vernon. Railroad in Folksong, RCA (Victor) LPV 532, LP (1966), trk# B.03 [1926/03/26] (Wreck of the Old 97)
Davis, Larry G.. Songs My Father Taught Me, Davis --, CD (2001), trk# 9 (Wreck of the Old 97)
Ferguson, Hank. Behind These Walls, Folk Legacy FSA 013, LP (1963), trk# B.07 (Wreck of the Old 97)
Gardner, Worley. Mountain Melodies. Tunes of the Appalachians, Oak Leaf OL 3-7-2, LP (197?), trk# 14 (Wreck of 97)
George, Franklin/Frank. Folk Festival of the Smokies. Vol. 1, Traditional FFS-528, LP (1972), trk# 11 (Wreck of the Old 97)
Gladden, Texas. Ballad Legacy, Rounder 11661-1800-2, CD (2001/1941), trk# 29 [1946] (Wreck of the Old 97)
Griffin, Neil. Griffin, Neil / Banjo Fiddle Tunes, Mel Bay, Sof (1976), p12 (Wreck of the Old 97)
Guthrie, Woody. Woody Guthrie Sings Folk Songs, Vol. 2, Folkways FA 2484, LP (1964), trk# B.04 [1940s]
Harney, Carl. White Eyes Music Club. Traditional Music in Southeastern Ohio, Western Kentucky Univ. WKU #1, LP (1977), trk# B.03
Harrell, Kelly. Virginia Traditions. Native Virginia Ballads and Songs, Global Village C 1004, Cas (1992), trk# 8 [1925/08/26] (Wreck of the Old 97)
Horton, Abe. Old Time Music from Fancy Gap, Heritage (Galax) 019, LP (1978), trk# 8
Houston, Cisco. I Ain't Got No Home, Vanguard VRS 9107, LP (1962?), trk# 6 (Wreck of the '97)
Hutchison, Frank. West Virginia Hills. Early Recordings from West Virginia, Old Homestead OHCS 141, LP (1982), trk# 13 [1927/01/28]
Johnson, Maynard. Pickin' Magazine, Pickin' Magazine, Ser, 1978/08,p37
Lewey, Fred. Folk Songs of America. The Robert Winslow Gordon Collection...., Library of Congress AFS L68, LP (1978), trk# 2 [1925/10/15] (Old Ninety Seven)
Lundy Family. Back in Galax Again, Heritage (Galax) 105, Cas (1992), trk# A.03 (Wreck of the Old 97)
Maggie Valley Country Singers. Maggie Valley Country Singers, Rural Rhythm RR-MVS 134, LP (197?), trk# B.04 (Wreck of the Old 97)
Matthews, Helen Clayton. Cox, John Harrington (ed.) / Folk-Songs Mainly from West Virginia, WPA, Bk (1939), 2A [1925/05/29] (Wreck of the Old Southern Ninety-Seven)
McConnell, James. Music from the People of Oregon. Vol. 1, Scoog, LP (197?), trk# A.07 McCue, Celia. Cox, John Harrington (ed.) / Folk-Songs Mainly from West Virginia, WPA, Bk (1939), 2B [1925ca] (Wreck of the Old 97)
Mid-Columbia Old-Time Music Club. Way It Was, Kuiper, CD (2002/1978), trk# 8 (Wreck of the Old 97)
Pegram, George; and Parham, Red (Walter). Pickin' and Blowin', Riverside RLP 12-650, LP (1959), trk# 2 [1957]
Reno, Don;, Red Smiley and the Tennessee Cut Ups. Letter Edged in Black, Wango 111, LP (1971), trk# B.05
Sayre, George; and Charlie Stivers. Songs of the Drinking Gourd, Concept CFM 1001, LP (1960), trk# B.05 (Wreck of the Old 97)
Scruggs, Earl. Banjo Newsletter, BNL, Ser (1973-), 1978/05,p14 (Wreck of Old 97)
Sky, Patrick. Patrick Sky, Vanguard VSD 79179, LP (1965), trk# B.06 (Wreck of the '97)
Stanley, Peter & Christopher. I Went Downtown to Get My Purse, Talkeetna 25009, CD (1999), 5 (Old 97)
Stanley, Peter. At the Sidekick, Talkeetna 25003, CD (1999), trk# 1 [1965/03] (Old 97)
Stoneman, Ernest V.; Trio. Folk Music in America, Vol. 9, Songs of Death & Tragedy, Library of Congress LBC-09, LP (1978), trk# B.05 [1927/01/27]
Stoneman Family. Stoneman Family Old Time Songs, Folkways FA 2315, Cas (1957), trk# 10 [1950s?]
