"Hey, Porter" is a song by

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...

. It was recorded on September 1, 1954 and released as a single in May the following year. It tells the story of a train journey home to Tennessee, from the point of view of an excited passenger who continually asks the porter for updates.

Origins

"Hey Porter" is

and the Tennessee Two's first recording; Cash wrote the song with bandmates Luther Perkins and Marshall Grant after

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

(Owner of Sun Records) turned down "I Was There When It Happened", the song with which the three auditioned. Phillips reportedly "didn't want a

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

song, he wanted a fast song" in the vein of

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

's " That's All Right". Having been stationed in Landsberg,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, during his stint with the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

, Cash based the song on a man returning home from overseas who felt elated to be returning to his native

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

. "Hey Porter" was the first of many rail-themed songs that Cash would record during his career, and was soon followed by " Folsom Prison Blues", another rail-themed track. The song is available on many compilations, such as ''The Complete Sun Singles'', '' The Essential Johnny Cash'', ''Ring Of Fire: The Legend of Johnny Cash Volume Two'', and '' The Legend''. "Hey Porter" was covered by

Ry Cooder Ryland Peter Cooder (born March 15, 1947) is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, and h ...

in 1972 on his second album '' Into the Purple Valley''. Cash himself re-recorded the song several times as well. Additionally, Cash contributed the vocal for the cover version of "Hey Porter" on the Earl Scruggs Revue album ''Anniversary Special'' in 1975.

References

{{authority control 1954 songs 1955 singles Rock-and-roll songs Rockabilly songs Johnny Cash songs Songs written by Johnny Cash Songs about trains Song recordings produced by Sam Phillips

Origins

See also

References