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What SMOKING music are you listening to? (2025)

AVB said:
The Midnight Special
What you don't know.

The song as we know it today is about convicts seeing the train "The Midnight Special" shining it's light toward freedom. However, The first recorded version (1926) had nothing to do with that while one of the two first versions in print (1905) did. Also many of the verses were regional with variants of the tune going back to at least the 1870's and most have nothing to do with trains..

So I'll start with a variant from 1927, Watts & Wilson - Walk Into the Belmont and follow that up with the first recorded somewhat familiar version in 1926. Dave "Pistol Pete" Cutrell - Midnight Special. Next is the first really popular version of what we know today - Lead Belly recorded the song while in prison in 1934. Lead Belly re-recorded the song a few times and one of those were what CCR covered in 1969 lyrically almost exactly the same.




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This came up on another forum I belong to. The melody was used in Song of The South with completely different lyrics.

 
My aunt loved this guy. She only got to see him once in the early 50's at some NY resort she worked at in the summer while in collage but it was enough to make a life long impression. Walter Liberace, as he was first known was the highest paid live performer in the world for almost 20 years making about $5-600K A WEEK in 2024 dollars just from Vegas and more from concerts, tours, TV Shows and recordings. His ability to bring popular and classical music together in a way the average person could enjoy really has never been matched.

Here is one of his 2 "Soundies" as they were called from 1943 and a later performance.and lastly if you can shred a piano he does in the third clip.



 
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