This Train

mid-week gospel

Trains come, trains go, and trains pass. Sometimes they leave somebody behind, sometimes not. Sometimes they're not on schedule, and sometimes they just dis- appear. I personally use trains rarely in real life. But I wouldn't like to miss them, either. Trains mean a lot to me; my father was growing up in the train station of a small town, his father being the station master. And I guess that, in general, trains mean a lot even to people who don't use them.

They did, it seems, to the Holmes Sisters back in 1962. At least they recorded their blues gospel adaptation of »This Train« in Nashville in June '62, giving it the title »Gonna Ride This Train«. The original song was made famous by Sister Rosetta Tharpe, but she recorded a number of different versions of it, with many variations in the lyrics as well (see one here). Big Bill Broonzy then recorded the version that seems closer to what the Holmes Sisters waxed in 1962. However, the credits for the song on the 45 state »Robinson-Holmes«, i.e. Annie Robinson and Julia Marie Holmes. Their uptempo version has nice sonic gimmicks at the beginning and the end of the song ... and the surprising announcement Last Stop: Eternal Life! in the latter part. But best of all, here we have a wonderful duet of two voices that are so dissimilar in timbre, modulation and pitch to make for the perfect duet. What is more, the driv- ing guitars also echo, faintly, Elvis's »Mystery Train«. B-side is »Son Of Man«, with lyrics closely based on Matthew 24 and Luke 21; this song is credited to Robinson-Holmes as well.

My copy of Nashboro # 778 is a promotional copy. Although the songs were recorded in 1962, the single was released only in 1963. Don't know nothing else on the Holmes Sisters. Help appreciated.

Holmes Sisters: »Gonna Ride This Train« / »Son Of Man« on Nashboro # 45-778 (1963):