# Orange Blossom Special



## WhoozOn1st

As a kid I won a bunch of fiddle contests. Couldn't play fiddle to save my life, so me and the old man cooked up an alternative strategy: Get 'em laughing. Pop would talk other bands into backing us up - in on the joke - and they'd play killer versions of Orange Blossom Special. I'd sing the lyrics, then at every chorus I would raise my fiddle as if to play, but never actually did. The audience and judges would go nuts over the joke.

Too bad for the kids who could actually play fiddle. No chance in the face of musical jokes that had 'em rolling in the aisles. Railroad music stompdown.

Orange Blossom Special

A MIDI and kinda cheesy, but hey.

Oh: Nothing whatsoever to do with the site that has the song. Just best MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) version I found of Orange Blossom Special.

EDIT: Orange Blossom Special (Wikipedia)


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## the_traveler

I prefer Johnny Cash's version.

VIDEO

Orange Blossom Special (with fiddle) is at about 2 minutes.


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## WhoozOn1st

the_traveler said:


> I prefer Johnny Cash's version.


Dude, you gotta be shirtin' me. Johnny Cash was great, but that's gotta be among the worst versions of Orange Blossom Special I've ever witnessed. Garbage.

Try this one, also sans fiddle:

Chet Atkins On Merv Griffin

Note that the guy playing next to Chet is playing a Les Paul guitar. Had the great good fortune as a kid to meet both those guys, Chet Atkins and Les Paul, and hear them play in person.

Try to ignore Disco Boy in white.

There's an instant when Chet drops his arm, a habit I picked up and have to this day. After the intro to a song the arm gets a stretch before going to work on the main tune. Looks kinda dumb, but it's a good thing; learned from Chet Atkins.


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## WhoozOn1st

Even as a kid, this was the kind of competition I was up against. With All Star bands as backup and in on the joke, and instead of playing turning the whole thing into a joke, won almost every time:

Jake Orange Blossom Special

How could I lose?


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## Bill Haithcoat

WhoozOn1st said:


> As a kid I won a bunch of fiddle contests. Couldn't play fiddle to save my life, so me and the old man cooked up an alternative strategy: Get 'em laughing. Pop would talk other bands into backing us up - in on the joke - and they'd play killer versions of Orange Blossom Special. I'd sing the lyrics, then at every chorus I would raise my fiddle as if to play, but never actually did. The audience and judges would go nuts over the joke.
> Too bad for the kids who could actually play fiddle. No chance in the face of musical jokes that had 'em rolling in the aisles. Railroad music stompdown.
> 
> Orange Blossom Special
> 
> A MIDI and kinda cheesy, but hey.
> 
> Oh: Nothing whatsoever to do with the site that has the song. Just best MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) version I found of Orange Blossom Special.
> 
> EDIT: Orange Blossom Special (Wikipedia)


Patrick, many,many thanks for bringing this fine old train name to the forefront for us. It was never streamlined but it did maintain a high level. high quality service, sort of like certain very old hotels. It was gone before I knew it existed, me being born in 1944 and it going out in 1953.

My father enjoyed country and western music and I knew the song before I knew there had been an actual train by that name. If I had been two or three years older I would have been very aware of it.

I recommend that everyone read that second link. I am not sure that every comma and every dot and dash is exactly correct but it is close enough to give one the idea. For example,I sort of think the train was entirely a winter season only train and not just to the Fla/west coast but I could be wrong.

LAST but not least, what does MIDI stand for?


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## MrFSS

Bill Haithcoat said:


> LAST but not least, what does MIDI stand for?


*MIDI*


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## WhoozOn1st

Bill Haithcoat said:


> My father enjoyed country and western music and I knew the song before I knew there had been an actual train by that name. the Fla/west coast but I could be wrong.


Pretty much same here, Bill. Always knew Orange Blossom Special was a railroad song, but it was many years before I learned that the train name wasn't fictional and that there really had been an Orange Blossom Special.

