60 Years of Train Kept a-Rollin Posted on novembre 29, 2011 | Tags: Rock, Rockabilly, Aerosmith, Yardbirds, Johnny Burnette One of the coolest (and most frustrating) things about music analysis is that there are truly no absolutes. Anything said really just serves as fodder for discussion. “Best” is meaningless and taste is subjective. You might think Metallica is the greatest metal band of all time, but I KNOW that Black Sabbath is. The beauty is that we’re both right. Art discussion is one of the only forums where two diametrically opposed viewpoints can both be valid. You could certainly never make a blanket statement that one specific song was the all-time greatest, because there are no set rules. There’s simply no way to defend an absolute when discussing art. Now disregard everything I just wrote because: “TRAIN KEPT A-ROLLIN’” IS THE GREATEST ROCK ‘N’ ROLL SONG OF ALL TIME. It’s true. No song in the storied history of rock ‘n’ roll tops it for impact, influence, longevity or attitude – not “Johnny B. Goode”, not even “Blue Suede Shoes”. The vast majority of rock fans know “Train Kept a-Rollin’” from Aerosmith’s tremendous 1974 version on their second album, Get Your Wings, and its permanent spot in their live set over the last 35 years, but “TKaR” goes way deeper than that. Aerosmith’s take on the song, while undeniably kickass, isn’t even the best version. As a starting point, let’s check out Aerosmith laying it down live in ’74 (turn this up LOUD): Yeah, that’s one bad jam right there. A great big chunky riff and pile-driving beat – recipe for awesomeness. That doesn’t prove that it’s the greatest rock ‘n’ roll song of all time though, so let’s look deeper. “TKaR” was first released in 1951, just a few months after Ike Turner released “Rocket 88” which is widely regarded as the first true rock ‘n’ roll song; so it’s been around as long as rock music itself. This alone makes it the single most enduring rock song ever. The original version was written and recorded by jump blues genius Tiny Bradshaw for the King label and it kicks much ass. Check it out (turn this up even LOUDER): Yep. That rocks for sure. Bradshaw’s version was ripe for the picking for the first generation of rockers. Its arrangement and feel lent itself nicely to an electric guitar combo and the lyrics make use of a very thinly-veiled double entendre (hint: the song isn’t about riding the rails). You can draw a line directly from Tiny Bradshaw’s “TKaR” lyrics straight to the ‘80s hair bands and beyond. Without clumsy double entendres, hair metal bands would have been lost (“Cherry Pie” anyone?). The first group of rockers to grab hold of the song was the Johnny Burnette Trio in 1956. This is where it gets really, really good. Burnette’s version is a high water mark in music history. Every subsequent version rips off the Burnette trio to a certain degree and it’s easy to see why – how can you top perfection? The raw, reckless, irreverent and just plain dangerous attack they put on “Train Kept a-Rollin’” has truly never been equaled. Importantly, this version was one of the very first uses of distorted guitar on record. Have a listen (turn your speakers up until the WARRANTY IS VOID): Burnette’s cover brought a very important element to the song that was copied on every subsequent version – it was HEAVY. The song is really only a couple steps away from heavy metal; and this was in 1956. There’s also been an enduring controversy over the song. Though Burnette guitarist Paul Burlison is credited on the track (and for its innovative use of distortion), there’s a good chance it was actually Nashville session ace Grady Martin who laid down the immortal guitar part. Burlison refuted this, but some scholars are adamant that Martin played on the song. The guitar controversy just adds to its perfection as music nerd discussion fodder. By the mid-sixties, the English blues scene was in full swing and young British musicians were reinterpreting classic American jams to great effect. “Train Kept a-Rollin’” was – yet again – fertile ground. The Yardbirds had a hit in ’65 with their snide, garagey take on the tune and it featured Jeff Beck on guitar. Dig it: Pretty easy to see that the Yardbirds version is heavily informed by Johnny Burnette. That makes perfect sense. Jeff Beck has cited Grady Martin and Paul Burlison as key influences and is one of the proponents of the “Grady Martin played on TKaR” theory. Beck wasn’t the only fan of the tune, though. The Yardbirds also did a fantastic version of the song with Beck’s replacement on guitar – a skinny boy named Jimmy Page. Maybe you’ve heard of him. Check out this version of the song and count how many “Zeppelinisms” you hear from Page: Yeah, that’s pretty awesome, but for a song to be the unequivocal BEST rock ‘n’ roll song of all time it’s going to need a stronger pedigree. How about this – in the summer of 1968 four guys gathered together in a rehearsal room for the very first jam of what would become their new band. The very first song they played at that very first jam? You guessed it – “Train Kept a-Rollin’”. The band was Led Zeppelin. Zeppelin kept “TKaR” in their set for years and often used at as their opening song. They never recorded a studio version, but there are plenty of live versions floating around. Here’s one for you: Zeppelin played the song live on and off throughout their career and probably would have done a proper studio version if Aerosmith hadn’t beaten them to it. After the Aerosmith version, the “TKaR” floodgates really opened up and it became a true standard. It’s hard to find a heavy rock band that didn’t try their hand at the tune – not always successfully. Some were pretty tremendous, though. Here’s a personal favorite: the mighty Motörhead ripping it up in 1980: Even Skid Row took a crack at it in ’91: When Metallica was inducted into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame in 2009, they were joined onstage by Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Joe Perry and Ron Wood in a guitar overkill version of... “Train Kept a-Rollin’”. Of the literally millions of songs they could have chosen for this jam, they chose “TKaR”. Dig it: Let’s wrap it up with this version from 2011. Here’s Irish rockabilly chanteuse Imelda May performing the song on the BBC. This one is really fantastic and takes the song back to the Johnny Burnette Trio in a faithful interpretation. Check out how close guitarist Darrel Higham gets to the Grady Martin (Paul Burlison?) tone of the 1956 version. That ain’t an easy trick to pull off: So there you have it. 2011 marks the 60th anniversary of “Train Kept a-Rollin’” – the single greatest rock ‘n roll song of all time. Who says there are no absolutes in music?
Posted on: Wed, 02 Apr 2014 18:12:06 +0000
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