Roy Acuff - Wabash Cannonball

To re-invent yourself, you first have to be invented. Country music has a long history of re-inventing itself: the Countrypolitan sound of Patsy Cline, the Outlaw sound of Johnny Cash, the New Wave of Country Rock with artists like Keith Urban, or Cowboy Troy's Country Rap.

So who invented Country the first time? You could argue it was Roy Acuff.

There's a musical divide where Acuff stands: before him, it was a regional - even "Hillbilly" - entertainment, only heard at hoedowns, medicine shows, and revivals. After Acuff, it was the Grand Ole Opry, radio, and records. Acuff established the first major Nashville record label, signing Hank Williams and Roy Orbison.

Not bad for a guy who started out in a Depression-era Appalachian medicine show.

"Wabash Cannonball" is an example of this Acuff "before" and "after". This is a very old song, going back to the 19th century - at least to the 1880s. Acuff made one of the first recordings, in 1936, and it became one of his most popular songs. I remember hearing this on the radio as a kid in the 1960s. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame includes this song in their list of "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll."

It was the ship song of the USS Wabash, AOR-5. It's also played at all the University of Texas football games. Hook 'em, Horns.



The Wabash Cannonball (Traditional; re-written by William Kindt in 1904)

Out from the wide Pacific ocean to the broad Atlantic shore
She climbs flowery mountain, o'r hills and by the shore
Although she's tall and handsome, and she's known quite well by all
She's a regular combination of the Wabash Cannonball.

Oh, the Eastern states are dandy, so the Western people say
Chicago, Rock Island, St. Louis by the way
To the lakes of Minnesota where the rippling waters fall
No chances to be taken on the Wabash Cannonball.

Oh, listen to the jingle, the rumor and the roar
As she glides along the woodland, o'r hills and by the shore
She climbs the flowery mountain, hear the merry hobos squall
She glides along the woodland, the Wabash Cannonball.

Oh, here's old daddy Cleaton, let his name forever be
And long be remembered in the courts of Tennessee
For he is a good old rounder 'til the curtain 'round him fall
He'll be carried back to victory on the Wabash Cannonball.

I have rode the I.C. Limited, also the Royal Blue
Across the Eastern countries on Elkhorn Number Two
I have rode those highball trains from coast to coast that's all
But I have found no equal on the Wabash Cannonball.

Oh, listen to the jingle, the rumor and the roar
As she glides along the woodland, o'r hills and by the shore
She climbs the flowery mountain, hear the merry hobos squall
She glides along the woodland, the Wabash Cannonball.

These lyrics don't entirely match the ones in the video - they're from the Carter Family's recording. It's a traditional song, and part of that is people change the words ...