I seem to recall posting an Orange Blossom Special postcard that you liked a while back, and MrFSS enjoys collecting railroad postcards, so here's a different one:







This appears to be a fanciful rendition, because I also understand that the train was never streamlined. Don't even know if it was ever dieselized, for that matter. Maybe somebody could fill us in on the deal.

"What kind of music do you have here?"

"We have both kinds. Country AND Western." 

I think, though, that the tune is really bluegrass.


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## Bill Haithcoat

WhoozOn1st said:


> Bill Haithcoat said:
> 
> 
> 
> My father enjoyed country and western music and I knew the song before I knew there had been an actual train by that name. the Fla/west coast but I could be wrong.
> 
> 
> 
> Pretty much same here, Bill. Always knew Orange Blossom Special was a railroad song, but it was many years before I learned that the train name wasn't fictional and that there really had been an Orange Blossom Special.
> 
> I seem to recall posting an Orange Blossom Special postcard that you liked a while back, and MrFSS enjoys collecting railroad postcards, so here's a different one:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This appears to be a fanciful rendition, because I also understand that the train was never streamlined. Don't even know if it was ever dieselized, for that matter. Maybe somebody could fill us in on the deal.
> 
> "What kind of music do you have here?"
> 
> "We have both kinds. Country AND Western."
> 
> I think, though, that the tune is really bluegrass.
Click to expand...

Yes, I realized later it was bluegrass.

I think the post card is just a little fanciful but not completely. True, it was never streamlined but it did get diesels and they were painted a special way probably as shown. And I believe the heavyweight cars set aside for this train were also painted a special way. So, it is at least close to being an actual likeness. Since we cannot see the passengers cars very well it would suggest they are streamlined but that is a mistake.

As noted in my earlier post the OBS was very well kept up in good condition etc (like certain oldie-goldie hotels), even though not a streamliner. Seaboard let the Silver Meteor and Silver Star take over that business, also to a lesser extent the Silver Comet from NYC to ATL and Birmingham.

Just fyi the pre-streamlined Crescent (actually called the Crescent Limited) was a similar train to the OBS, heavyweight but painted in special colors and well kept up. It however, was completely rebuiilt as a streamliner in 1949.


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## sky12065

Being a fan of just about any violin or guitar music that Roy Clark has ever played I'd have to say that he would be my favorite. There are a couple of his recordings on YouTube of him playing OBS, but I didn't bother to provide the links because I don't think the concert recordings don't compliment his ability! I remember on one of his albums he is about to play "Under the Double Eagle" where he also refers to it as "Look Out Below!"


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## Long Train Runnin'

WhoozOn1st said:


> Bill Haithcoat said:
> 
> 
> 
> My father enjoyed country and western music and I knew the song before I knew there had been an actual train by that name. the Fla/west coast but I could be wrong.
> 
> 
> 
> Pretty much same here, Bill. Always knew Orange Blossom Special was a railroad song, but it was many years before I learned that the train name wasn't fictional and that there really had been an Orange Blossom Special.
> 
> "What kind of music do you have here?"
> 
> "We have both kinds. Country AND Western."
> 
> I think, though, that the tune is really bluegrass.
Click to expand...

well 2 things. Are u quoting the lady at Bob's Country Bunker from the 1980's classic "The Blues Brothers"?

and where is the grainy 8mm footage of you trying to play fiddle lol.


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## WhoozOn1st

Long Train Runnin said:


> Are u quoting the lady at Bob's Country Bunker from the 1980's classic "The Blues Brothers"?


The kid has me dead to rights. That's exactly where the gag about both kinds of music came from.


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## Long Train Runnin'

WhoozOn1st said:


> Long Train Runnin said:
> 
> 
> 
> Are u quoting the lady at Bob's Country Bunker from the 1980's classic "The Blues Brothers"?
> 
> 
> 
> The kid has me dead to rights. That's exactly where the gag about both kinds of music came from.
Click to expand...