Wiseman, Mac. 20 Old-Time Country Favorites, Rural Rhythm RHY-258, CD (1997/1966), trk# 5 (Wreck of the Old 97)
SOURCES: Mudcat; Folk Index;
NEWSPAPER ARTICLES:
The Washington Post: Washington, Monday September 28, 1903--12 pages
NINE FELL TO DEATH. Mail Train Plunged from Seventy-foot Trestle.
NO OPPORTUNITY TO JUMP. Washington Man and His little Son Among the Killed.
Of the Sixteen People on Ill-fated Train, Not One Escaped Serious Injury -
Scene of Wreck Was Long Trestle Just North of Danville, Va.--Railroad Men Believe Accident Was Caused by the Breaking of a Flange on the Engine Wheel.
Charlotte, N. C. Sept. 27.--While running thirty or thirty-five miles an hour, train No. 97, on the Virginia Midland branch of the Southern Railroad, jumped from a trestle seventy-five feet high, half a mile north of Danville, Va., this afternoon, and was almost demolished.
The wrecked train was exclusively for mail and freight, consisting of four postal cars and one express car, and was southbound. Of the sixteen persons on the train, nine were killed and seven injured.
The dead are:
Engineer J. A. BROADY, Saltsville, Va.
Fireman A. J. CLAPP, Greensboro, N. C.
Conductor J. BLAIR, Danville, Va.
Mail Clerk J. L. THOMPSON, Washington, D. C.
Mail Clerk S. CHAMBERS, Midland, Va.
Mail Clerk D. T. FLORY, Midland, Va.
Mail Clerk P. N. AUGENBRIGHT, Mount Clinton, Va.
Flagman J. S. MOODY, Son of Mail Clerk Thompson.
The injured are:
Mail Clerks Louis W. Spiers, Manassas, Va.; Frank E. Brooks, Charlottesville, Va.; Percival Indemaurer, Washington; Charles E. Reames, Culpeper, Va.; Jennings J. Dunlap, Washington, D. C.; M. C. Maupin, Charlottesville, Va.; and J. Harrison Thompson, St. Luke, Va.
SEVERAL OTHERS MAY DIE.
All of the injured men are seriously hurt and have been taken to the hospital in Danville. The recovery of Mail Clerk Spiers is not expected, and other clerks are thought to have received mortal injuries.
The trestle where the accident occurred is 500 feet long and is located on a sharp curve. The engine had gone only about fifty feet on the trestle when it sprang from the track, carrying with it the four mail cars and an express car. The trestle, a wooden structure, also gave way for a space of fifty feet.
At the foot of the trestle is a shallow stream with a rocky bottom. Striking this, the engine and cars were reduced to a mass of twisted iron and steel and pieces of splintered wood. As the cars went down they touched the sides of the Riverside Cotton Mill, which is very close to the trestle.
All the men were killed instantly, it is thought, and all were greatly mutilated. The skin and hair of the engineer and firemen were torn off by the impact of the steam engine.
CROWD SOON ON SCENE
Several thousand people were soon at the scene of the wreck. No one on any of the cars had made an effort to jump, and the bodies of all those killed were found in the wreckage of the different cars to which they belonged. Ladies who drove out to the wreck from Danville fainted at the sight of the bodies.
It seemed miraculous that any one should have escaped, for each car falling with the engine bounded from it and completely collapsed after striking the rocks at the foot of the trestle. All the express in the express car was practically destroyed except six crates full of canary birds. None of the birds was hurt, though the crates were in the thickest of the debris.
Unofficial opinion is that the cause of the wreck was the high speed of the train on the sharp curve. Railroad men believe a flange on the engine wheel broke. Train No. 97 was running about an hour behind time.
FIRE QUICKLY EXTINGUISHED.
The mail bags in all the mail cars were torn open and the letters and packages were scattered, but it is believed none is lost. Fire, which appeared in the wreckage shortly after it occurred, was quickly extinguished by the Danville fire department.
