#tiny bradshaw

The Train Kept A Rollin' - Wild Billy Childish & CTMF

2021

Raw, chugging revivalism

I love how Billy Childish and CTMF barrel through this rock’n’roll staple with locomotive rhythm.

First recorded by Tiny Bradshaw (1951) yet Johnny Burnette’s version is the one that really hits for me.

1956

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Scotty McKay Quintet - The Train Kept A'Rollin (1967)

Foghat: Energized (1974)

What’s in a name?

Well, as I once wrote in Ultimate Classic Rock, nothing and everything, if the subject is legendary boogie-rockers, Foghat, since their curious moniker meant absolutely nothing, yet their prophetically named third studio album truly Energized their career in 1974.

Until then, the band founded by erstwhile Savoy Brown members, ‘Lonesome’ Dave Peverett, Tony Stevens, and Roger Earl, alongside Black Cat Bones alum, Rod Price, had seen relatively modest sales of their eponymous ‘72 debut and ‘73’s sophomore, technically untitled ‘Rock and Roll.’ 

But it was Energized that first summited the Gold sales plateau, climbing to No. 34 on the Billboard charts, thanks in part to a richer, brighter production sheen that felt something like the rock ‘n’ roll dry cleaners had applied extra starch to Foghat’s aesthetic.

These “sweeteners” were particularly obvious -- to the point of concern -- in the dubious disco moves struck by “Step Outside,” which must have raised quite a few eyebrows with the Foghat faithful, but luckily turned out to be a solitary error in judgment.

Far more acceptable and on-brand with the band’s signature frugality were the horns and background vocals stacked atop a cover of Buddy Holly’s “That’ll Be the Day,” and the anthemic melodies pumping up future fan favorite “Home in My Hand,” with its living-out-of-a-road-case wisdom.

But not even a little more studio polish could smooth over Foghat’s natural-born grit (nor Price’s signature slide guitar) on the barnstorming “Wild Cherry,” the hard-swinging “Nothing I Won’t Do,” and a rollicking version of Big Joe Turner’s “Honey Hush” that took its relentless momentum from The Yardbirds’ rendition of Tiny Bradshaw’s “Train Kept A-Rollin’.” (*)

So, while it took Foghat a few years and albums, their newly Energized sound was now clicking with ever-larger American audiences, and for obvious reasons -- except when one considers that their brothers-by-another-boogie-mother in Status Quo mysteriously became a total commercial bust in the U.S.

Go figure.

Before year’s end, Foghat would reenter the studio to expediently knock out their fourth LP, Rock and Roll Outlaws, on their way to their arguable career peak via ‘75’s Fool for the City, before cruising through the rest of the ‘70s like a well-oiled machine.

* Yes, the very same arrangement employed by Aerosmith a short time later, and directly inspired by this iconic performance from the cult movie Blowup.