Rock Island Line (song)
| "The Rock Island Line" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Cummins State Farm inmates | |
| Released | 1930s |
| Recorded | Cummins State Farm, Lincoln County, Arkansas, October 1934 |
| Genre | American folk music |
| Length | 1:48 |
| Label | Archive of Folk Culture (no. AFS 248) |
| Producer(s) | John A. Lomax |
"Rock Island Line" is an American folk music song. Ostensibly about the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, it appeared as a spiritual as early as 1929. The first recorded performance of "Rock Island Line" was by inmates of the Arkansas Cummins State Farm prison in 1934. Many artists subsequently recorded it, including popular renditions by Lead Belly and Lonnie Donegan.
The verses tell a humorous story about a train operator who smuggled pig iron through a toll gate by claiming all he had on board was . The song's chorus includes:
The Rock Island Line is a mighty good road
The Rock Island Line is the road to ride
The Rock Island Line is a mighty good road
If you want to ride you gotta ride it like you find it
Get your ticket at the station for the Rock Island Line
The earliest known version of "Rock Island Line" was written in 1929 by Clarence Wilson, a member of the Rock Island Colored Booster Quartet, a singing group made up of employees of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad at the Biddle Shops freight yard in Little Rock, Arkansas. The lyrics to this version are largely different to the version that later evolved and became famous, with verses describing people and activities associated with the yard.
The first audio recording of the song was made by folklorist and musicologist John A. Lomax at the Tucker, Arkansas prison farm on September 29, 1934. Lead Belly accompanied Lomax to the prison. This version retains some lyrical features of the 1929 version, but also features key elements of the "classic" version. A similar version was recorded by Lomax in October 1934 at Cummins State Farm prison in Lincoln County, Arkansas, performed by a group of singers led by Kelly Pace.
In 1964, The Penguin Book Of American Folk Songs, compiled and with notes by Alan Lomax, was published. It includes "Rock Island Line" with the following footnote:
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