On account of the wreck, all traffic on the central and northern divisions of the Southern will be delayed several hours. Arrangements are being made to run southbound trains over the Norfolk and Western from Lynchburg via Burkeville to Danville, which will cause delays of several hours.
OFFICIAL REPORTS ON WRECK.
Official reports to the Southern Railway general offices in this city state that the wrecked train was on time at the last station at which she was reported and that it was going at the rate of thirty to thirty-five miles an hour when it approached the trestle and ran off the track just north of the trestle, carrying the trestle down when the engine ran off the tracks to the ground below.
Broady, the dead engineer, was about fifty-five years of age, and had been with the Southern Railroad about twenty years, his service a large part of the time being on the division on which the accident occurred. While reports leave it in doubt just how the accident occurred, and it will take further inquiry to make this certain, it is believed here that the accident was due to a flange on the front wheel projecting over the rail and striking the ties.
The trestle where the accident occurred will be fully repaired by an early hour this morning, and trains are expected to be running over it today.
TAKEN TO DANVILLE HOSPITAL.
The injured men have been taken to the hospital at Danville and are being given every attention. Train No. 97, it is stated at the general offices, has been running about a year and has had no mishaps, except that some months ago it ran into some earth that had fallen on the track.
John L. Thompson, of 12 Thirteenth Street Northeast, who was killed in the wreck, was thirty-six years old. He had been employed in the railway mail service for fifteen years, having entered upon the work while living at his old home, Roxbury N .C. In July last, he was not way promoted to a $1,500 position, and when on his first run in the appointment he was injured in the wreck at Springfield, on July 28, and was unable to work. He had returned to his work only a short time since. He married a Miss Price, of this city, about ten years ago, and then took up his residence in Washington.
THE NEWS AND OBSERVER: Raleigh, North Carolina, Tuesday Morning, September 29, 1903
DEATH'S BLACK BLANK SWALLOWED UP NINE. A Mail Train on the Southern Plunges Over a Trestle.
DUE TO A BROKEN FLANGE? Of the Sixteen People on the Train Not One Escaped Serious Injury - North Carolinians Among the Dead--The Disaster Near Danville.
One of the worst wrecks of recent years occurred at Danville, Virginia, on Sunday afternoon. The following report is taken from the Washington Post:
While running thirty or thirty-five miles an hour train No. 97. on the Virginia Midland branch of the Southern Railroad, jumped from a trestle seventy-five feet high, half a mile north of Danville, Va. this afternoon, and was almost demolished.
The wrecked train was exclusively for mail and freight, consisting of four postal cars and one express car, and was southbound. Of the sixteen persons on the train, nine were killed and seven injured:
The dead are:
Engineer J. A. BROADY, Saltsville, Virginia.
Fireman A. J. CLAPP, Gibsonville, N. C.
Conductor R J. BLAIR, Spencer, N. C.
Mail clerk J. L. THOMPSON, Washington, D. C.
Mail clerk S. CHAMBERS, Midland, Va.
Mail clerk D. T. FLORY, Midland, Virginia.
Mail clerk P. N. AUGENBRIGHT Mount Clinton, Va.
Flagman J. S. MOODY, Raleigh, N. C.
Fireman JOHN HODGE, Raleigh, N. C.
The injured are--Mail Clerks: Louis W. Spiets, Manassas, Va.; Frank E. Brooks, Charlottesville, Va.; Percival Indemaurer, Washington; Charles E. Reames, Culpeper, Va.; Jennings J. Dunlap, Washington, D. C.; M. C. Maupin, Charlottesville, Va., and J. Harrison Thompson, St. Luke, Va.
SEVERAL OTHERS MAY DIE.
All of the injured men are seriously hurt and have been taken to the hospital in Danville. The recovery of Mail Clerk Spiers is not expected, and other clerks are thought to have received mortal injuries.
The trestle where the accident occurred is 500 feet long and is located on a sharp curve. The engine had gone only about fifty feet on the trestle when it sprang from the track carrying with it four mail cars and an express car. The trestle, a wooden structure, also gave way for a space of fifty feet.
At the foot of the trestle is a shallow stream with a rocky bottom. Striking this, the engine and cars were reduced to a mass of twisted iron and steel and pieces of splintered wood. As the cars went down they touched the sides of the Riverside Cotton Mill, which is very close to the trestle.
All the men were killed instantly, it is thought, and all were greatly mutilated. The skin and hair on the engineer and firemen were torn off by the impact of the steam engine.