The blues brothers is my all time favorite movie I've honestly watched it well over 300 times and have all the lines memorized so heads up lol anyone who posts any blues brothers quotes will be called out be me lol. I know this isn't the place for Blues Brothers trivia lol but seriously bring it on lol


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## MrFSS

Long Train Runnin said:


> WhoozOn1st said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Long Train Runnin said:
> 
> 
> 
> Are u quoting the lady at Bob's Country Bunker from the 1980's classic "The Blues Brothers"?
> 
> 
> 
> The kid has me dead to rights. That's exactly where the gag about both kinds of music came from.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> The blues brothers is my all time favorite movie I've honestly watched it well over 300 times and have all the lines memorized so heads up lol anyone who posts any blues brothers quotes will be called out be me lol. I know this isn't the place for Blues Brothers trivia lol but seriously bring it on lol
Click to expand...

Who are The Blues Brothers?


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## Long Train Runnin'

MrFSS said:


> Long Train Runnin said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> WhoozOn1st said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Long Train Runnin said:
> 
> 
> 
> Are u quoting the lady at Bob's Country Bunker from the 1980's classic "The Blues Brothers"?
> 
> 
> 
> The kid has me dead to rights. That's exactly where the gag about both kinds of music came from.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> The blues brothers is my all time favorite movie I've honestly watched it well over 300 times and have all the lines memorized so heads up lol anyone who posts any blues brothers quotes will be called out be me lol. I know this isn't the place for Blues Brothers trivia lol but seriously bring it on lol
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Who are The Blues Brothers?
Click to expand...

"Joliet" Jake (John Bellucci) and Elwood (Dan Ackroyd) Blues. There was the movie version portraying the story of the Blues Brothers and there quest to raise $5000 dollars to save there childhood orphanage. By, "getting the band back together" and playing gigs. One of the best films ever made. With a 100 million dollar budget in 1980 this movie really was something else.

The wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blues_Brothers


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## MrFSS

Long Train Runnin said:


> MrFSS said:
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> Long Train Runnin said:
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> WhoozOn1st said:
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> 
> 
> 
> 
> Long Train Runnin said:
> 
> 
> 
> Are u quoting the lady at Bob's Country Bunker from the 1980's classic "The Blues Brothers"?
> 
> 
> 
> The kid has me dead to rights. That's exactly where the gag about both kinds of music came from.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> The blues brothers is my all time favorite movie I've honestly watched it well over 300 times and have all the lines memorized so heads up lol anyone who posts any blues brothers quotes will be called out be me lol. I know this isn't the place for Blues Brothers trivia lol but seriously bring it on lol
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Who are The Blues Brothers?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> "Joliet" Jake (John Bellucci) and Elwood (Dan Ackroyd) Blues. There was the movie version portraying the story of the Blues Brothers and there quest to raise $5000 dollars to save there childhood orphanage. By, "getting the band back together" and playing gigs. One of the best films ever made. With a 100 million dollar budget in 1980 this movie really was something else.
> 
> The wikipedia
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blues_Brothers
Click to expand...

Thanks - I hadn't heard of them or the movie. I'm old!


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## Long Train Runnin'

MrFSS said:


> Long Train Runnin said:
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> MrFSS said:
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> Long Train Runnin said:
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> WhoozOn1st said:
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> Long Train Runnin said:
> 
> 
> 
> Are u quoting the lady at Bob's Country Bunker from the 1980's classic "The Blues Brothers"?
> 
> 
> 
> The kid has me dead to rights. That's exactly where the gag about both kinds of music came from.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> The blues brothers is my all time favorite movie I've honestly watched it well over 300 times and have all the lines memorized so heads up lol anyone who posts any blues brothers quotes will be called out be me lol. I know this isn't the place for Blues Brothers trivia lol but seriously bring it on lol
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Who are The Blues Brothers?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> "Joliet" Jake (John Bellucci) and Elwood (Dan Ackroyd) Blues. There was the movie version portraying the story of the Blues Brothers and there quest to raise $5000 dollars to save there childhood orphanage. By, "getting the band back together" and playing gigs. One of the best films ever made. With a 100 million dollar budget in 1980 this movie really was something else.
> 
> The wikipedia
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blues_Brothers
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Thanks - I hadn't heard of them or the movie. I'm old!
Click to expand...

