TRAIN KEPT A-ROLLIN’ (Aerosmith)
“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. The song also became an important part of Aerosmith’s early live repertoire, and in 1974, they recorded it for their second album. Their version is actually a two-part song – the first has a slower, groove-oriented arrangement, while the second uses that of the Yardbirds. Aerosmith turned it into a hard rock standard and a staple of classic rock radio; it remains one of their most popular tunes. (More from Wikipedia)
The song that I love best on the Pebbles, Volume 10 LP 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 the Pebbles, Volume 9 LP and the Pebbles, Volume 10 LP. 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.
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Probably the best known version of the song is by Aerosmith; “Train Kept A-Rollin’” is included on their second album, Get Your Wings (1974), but the band’s connection with the song dates back much further than that. As quoted in Wikipedia, Joe Perry recalls of this song: “‘Train Kept A-Rollin’’ was the only song we had in common when we first got together. Steven [Tyler]’s band had played ‘Train’, and Tom [Hamilton] and I played it in our band. . . . It’s a blues song, if you follow its roots all the way back. . . . I always thought if I could just play one song, it would be that one because of what it does to me.”
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.”
“Train Kept A-Rollin’” was featured in early concerts by Aerosmith, and they often closed their shows with the song, including at their first gig in 1970. A live version of the song is included on three different concert albums by the band, and they have also performed the song with several other musicians over the years. In 2012, they played “Train Kept A-Rollin’” live in Hollywood with Johnny Depp; this performance is included on a bonus disc in the Deluxe Edition of Aerosmith’s most recent studio album, Music from Another Dimension!.
(June 2015)