CROWD SOON ON SCENE.
Several thousand people were soon at the scene of the wreck. No one on any of the cars had made an effort to jump and the bodies of all those killed were found in the wreckage of the different cars to which they belonged. Ladies who drove out to the wreck from Danville fainted at the sight of the bodies.
It seemed miraculous that any one should have escaped, for each car falling with the engine bounded from it and completely collapsed after striking the rocks at the foot at the trestle.
All the express in the express car was practically destroyed except six crates full of canary birds. None of the birds were hurt, though the crates were in the thickest of the debris.
Unofficial opinion is that the cause of the wreck was the high speed of the train on the sharp curve. Railroad men believe a flange on the engine wheel broke. Train No. 97 was running about an hour behind time.
FIRE QUICKLY EXTINGUISHED.
The mail bags in all the mail cars were torn open and the letters and packages were scattered, but it is believed none is lost. Fire, which appeared in the wreckage shortly after it occurred, was quickly extinguished by the Danville fire department.
On account of the wreck, all traffic on the central and northern divisions of the Southern will be delayed several hours.
Arrangements are being made to run southbound trains over the Norfolk and Western from Lynchburg via Burkeville to Danville, which will cause delays of several hours.
OFFICAL REPORTS ON WRECK.
Official reports to the Southern Railway general offices in this city state that the wrecked train was on time at the last station at which she was reported, and that it was going at the rate of thirty to thirty-five miles an hour when it approached the trestle and ran off the track just north of the trestle, carrying the trestle down when the engine ran off the tracks to the ground below.
Broady, the dead engineer, was about fifty-five years of age, and had been with the Southern Railroad about twenty years, his service a large part of the time being on the division on which the accident occurred. While reports leave it in doubt just how the accident occurred, and it will take further inquiry to make this certain, it is believed here that the accident was due to a flange on the front wheel projecting over the rail and striking the ties.
The trestle where the accident occurred will be fully repaired by an early hour this morning, and trains are expected to be running over it today.
TAKEN TO DANVILLE HOSPITAL.
The injured men have been taken to the hospital at Danville and are being given every attention. Train No. 97, it is stated at the general office, has been running about a year and has had no mishaps, except that some months ago it ran into some earth that had fallen on the track.
John L. Thompson, of 12 ThirteenthStreet Northwest, who was killed in the wreck, was thirty-six years old. He had been employed in the railway mail service for fifteen years, having entered upon the work while at his old home, Roxboro. N. C. In July last he was promoted to a $1,500 position, and when on his first run in the new appointment he was injured in the wreck at Springfield on July 28 and was unable to work. He had returned to his work only a short time since.
He married a Miss Price, of this city, about ten years ago and then took up his residence in Washington.
FINLEY'S STATEMENT.
Mr. T. E. Green, City Ticket Agent of the Southern Railway, received a telegram yesterday from Mr. S. H. Hardwicks. General Passenger Agent, giving an interview with Vice-President Finley of Southern Railway giving his views of the wreck. Vice-President Finley is quoted as saying:
"The train consisted of two Postal cars, one express car and one baggage car for the storage of mail. The trestle is very little damaged as the train jumped the track about forty feet north of the trestle on sound track, good line and surface and proper gauge. The trestle was in first class condition and was so well braced that the engine and train falling on the outside of the curve knocked down the outside post and left the others standing. Eye witness reports that the train was approaching the trestle at the rate of speed of thirty to thirty-five mile per hour. The loss of life and personal injuries are very much regretted.
"The cause of the accident is being investigated. The trestle was promptly repaired and the first train passed over at 9:10 this a.m."
Burial of the Dead (Special to News and Observer.)
Salisbury N. C. Sept. 28--The body of Conductor J. T. Blair who was killed in the wreck of No. 97, the fast mail at Danville, Va., Sunday afternoon, was brought to his home at Spencer at 3 o'clock this afternoon. The funeral services were held at once and the interment was in the cemetery near Spencer.
Fireman A. G. Clapp, of Spencer, who was killed in the same wreck, was buried this afternoon at Gibsonville N. C. with I. O. O. F. honors. About fifteen members of Spencer lodge of this order attended the funeral which was held at Gibonsville, the home of the deceased. Mr. Clapp was highly esteemed by all who knew him and was a member of the Presbyterian church. He carried $3,000 life insurance in the Railway Brotherhood. Engineer Broady, who was killed at the same time, had recently moved to Spencer to live having been transferred from Cumberland. Md. This was his first run on the fast mail. He was buried at Saltville. Va., his native place.
