Ridin' the Rails
| In 1929 the Stock Market had crashed. Forcing banks to close, millions to loose their jobs. Many had takin' to jump in' freight trains by the hundreds of thousands! Obviously to look for work, food and sometimes just for the adventure! Willie Littleton Seay was one of these young men they called "Hobo's", along with his buddy R.T. Blount they rode the rails for a year maybe two in the early 1930's. "He'd Hobo alot,him and R.T. Blount. They'd get out and start to Alabama and he would go to people's houses and ask for some kind of vegetable. When they got enough they'd make em' some soup in a.. any kind of a can and eat it!" "...Hobo their way on a freight train just hop 'at train n' go to Alabama, Wyoming...any where they wanted to go they went..them two!" -Thelma Norman Seay |
| Along with his companion R.T., Willie toted along a guitar that helped him on his way in earnin' a little money or a meal! To sweetin' the deal he would claim to be "The Father of Country Music", that one and only..'singin Brakeman'...Jimmie Rodgers! I imagine he was pretty good at it,the singin' part that is but when folks realized that he wasn't Jimmie Rodgers they would run him off! |
| "There's a place I know where the train goes slow Where the sinner can be washed in the blood of the lamb There's a river by the trestle down by sinners grove Down where the willow and the Dogwood grow! Take me, Down there by the train.. ..down there by the train, down there by the train down there by the train, Down there where the train goes......slow! -Johnny Cash |
| "Can a singer , sing for his supper? "Are you a singer?" "We'll yeah...I'm Jimmie Rodgers!" |
"His is the Music of Amercia. He sang
the songs of the people he loved, of a
young nation growing strong. His was
glistening rails, thundering boxcars,
and rain-swept nights"
-Jimmie Rodgers statue
Meridian Mississippi
the songs of the people he loved, of a
young nation growing strong. His was
glistening rails, thundering boxcars,
and rain-swept nights"
-Jimmie Rodgers statue
Meridian Mississippi
| click the picture above for the official Jimmie Rodgers website! |
Would the real Jimmie Rodgers please stand up!
| "A Hobo's life ain't measured by the number of dollars in their pocket but by the miles they traveled and places they have been.. ...the storys told by the songs they sung!" -unknown author |
| Words to "The Hobo Song" by John Prine (click photo above) |
| Willie's Last Ride by Roy L. Seay |