[78-L] train wreck, totally irrelevant video^

[Steven C. Barr]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <neechevoneeznayou at gmail.com>
> Now we can discuss 78s about train wrecks, which puts this back on 
> topic.....haven't we done that b4?
> 
78 songs about train wrecks were quite common in the latter half of the
twenties...?! They were among a musical genre which we might call
"disaster songs"...which were common in country music at the time.
"Casey Jones" (which was about an actual event!) may have been the
first of these...and it is quite possible that Gordon Lightfoot's song/
saga about the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald (another actual
event) was the last (or one of the last?) of these...?!

Keep in mind that folks at the time didn't have TV or even radio...and
most local newspapers covered mainly local news/events...so songs
were written about "disasters" as a way to spread that news...?! There
were songs about train wrecks...as well as songs about fires, floods,
storms and such-like. They had a standard format...first they told
about the disaster, and in the last verse the responsible party warns
the audience that they had better live an exemplary life, since they
may well be next to go...?!

Steven C. Barr