NOTES: The “Wreck of Old 97" is one of the most popular old-time melodies and is based on Henry Clay Work's "The Ship That Never Returned." It is usually played as a song but sometimes is played as an instrumental solo.
No ballad composition has touched more Americans than the song describing the wreck of mail train No.97. "Old 97," which consisted of four cars and locomotive No.1102, crashed on September 27, 1903. Running behind schedule, Engineer Joseph A. Broady was trying to make up time as his train approached Danville down a three-mile grade. He realized he did not have enough air pressure to slow the train for an upcoming curved trestle, and in vain he reversed the engine to lock the wheels. "Old 97" vaulted off the trestle, and 11 people were killed. Photographs taken from above the scene ran in newspapers across the country.
Train wrecks occurred relatively frequently at the time, and it was the ballad which sustained this accident's national fame. "The Wreck of the Old 97" was initially recorded commercially by Virginia musicians G. B. Grayson and Henry Whitter, but when it was released by light-opera singer Vernon Dalhart, it became the first million-selling record in the United States.
"The Wreck of the Old 97" also produced the first major lawsuit involving copyright. In 1933 the courts ruled against the RCA Victor Company, stating that David G. George, a Pittsylvania telegraph operator who was at the accident scene, was the song's original author. George was awarded $65,000 on sales of five million records. RCA Victor appealed and tied up the case in court for so long that George never collected his award. In a technique common to the folksong tradition, George composed the ballad by adding new lyrics to the altered tune of an older song, "The Ship That Never Returned."
Time Line
September 27, 1903 - The Southern Railway freight train called the Fast Mail no. 97, or, the "Old 97" leaves the tracks and crashes at the Stillhouse Trestle outside of Danville, Virginia, killing eleven people. The incident inspires the ballad "The Wreck of the Old 97."
December 1923 - G. B. Grayson and Henry Whitter record "The Wreck of the Old 97" for Okeh Records.
1924 - Vernon Dalhart records "The Wreck of the Old 97" for RCA Victor Records. His version of the ballad becomes the first million-selling record in the United States.
March 11, 1933 - The ballad, "The Wreck of the Old 97," produces the first major lawsuit involving copyright. In this suit, the court rules against the RCA Victor Company, stating that David G. George, a Pittsylvania telegraph operator who was at the accident scene in 1903, was the song's original author.
January 3, 1934 - The Third Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously reverses the lower court's ruling in David Graves George's copyright suit against RCA Victor over "The Wreck of the Old 97."
December 17, 1934 - In the copyright suit against RCA Victor over "The Wreck of the Old 97," the U.S. Supreme Court reverses the appellate court decision in favor of David Graves George.
September 15, 1938 - In the copyright suit against RCA Victor over "The Wreck of the Old 97," the district court awards David Graves George $65,295.56.
July 14, 1939 - RCA Victor again appeals the lower court ruling in David Graves George's copyright suit over "The Wreck of the Old 97." And, again, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals reverses the lower court's ruling in favor of RCA Victor.
For extensive notes and versions see Norm Cohen, "Long Steel Rail," University Illinois Press.