Id recommend it! And perhaps whoooz can share his perspective as he was telling me about him actually being in the film.


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## WhoozOn1st

Long Train Runnin said:


> Id recommend it! And perhaps whoooz can share his perspective as he was telling me about him actually being in the film.


I was just a one-day extra by virtue of winning a radio station promotion. Fifty bucks and a chicken lunch. In the movie, during the concert sequence, it sounds like everybody is clapping and howling like mad. During filming nobody made a sound; fake clapping, and sound would be added later. You can't tell on screen that peoples' hands are not actually making contact.


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## GG-1

MrFSS said:


> Long Train Runnin said:
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> WhoozOn1st said:
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> Long Train Runnin said:
> 
> 
> 
> Are u quoting the lady at Bob's Country Bunker from the 1980's classic "The Blues Brothers"?
> 
> 
> 
> The kid has me dead to rights. That's exactly where the gag about both kinds of music came from.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> The blues brothers is my all time favorite movie I've honestly watched it well over 300 times and have all the lines memorized so heads up lol anyone who posts any blues brothers quotes will be called out be me lol. I know this isn't the place for Blues Brothers trivia lol but seriously bring it on lol
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Who are The Blues Brothers?
Click to expand...

uh oh, Tom's Age is showing :lol:  :lol: Aloha

But He really must be pulling our leg's


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## WhoozOn1st

The Blues Brothers, Jake and Elwood.

"We're on a mission from god."

What do you want for nothing, a RRRRRRRRRRRRRRubber biscuit?

EDIT: I think the raised rail bridge behind Jake and Elwood is a bascule type. Looking forward to correction if I'm wrong.


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## GG-1

Aloha

I think Whooz is correct but Isn't that the same bridge in some of the first gathering pictures in Chicago?


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## WhoozOn1st

WhoozOn1st said:


> EDIT: I think the raised rail bridge behind Jake and Elwood is a bascule type. Looking forward to correction if I'm wrong.


I stand corrected, by myself. Further investigation shows that the type of bridge behind Jake and Elwood Blues is known as a rolling bascule type - sorry to be picky. And there appears to be a center lift type behind that.

GG-1 is kinda right. We did see a raised rolling bascule bridge very close up during our Chicago shop tour, but I don't think it was the same one as in the pic of the Blues Brothers posted above.

If memory serves, and GG-1 was unfortunately not on hand at Chicago, while waiting around to enter the Amtrak shops at Chicago we observed a center lift bridge in operation. In some group pics people are looking off to their right. Watching the bridge operate.

As we departed the shops we saw a basic bascule bridge (two hinged lifting spans) in operation over the river.


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## MrFSS

WhoozOn1st said:


> WhoozOn1st said:
> 
> 
> 
> EDIT: I think the raised rail bridge behind Jake and Elwood is a bascule type. Looking forward to correction if I'm wrong.
> 
> 
> 
> I stand corrected, by myself. Further investigation shows that the type of bridge behind Jake and Elwood Blues is known as a rolling bascule type - sorry to be picky. And there appears to be a center lift type behind that.
> 
> GG-1 is kinda right. We did see a raised rolling bascule bridge very close up during our Chicago shop tour, but I don't think it was the same one as in the pic of the Blues Brothers posted above.
> 
> If memory serves, and GG-1 was unfortunately not on hand at Chicago, while waiting around to enter the Amtrak shops at Chicago we observed a center lift bridge in operation. In some group pics people are looking off to their right. Watching the bridge operate.
> 
> As we departed the shops we saw a basic bascule bridge (two hinged lifting spans) in operation over the river.
Click to expand...

