The fiddle tune "Orange Blossom Special", about the passenger train of the same name, was written by Ervin T. Rouse in 1938. The original recording was created by Ervin and Gordon Rouse in 1939. It is often called simply The Special. It has been referred to as the fiddle player's national anthem.
Importance
By the 1950s, it had become a perennial favorite at bluegrass festivals, popular for its rousing energy. For a long time no fiddle player would be hired for a bluegrass band unless he could play it.
Authorship
Rouse copyrighted the song before the Orange Blossom Special train ever came to Jacksonville. Other musicians, including Robert Russell "Chubby" Wise, have claimed authorship of the song. Wise did not write it although he claimed for years that he had. Rouse, a mild mannered man who lived deep in the Everglades never contested the matter. Years later, Johnny Cash learned of Rouse and brought him to Miami to play the song at one of his concerts. In a video on YouTube, Gene Christian, a fiddler for Bill Monroewho knew both men, confirms that Rouse wrote and copyrighted the song. Christian says in the interview that Chubby Wise popularized the song by playing it weekly on the Grand Ole Opry. As Wise tells the story, he and Rouse decided to visit the Jacksonville Terminal in Florida to tour the Orange Blossom Special train. Rouse copyrighted the song in 1938 and recorded it in 1939. Bill Monroe, regarded by many as "the father of bluegrass music", recorded the song and made it a hit. Since then countless versions have been recorded, among them Wise's own, as an instrumental in a 1969 album Chubby Wise and His Fiddle. And that version, said Wise, "is the way it was written and the way it's supposed to be played". Leon "Pappy" Selph says that he was the author of The Orange Blossom Special in this interview in 1997. He states that he wrote it in 1931.
Lyrics
The lyrics of the song are in the 12-bar blues form but the full piece is more elaborate. Look a-yonder comin' Comin' down that railroad track Hey, look a-yonder comin' Comin' down that railroad track It's the Orange Blossom Special Bringin' my baby back Well, I'm going down to Florida And get some sand in my shoes Or maybe Californy And get some sand in my shoes I'll ride that Orange Blossom Special And lose these New York blues "Say man, when you going back to Florida?" "When am I goin' back to Florida? I don't know, don't reckon I ever will." "Ain't you worried about getting your nourishment in New York?" "Well, I don't care if I do-die-do-die-do-die-do-die." Hey talk about a-ramblin' She's the fastest train on the line Talk about a-travellin' She's the fastest train on the line It's that Orange Blossom Special Rollin' down the seaboard line The lyrics of the first verse are very reminiscent of the Jimmie Rodgers song "Freight Whistle Blues".
Johnny Cash named his 1965 Orange Blossom Special album after the song. While bluegrass performers tend to play it as strictly an instrumental, Cash sang the lyrics, and replaced the fiddle parts with two harmonicas and a saxophone. Cash would play both harmonicas himself, as heard on At Folsom Prison and seen on The Johnny Cash Show. In live performance, prior to the "do-die-do-die-do" transition, Cash tended to insert some spoken-word jokes that changed in later performances of the song.
Vassar Clements with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band on their Will the Circle be Unbroken album.
The Moody Brothers' Grammy-nominated country instrumental "The Great Train Song Medley" featured their father Dwight Moody playing fiddle on "Orange Blossom Special".
Charlie McCoy recorded a harmonica-led cover of the song that peaked at #26 on the BillboardHot Country Songs chart in 1973.
The song was covered by Swedish instrumental rock bandThe Spotnicks in 1961 and released on their first album, The Spotnicks in London – Out-a-Space!. In 1962 the Spotnicks recording entered the British Top 30.
Electric Light Orchestra also covered the song in their early shows. One of these performances was released on their 1974 live albumThe Night the Light Went On in Long Beach, following a violin improvisation by Mik Kaminski.
Billy Vaughn and his orchestra covered the song with an instrumental version in 1961, a highly regarded take.
Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXNwVnOZ6BU Don Rich, instrumental version of Orange Blossom Special