Ballad Index notes: DESCRIPTION: "Steve" Broady is told that, due to a mix-up in numbering, his train is "way behind time." He is driving as fast as he can to make up the time when, on a long downgrade, his brakes fail. The train goes off the track; Broady dies at the controls
AUTHOR: disputed (tune by Henry Clay Work)
EARLIEST DATE: 1923 (recording, Henry Whitter); a 1922 variant form appears in Brown
KEYWORDS: crash wreck train death derivative
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Sept 27, 1903 - "Old 97" goes off the track near Danville, killing engineer Joseph A. "Steve" Broady and at least ten others
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MA,Ro,SE,So)
REFERENCES (13 citations):
Laws G2, "The Wreck of Old 97"
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 197-226, "The Wreck of the Old 97" (6 texts plus excerpts, 1 tune, plus a sheet music cover and sundry excerpts from related songs including a text of "The Ship That Never Returned)
Randolph 683, "The Wreck of the Southern Old 97" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 449-451, "The Wreck of the Southern Old 97" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 683)
BrownII 217, "The Wreck of the Old 97" (6 field texts plus 3 more in the headnotes)
JHCoxIIB, #2A-B, pp. 118-121, "The Wreck of the Southern Ninety-Seven," "The Wreck of the Old 97" (2 texts, 2 tunes; both appear from their texts to have been learned from the Dalhart recording)
Cambiaire, p. 97, "The Wreck of Old Ninety-Seven" (1 text, another version probably derived from Dalhart)
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 79-80, "Old Ninety-Seven" (1 text, with a little bit of "The Train That Never Returned" at the end)
Friedman, p. 318, "The Wreck of the Old 97" (1 text)
Botkin-RailFolklr, p. 449, "The Wreck of the Old 97" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 214-215, "The Wreck of the Old 97" (1 text plus "The Rarden Wreck of 1893")
Silber-FSWB, p. 104 "The Wreck Of The Old 97" (1 text)
DT 634, WRECK97*
Roud #777
RECORDINGS:
Vernon Dalhart, "The Wreck of the Southern Old 97" (Edison 51361-R, 1924) (CYL: Edison [BA] 4898, prob. 1924) ; "Wreck of the Old 97" (Victor 19427-A, 1924) (Radiex 4131 [as Jeff Calhoun], 1927); "Wreck of the 97" (Bell 340, 1925) (Regal 8929, 1925/Apex [Can.] 8428, 1926); "Wreck of the Southern Old 97" (Champion 15121, 1926/Supertone 9241, 1928); "The Wreck of the Old 97" (Bluebird B-5335, 1934); "Wreck of the Southern No. 97" (Pathe 032068 [as Sid Turner], 1924) [this is a partial list; Dalhart is thought to have recorded "Wreck" several dozen times]
Kelly Harrell, "The Wreck on the Southern Old 97" (OKeh 7010, 1925; on KHarrell01)
Clayton McMichen & his Georgia Wildcats, "Wreck of the 97" (Varsity 5029, 1942)
John D. Mounce et al, "Wreck of Old 97" (on MusOzarks01)
George Reneau, "Wreck of The Southern Old 97" (Vocalion 5029, c. 1926)
Pete Seeger, "The Wreck of the Old 97" (on PeteSeeger17)
Ernest V. Stoneman Trio, "The Wreck of the Old 97" (OKeh, unissued, 1927)
Ernest Stoneman & Kahle Brewer, "Wreck of the Old 97" (OKeh unissued mx. 80344-A, rec. 1927; on ConstSor1)
Stoneman Family, "The Wreck of the Old Ninety-Seven" (on Stonemans01)
Gid Tanner & His Skillet Lickers, "The Wreck on the Southern Old 97" (Columbia 15142-D, 1927)
Ernest Thompson, "Wreck of the Southern Old 97" (Columbia 130-D, 1924)
Sid Turner, "Wreck of the Southern No. 97" (Perfect 12147, 1924)
Virginia Ramblers, "Wreck of Old 97" (OKeh, unissued, 1929)
Henry Whitter, "Wreck of the Southern Old 97" (Okeh 40015, 1924; rec. 1923)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Ship That Never Returned" [Laws D27] (tune & meter) and references there
cf. "The Train that Never Returned" (tune & meter)
cf. "The Rarden Wreck of 1893" (tune & metre, theme)
cf. "The Flying Colonel" (tune)
SAME TUNE: The Speakers Didn't Mind (Greenway-AFP, pp. 136-137)
On a Summer Eve (Greenway-AFP, pp. 138-139)
Notes: Authorship claimed by, among others, David Graves George; the legal battles over the song were extended. Brown has extensive notes which summarize the situation well. If anyone deserves credit for the pop version, it is probably Henry Whitter, who took a seemingly-traditional version and worked it into the form of the Dalhart recording.
Cohen has even more extensive documentation on this process (summarizing several full-length monographs on the subject); he is surprisingly sympathetic to George (not claiming that he wrote the song but that he did make original contributions).
The song is, in any case, derivative. The tune is taken from Henry Clay Work's "The Ship that Never Returned," and "The Ship" gave rise to at least two train wreck songs: "The Train that Never Returned" and "The Rarden Wreck of 1893." I've seen both listed as the source for "Old 97" -- though neither looks much like the latter song in the Whitter rendition (which, to be sure, is much worn down from texts Cohen regards as earlier sources).