And - that bridge in Chicago has been there a very long time. This is a picture I took from Roosevelt Road looking south, This was in the mid 50's. Note the bridge off to the left. And, where all those tracks are on the left is where the Amtrak operation is today.


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## WhoozOn1st

Nice shot, MrFSS. Thanks!

The center lift span mentioned above is also visible, the narrow tower at center in the distance above the diesels. And the Roosevelt Road viewpoint is also where the basic basule is located. If you have a thing for bridges, as I do, Chicago is great.


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## GG-1

WhoozOn1st said:


> Nice shot, MrFSS. Thanks!
> The center lift span mentioned above is also visible, the narrow tower at center in the distance above the diesels. And the Roosevelt Road viewpoint is also where the basic basule is located. If you have a thing for bridges, as I do, Chicago is great.


If You like Bridges you will also like Portland.


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## WhoozOn1st

Since initiating this topic I've been deluged with versions of Orange Blossom Special.

Listened to and appreciated them all, and I want to thank everybody who sent them.

Railroad aspect aside (sorry) it's quite possibly the best fiddle tune of all time.

At bluegrass festivals it's okay to sit through "Lop Eared Mule" and "Boil That Cabbage Down."

But at the end of the day everybody's really there for only one song: Orange Blossom Special.

The beauty is that all are fully aware that it's a railroad song. A grand connection with our American past expressed musically in the present. And everybody gets it.


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## Joel N. Weber II

WhoozOn1st said:


> The center lift span mentioned above is also visible, the narrow tower at center in the distance above the diesels. And the Roosevelt Road viewpoint is also where the basic basule is located. If you have a thing for bridges, as I do, Chicago is great.


The Charles River (which separates Charlestown and Cambridge from Boston, and continues upstream a ways through various other municipalities) also has a pretty good collection of bridges.

Of particular note, the Harvard Bridge is 364.4 smoots ± one ear long, the Longfellow bridge carries Red Line trains, automoboiles, and pedestrians, and the Lechmere Viaduct carries the Green Line.

(Hmm, and Wikipedia has no articles about the stuff across the Charles in the vinicity of Moody Street in Waltham. There's a decent chance I already have digital photos of a lot of that if I get organized enough to add them to Wikipedia.)


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## WhoozOn1st

Bill Haithcoat said:


> Patrick, many,many thanks for bringing this fine old train name to the forefront for us. It was never streamlined but it did maintain a high level. high quality service, sort of like certain very old hotels.


What is it with this tune that makes me wanna ride a train? Here's another version. The video kinda bites, but the audio is way solid. That first thing you see is a guy at a pedal steel guitar, a staple instrument of country-western music. You can forget it, though, cuz Orange Blossom Special is first and foremost a fiddle tune.

Bill Monroe version lyrics:

Comin' right on down the line now

Look yonder comin'

Comin' down the railroad track

Look yonder comin'

Comin' down the railroad track

It's the orange blossom special

Bring my baby back

Yeah bring er' right on home now

Ring the bell Bill ring the bell

(fiddle)

Comin' right on down the line now

Pullin' up a heavy grave

Hey Bill where ya gonna get off this train at

Down at about Atlanta Georgia

Where you gettin' off at

Down at Nashville Tennessee

Where you goin' cousin Rofferd

I'm goin' to Burmingham Alabamey

What for

Ain't no ham like Burmingham

Gene where you gettin' off at

Oh I'm Texas bound

(fiddle)

 (The guy in yellow on the right is Buck Owens)


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## the_traveler

WhoozOn1st said:


> What is it with this tune that makes me wanna ride a train?


I don't need a tune to wanna ride a train! :lol: I just need a day of the week that ends in "Y"!


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