THE TRAIN KEPT A-ROLLIN’ (The Yardbirds)
“Train Kept A-Rollin’” (or “The Train Kept A-Rollin’”) is a song first recorded by American jazz and rhythm and blues musician Tiny Bradshaw in 1951. English rock group the Yardbirds recorded “The Train Kept A-Rollin’” during their first American tour in 1965. In 1965, the Yardbirds popularized the song as an early psychedelic blues rock song, due largely to Jeff Beck’s fuzz-toned guitar work. Theirs soon became the most copied arrangement with recordings by a variety of musicians. After guitarist Jimmy Page joined the group, the Yardbirds recorded an updated version with new lyrics as “Stroll On” for the film Blowup in 1966. With a highly charged rhythm section and a dual lead guitar attack by Beck and Page, it is seen as a forerunner to heavy metal. (More from Wikipedia)
The song that I love best on Pebbles, Volume 10 is “Train Kept A-Rollin’” by the Bold (also known as Steve Walker and the Bold) – actually there is a song by this band on both Pebbles, Volume 9 and Pebbles, Volume 10. This was the first time that I had heard this song; I have since collected several more that include versions of “Train Kept A-Rollin’” by luminaries like the Yardbirds and Aerosmith, and it has become one of my very favorite songs regardless of who is doing it. It is hard to top this blistering performance, however.
(July 2013)
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The Yardbirds recorded “Train Kept A-Rollin’” while they were on their American tour in 1965. In her biography of Jeff Beck, who was lead guitarist for the band at that time, Annette Carson notes (as quoted in Wikipedia) that their “propulsive, power-driven version, however, deviated radically from the original. . . . [Their] recording plucked the old Rock & Roll Trio number from obscurity and turned it into a classic among classics”. Cub Koda writing for Allmusic notes of the Yardbirds’ version that they made “Train Kept A-Rollin’” a “classic guitar riff song for the ages”.
The Yardbirds included “Train Kept A-Rollin’” on their second American album, Having a Rave up with the Yardbirds that is absolutely chock full of classic songs.
Steven Tyler was in a band that opened for the Yardbirds in 1966 and says of their performance (again from Wikipedia): “I had seen the Yardbirds play somewhere the previous summer with both Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page in the band. . . . In Westport [at their supporting gig on October 22, 1966] we found out that Jeff had left the band and Jimmy was playing lead guitar by himself. I watched him from the edge of the stage, and all I can say is that he knocked my tits off. They did ‘Train Kept A-Rollin’’ and it was just so heavy. They were just an un-f--kin’-believable band.”
(June 2015)