I would note, though, that several of Brown's texts (including "D" from 1922) fall between "Train" and "Old 97." - RBW
THE SHIP THAT NEVER RETURNED (Melody of Wreck of the Old 97)
by Henry C. Work
On a summer's day, when the wave was rippled
By the softest gentlest breeze,
Did a ship set sail with a cargo laden
For a port beyond the seas.
There were sweet farewells there were loving signals
While a form was yet discerned;
Though they knew it not, 'twas a solemn parting
For the ship, she never returned.
cho: Did she never return? She never returned,
Her fate, it is yet unlearned,
Though for years and years there were fond ones watching
Yet the ship she never returned.
Said a feeble lad to his anxious mother,"
I must cross the wide, wide sea,
For they say, perchance in a foreign climate,
There is health and strength for me."
'Twas a gleam of hope in a maze of danger
And her heart for her youngest yearned,
Yet she sent him forth with a smile and blessing
On the ship that never returned.
"Only one more trip," said a gallant seaman,
As he kissed his weeping wife,
Only one more bag of the golden treasure
And 'twill last us all through life.
Then I'll spend my days in my cosy cottage
And enjoy the rest I've earned;
But alas! poor man! For he sail'd commander
Of the ship that never returned.
The Wreck on the the Southern Old 97, by Henry Whitter, vocal, guitar and harmonica. Recorded Dec. 12, 1923, Okeh master 72167-A, released on Okeh 40015, Jan. 1924. He published sheet music. Based on Frank Burnett's version. Text given in: Norm Cohen, "Long Steel Rail," Univ. Illinois Press.
In 1924, for Okeh, Kelly Crockett Harrell recorded "The Wreck on the Southern Old 97," with Henry Whitter's guitar and harmonica accompaniment, "The Wreck on the Old Southern 97." This was intended for a 12-inch disc. Harrell's text was similar to Burnett's, with a chorus he said was Lewey's. This information from Norm Cohen, The Long Steel Rail, p. 311. Harrell's version has been transcribed in notes to Bear Family 15508: "The Complete Kelly Harrell, vol. 1."
Ernest Thompson, who recorded for Columbia, 130-D, 1924. Another blind singer, George Reneau, recorded a "cover" of Whitter's disc that was actually sung by Gene Austin because Reneau's voice was too rough (also 1924). Vernon Dalhart recorded in 1924 from Whitter's disc, "The Wreck of the Old Southern 97," the same year he recorded "The Wreck of the Old 97."
To clear up the "route" question and names in general, it goes like this.
Monroe is just north of Lynchburg, Virginia and was the railyard location. The Southern (now Norfolk Southern) tracks run down to the NC/VA border where Danville is loacted. White Oak Mountain is about 15 miles to the north of Danville. The Spencer is Spencer, North Carolina where the railroad had large engine shops and a yard (now a museum).
Several texts of the song in Cohen and in the Frank C Brown Collection of North Carolina Folklore have the word "average" replacing "airbrakes". "Average" can be traced to a recording of Vernon Dalhart's. He misunderstod the word "airbrakes" on an earlier recording by Henry Whitter. Dalhart was also apparently responsible for changing "Spencer" to "Center" and "Steve" to "Pete" and "begin to scream" to "broke into a scream". Those phrases are indicative of versions that descended from Dalhart's record. "leverage" likely arose because someone thought "average" didn't make sense tried to rationalize a different word "leverage". Unfortuantely leverage makes no more sense than average, since leverage is the force applied by a lever to lift or pry an object. If he had lost his ability to pry himself off the track he would have stayed on the track. Norm Cazden has an extended discussion of how folk singers often rationalize a sound alike word because they do not know what the original was. Cazden's discussion is in the context of the lumber camp song "Jack Haggarty" (which is the subject of another thread that I amuse myself with from time to time) but has broader applications.
There is a Southern Railroad engine at the Smithsonian. Getting it to and into the museum was a major effort. The fellow in charge of the Southern Railroad's publicity for this event was a young man named Laurence Starkey. Larry's father had been a country singer with a national radio show. As a result, Larry had grown up with people arond the house like Grandpa Jones (his mother used to mke them play out back because they seemed so loud in the house) so it wasn't surprising that Larry told me he'd searched out old railroaders and listened to their stories. He'd met one who had gone out with the crane train to the wreck of Train Number 97. He asked the old man what he remembered from that crash. He said that there was nothing special, "just all those canaries in the trees". "Canaries?"
