"Rock Island Line" (Roud 15211) is an American folk song. Ostensibly about the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad , it appeared as a folk song as early as 1929. The first recorded performance of "Rock Island Line" was by inmates of the Arkansas Cummins State Farm prison in …

In 1934 John Lomax with the help of Huddie Ledbetter (Lead Belly) made the first two recordings of "Rock Island Line", a song that would become world-famous later. A tall tale in rhyme, the...

The song Rock Island Line was written by Clarence Wilson and was first performed by Rock Island Colored Booster Quartet. It was first recorded by Kelly Pace and Group in 1943. It was first released by Lead Belly in 1942. It was covered by Lonnie Donegan Meets Leinemann, Grandpa Jones, Chas McDevitt, Big Jim Adam and other artists.

Jan 31, 2024 · “The Rock Island Line” is a world-famous song—recorded by the likes of Johnny Cash, Harry Belafonte, and Grandpa Jones—the earliest known performances of which are two 1934 recordings made in Arkansas prisons. A tall tale in rhyme, the song’s subject is a train so fast that it arrives at its destination in Little Rock (at 8:49) before ...

The original Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRI&P RW, sometimes called Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway) [1] (reporting marks CRI&P, RI, ROCK) was an American Class I railroad. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock.

Mar 3, 2015 · In 1934, John Lomax recorded a group of African-American prisoners at Cummins State Farm in Gould, Arkansas singing a tune called “Rock Island Line.” You can listen to Lomax’s original 1934 recording below.

Jan 15, 2025 · “Rock Island Line” is an American folk song. Ostensibly about the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, it appeared as a folk song as early as 1929. The first recorded performance of “Rock Island Line” was by inmates of the Arkansas Cummins State Farm prison in …

Lomax, John A, et al. Rock Island Line. near Varner, Arkansas, 1939. Audio. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/lomaxbib000336/>.

Oct 11, 2002 · On October 15, 1852, the first train of the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad traveled from Chicago to Joliet, Illinois. Two years later it would bring a delegation of East Coast journalists and dignitaries to the Mississippi River as part of the Grand Excursion to Minnesota.

View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 2003 CD release of "Rock Island Line (Original 1935-1943 Recordings)" on Discogs.