Annotation:Lost Train Blues
X:1 T:Lost Train Blues C:Arthur Smith M:2/4 L:1/8 R:Reel N:Transcribed by John Hartford from the playing of Arthur Smith B:Stephen F. Davis - "Devil's Box", vol. 24, No. 4, Winter 1990, p. 20. Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:G P:A e>g f^d-|^d/e/c/B/ G/B/c/^d/|ef/a/ f-^e- e/d/c/c/ B/G/[GB]| g>a g-b-|b/g/a/g/ e/g/g-|g/a/b/a/ g/f/g/a/|g/d/c/B/ A/G/[GB]|| P:B +slide+B>A G>A|B/G/A/G/ E/GA/|+slide+B.A Gg|=f/e/d/c/ B/G/[GB]:| P:C ||+slide+[B4d4]|[_B/^c/][=B/d/][_Bc][B2c2]|+slide+[Bd]>[Bd] [_B_d][Ac]|[G3B3]|| P:D "Richochet:" D/F/||G/B/A/G/ G/B/A/G/|G/B/A/G/ G/B/A/G/|G/B/A/G/ G/B/e/f/|g/e/d/c/ B/G/:| P:E +slide=B>A G>A| B/A/A/G/ E/GA/|B>A Gg-|=f/e/d/c/ c/A/[GB]:|
LOST TRAIN BLUES. AKA and see "Puncheon Floor (2)," "White Mule." American, Reel (2/4 and cut time). USA, Tenn. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB (Brody): ABBCCCBB (Phillips). Some accounts credit this somewhat improvisational composition (e.g. the train sounds) to Arthur Smith (Tenn), however, Charles Wolfe thinks Smith may have learned it from the Crook Brothers (Tenn.) who often featured it on the Opry. Smith and the Crook Brothers were both performers at the early Grand Ole Opry, and the tune was a favorite with the latter. While Smith's version was undeniably influential, the piece was recorded earlier by Da Costa Woltz's Southern Broadcasters, and by Henry Whitter; both recordings featured the tune played on harmonica. See also note for "Puncheon Floor (2)."
Major Franklin's "Whoa Mule (2)" is a similar tune.