Apparently the train was loaded with cars filled with canaries heading for the mines. They were the primitive early warning signals for gas buildup in the mines. They were being trasnported into the mountains. They had been freed by the crash and were sitting, twittering in the trees nearby.
I've seen a photo of the wreck. The track was on a long high trestle, which curved around to the left. The train took the curve too fast and left the track, falling to the foot of the trestle. Broady was thrown out and died as a result of the fall, not from scalding. (And definitely not with his hand on the throttle, but it's a shame to spoil a good line with facts!)
Westinghouse Air Brakes: Westinghouse patented his air brake and founded the Westinghouse Airbrake Co. in 1869. Air brakes became mandatory on US trains in 1893.
From The Origins of a Modern Traditional Ballad, “Wreck of the Old 97”:
The George Ballad
The first song to be written about the wreck seems to have been that of Mr. Charles George’s version, which he claimed he wrote within a week or ten days after the wreck, reads as follows:
1 On a cold frosty morning in the month of September
When the clouds were hanging low
97 pulled out from the Washington station
Like an arrow shot from a bow.
2 They gave him his orders at Monroe, Virginia
Saying Pete you are way behind time
It’s not 38 but it’s old 97
You must put her in Spencer on time.
3 He looked at his black greasy fireman
And said shovel in a little more coal
For when we cross that White Oak mountain
You can see old 97 roll.
4 It’s amighty rough road from Lynchburg to Danville
And Lima its a three mile grade
It was on this grade that he lost his average
And you see what a jump he made.
5 They was going down grade making ninety miles an hour
Who when the whistle whistle whistle broke in to a scream
He was found in a wreck with his hand on the throttle
And a-scalded to death with the steam.
6 Now ladies you must take warning
From this time on
Never speak harsh words to your true loving husbands
For they may leave you and never return.
7 Did she ever pull in no she never pulled in
---------------------------------------------
For hours and hours ----- as watching
For the train that never pulled (in?).
I can find no explanation for the omissions. George repeats the two mistakes which Dalhart originated in his transcription of the Whitter recording. The fact that the mistakes had appeared in none of the earlier versions and the testimony of Dalhart presented strong case against George. Also Whitter originated the phrases
“black, greasy fireman” and “mighty rough road” which were subsequently used by Dalhart and George. After much questioning, George admitted having inserted the words “whistle, whistle” into his text after listening to the Victor recording for the purpose of “comparison.”
The court decision reports plentiful evidence that the mountaineer’s testimony was suspect. The Victor Company also produced an analytical chemist, who was also a handwriting expert, who testified that the copy of the song, which George had claimed to be the original of 1903, was written with a type of pencil which was unavailable at that time and that the handwriting characteristics of the copy were unquestionably those of 1927 or thereabouts.
Despite this mass of evidence against George, there is another side of the case which has been universally ignored by those who refute George’s claim. I have found that those who support George, particularly Hubbard, have a romantic sympathy for the under-dog and a remarkable ability to unearth favorable evidence from a mass of undeniable facts to the contrary.
A careful study of George’s song will reveal that there is much evidence to prove that he was familiar with a version of the ballad before the question of authorship arose, and the possibility exists that he may have indeed contributed changes as his original letter to the News Leader implied. George’s first stanza was not included in any of the versions I have found, and it may well have been added by him or Lewey. The stanza is reminiscent of “The Ship That Never Returned” which began:
On a summer day, as the waves were rippling
By the soft, gentle breeze
Did a ship set sail with her cargo laden
For a port beyond the seas.
The train’s rapid departure from Washington seems to be confirmed by a report that a railroad employee “boarded the train Sunday, which started off so suddenly that he was unable to get off.” George corrects Dalhart’s mistake of “Center” for “Spencer” and he uses the phrase “and Lima its a three mile grade,” as well as the final stanza, “Did she ever pull in,” both of which existed in the Noell ballad but not in any of the later versions. He also has the train’s speed as “90 miles an hour” which was introduced by Whitter. In short, we can find traces of the early ballads as well as that of Dalhart. It may well be that George’s version is a corrupted form of an early traditional version; however, the issue will always be clouded by George’s insistent claim to authorship.
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