"Mystery Train" is a song written and recorded by American blues musician

Junior Parker Herman "Junior" Parker (March 27, 1932November 18, 1971) Li ...

in 1953. Originally performed in the style of a

Memphis blues The Memphis blues is a style of blues music created from the 1910s to the 1930s by musicians in the Memphis area, such as Frank Stokes, Sleepy John Estes, Furry Lewis and Memphis Minnie. The style was popular in vaudeville and medicine shows a ...

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

tune, it was inspired by earlier songs and later became a popular

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

song, as first covered by

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

, then numerous others. Among the many cover versions are two on the 2021 Americana Railroad on RENEW / BMG "American Railroad" released on November 26th. One is by Rocky Burnette with James Intveld on guitar and Barry Goldberg on piano. The other is performed by James Intveld with Barry Goldberg on Hammond B3 organ. Both were produced by Carla Olson.

Composition and recording

Music historian

Colin Escott Colin Escott (born August 31, 1949) is a British music historian and author specializing in early U.S. rock and roll and country music. His works include a biography of Hank Williams, histories of Sun Records and The Grand Ole Opry, liner notes ...

noted "One of the mysteries about 'Mystery Train' was where the title came from; it was mentioned nowhere in the song". The song uses lyrics similar to those found in the traditional American folk music group

Carter Family Carter Family was a traditional American folk music group that recorded between 1927 and 1956. Their music had a profound impact on bluegrass, country, Southern Gospel, pop and rock musicians as well as on the U.S. folk revival of the 1960s. ...

's " Worried Man Blues", itself based on an old Celtic ballad, and their biggest selling record of 1930: Parker's lyrics include:

Junior Parker Herman "Junior" Parker (March 27, 1932November 18, 1971) Li ...

, billed as "Little Junior's Blue Flames", recorded "Mystery Train" for producer/

Sun Records Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee in February 1952. Sun was the first label to record Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny C ...

owner

Sam Phillips Samuel Cornelius Phillips (January 5, 1923 – July 30, 2003) was an American record producer. He was the founder of Sun Records and Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, where he produced recordings by Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, ...

. The sessions took place at Phillips'

Memphis Recording Service Sun Studio is a recording studio opened by rock-and-roll pioneer Sam Phillips at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 3, 1950. It was originally called Memphis Recording Service, sharing the same building with the Sun Records label ...

, in Memphis, Tennessee, during September and October 1953. Accompanying Parker on vocal is his backup band the "Blue Flames", whose members at the time are believed to have included: Floyd Murphy on guitar, William Johnson on piano, Kenneth Banks on bass, John Bowers on drums, and Raymond Hill on tenor sax. "Mystery Train" was the follow-up single to Junior Parker's 1953 number five

Billboard R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

release "Feelin' Good". The song did not reach the singles chart. In 1973, with the approval of Sam Phillips,

Robbie Robertson Jaime Royal "Robbie" Robertson, OC (born July 5, 1943), is a Canadian musician. He is best known for his work as lead guitarist and songwriter for the Band, and for his career as a solo recording artist. With the deaths of Richard Manuel in ...

of the Band wrote additional lyrics for "Mystery Train", and the group recorded this version of the song for their ''

Moondog Matinee ''Moondog Matinee'' is the fifth studio album by Canadian/American rock group the Band, released in 1973. It consists entirely of cover material reflecting the group's love of R&B and blues music, with one exception in their interpretation of ...

'' album. They later performed the song with

Paul Butterfield Paul Vaughn Butterfield (December 17, 1942May 4, 1987) was an American blues harmonica player, singer and band leader. After early training as a classical flautist, he developed an interest in blues harmonica. He explored the blues scene in his n ...

for their 1976 "farewell" concert ''

The Last Waltz ''The Last Waltz'' was a concert by the Canadian-American rock group The Band, held on American Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. ''The Last Waltz'' was advertised as The Band's "farewell concert a ...

''.

Elvis Presley version

's version of "Mystery Train" was first released on August 20, 1955, as the B-side of "

I Forgot to Remember to Forget "I Forgot to Remember to Forget" is a 1955 rockabilly and country song, first recorded by Elvis Presley written by Stan Kesler and Charlie Feathers. It was Elvis' first no. 1 record nationally. The single was the fifth and final single released ...

". In 2003, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' magazine ranked it at number 77 on its list of the

500 Greatest Songs of All Time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring survey compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2004 in ...

. Sam Phillips at Sun Studios again produced the recording, and featured Presley on vocals and rhythm guitar,

Scotty Moore Winfield Scott Moore III (December 27, 1931 – June 28, 2016) was an American guitarist who formed The Blue Moon Boys in 1954, Elvis Presley's backing band. He was studio and touring guitarist for Presley between 1954 and 1968. Rock critic D ...

on lead guitar, and

Bill Black William Patton Black Jr. (September 17, 1926 – October 21, 1965) was an American musician and bandleader who is noted as one of the pioneers of rock and roll. He played in Elvis Presley's early trio. Black later formed Bill Black's Combo. Ear ...

on bass. Moore used a country lead break and

fingerstyle Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of guitar picking, playing the guitar or bass guitar by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips, fingernails, or picks attached to fingers, as opposed to flatpicking (plucking individual notes with ...

picking, with a touch of slapback echo. Moore also drew on elements from earlier songs, such as the guitar

riffs A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accomp ...

from Junior Parker's "Love My Baby" (1953), played by

Pat Hare Auburn "Pat" Hare was a Memphis electric blues guitarist and singer. His heavily distortion (music), distorted, power chord–driven electric guitar performances in the early 1950s is considered an important precursor of heavy metal music.Robert P ...

, and "

Sixteen Tons "Sixteen Tons" is a song written by Merle Travis about a coal miner, based on life in the mines of Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. Travis first recorded the song at the Radio Recorders Studio B in Hollywood, California, on August 8, 1946. Cliff ...

" (1946) by

Merle Travis Merle Robert Travis (November 29, 1917 – October 20, 1983) was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and guitarist born in Rosewood, Kentucky, United States. His songs' lyrics often discussed both the lives and the economic expl ...

. Paired with "I Forgot to Remember to Forget", the single reached the Top 10 in ''Billboard''s C&W listings. RCA Victor re-released this recording in November 1955 (#47-6357) after acquiring it as part of a contract with Presley. This issue of the song peaked at number 11 on the national ''Billboard'' country chart. That same month, RCA Victor also released a pop version of the song by the Turtles (not to be confused with the 1960s pop group,

the Turtles ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

) with backing by Hugo Winterhalter and his Orchestra (47-6356). "Mystery Train" is now considered to be an "enduring classic". It was the first recording to make Elvis Presley a nationally known country music star.

References

{{authority control 1953 singles 1953 songs American songs The Band songs Blues songs Elvis Presley songs Junior Parker songs Rockabilly songs Song recordings produced by Sam Phillips Songs about trains Sun Records singles Tom Fogerty songs

Composition and recording

Elvis Presley version

See also

References