"Midnight Special" is a traditional folk song in the prison-blues style. It was originally popularized by Leadbelly and was based on a legend at the prison in Sugar Land, Texas in which Leadbelly was incarcerated. The song has been covered by many different artists. Leadbelly, also known as Lead Belly (born Huddie William Ledbetter; January 20, 1889 (although this is debatable) - December 6, 1949), was an American folk and blues musician, notable for his clear and forceful singing, his virtuosity on the twelve string guitar, and the rich songbook of folk standards he introduced. ... City nickname: The Land of Sugar City slogan: Sugar Land. ...

Song style

"Midnight Special" is historically performed in the country-blues style. It is performed in first person and is a tale of how the songwriter is imprisoned. The song is described in Best Loved American Folk Songs by John and Alan Lomax as "the Negro jailbird's ballad to match 'Hard Times Poor Boy.' Like so many American folk songs, its hero is not a man but a train." The light of the train is seen as the light of salvation, the train which could take them away from the prison walls. It is highly reminiscent of the imagery of such gospel songs as "Let the Light from your Lighthouse Shine on Me."

History of the song

The train in the song was a real train, the Southern Pacific's Golden Gate Limited. It pulled out of the Southern Pacific depot at Houston, Texas at midnight sharp heading for San Antonio, El Paso and eventually California. It ran right past the Texas State Prison Farm at Sugar Land (called the Central Unit), just outside Houston. Southern Pacific redirects here. ... “Houston” redirects here. ... “San Antonio” redirects here. ... El Paso redirects here. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Largest metro area Greater Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ...

Prisoners lying awake could easily hear the sound of that train crashing through the darkness. And if the "ever-lovin’ light" from the headlamp shone through the barred windows and landed on a convict, legend says that man would soon go free. "The Midnight Special" was first introduced to northern audiences in the mid 1930s by the great folk singer and folk song composer Lead Belly, who had done time at Sugar Land.^[1] Lead Belly recorded at least three versions of the song, one with the Golden Gate Quartet, a slick gospel group (recorded for RCA at Victor Studio #2, NYC, June 15, 1940). The earliest known recording of the song, however, is by the bluesman Sam Collins. is the 166th day of the year (167th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Other versions

The country blues artist Bill Cox also did a song called "Midnight Special" which was essentially the same song as Cliff Carlisle's train-riding "Hobo Blues" with the chorus line from "Midnight Special" inserted into it. In Bill Cox's version, the light of the train represents the ability to flee from his situation of unemployment and destitution.

The song, as popularized by Leadbelly, has many parallel lines to other prison songs. It is essentialy the same song as "De Funiac Blues," sung and played by Burruss Johnson and recorded by John Lomax at the Raiford State Penitentiary in Florida on 6/2/39. Many of the lines appear in prison worksongs such as "Jumpin Judy," "Ain't That Berta," "Oh Berta" and "Yon' Comes de Sargent." These songs, including "Midnight Special." are composite. They mix standard prison song verses indiscriminately. Many of these component pieces have become canonized in the blues idiom and appear in mutated forms regularly in blues lyrics.

Johnny Rivers, Paul Evans and Creedence Clearwater Revival are well-known for their versions. Also artists such as ABBA, Mungo Jerry, Van Morrison, Odetta, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Little Richard, Buckwheat Zydeco, Mischief Brew, Josh White, Pete Seeger, Spencer Davis Group and Paul McCartney have covered the song. Johnny Rivers (born John Henry Ramistella, 7 November 1942, in New York) is an American rock and roll singer, songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. ... Paul Evans may refer to any of the following people Paul Evans (basketball coach), an American college basketball coach Paul Evans (poet) British poet Paul Evans (b. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... “Abba” redirects here. ... Mungo Jerry is the name of a pop group whose greatest success was in the early 1970s, though they have continued throughout the years with an ever-changing line-up, always fronted by Ray Dorset. ... George Ivan Morrison OBE (generally known as Van Morrison) (born August 31, 1945) is a singer-songwriter from Belfast, Northern Ireland. ... Odetta (b. ... Sonny Terry performing live at Nambassa festival 1981. ... Walter Brownie McGhee (November 30, 1915 - February 16, 1996) was a folk-blues singer and guitarist, best known for his collaborations with the harmonica player Sonny Terry. ... Richard Wayne Penniman (born December 5, 1932), better known by the stage name Little Richard, is an African-American singer, songwriter, and pianist, who began performing in the 1940s and recording from 1951. ... Buckwheat playing at the 2006 Festival International de Louisiane. ... Mischief Brew is a band from Philadelphia which plays Acoustic folk and anarcho-punk music. ... Joshua Daniel White (February 11, 1914–-September 5, 1969),[1] best known as Josh White, was a legendary American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor, and civil rights activist. ... Peter Seeger (born May 3, 1919), almost universally known as Pete Seeger, is a folk singer, political activist, and author. ... The Spencer Davis Group was a mid 1960s British beat group from Birmingham, England, founded by Spencer Davis (born 17 July 1939, Swansea, Wales). ... Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who first gained worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles. ...

References

Lonnie Donegan “Blues music” redirects here. ... Blues can be categorized into a number of genres. ... A jug band is a band employing a jug player and a mix of traditional and home-made instruments. ... The Classic female blues spanned from 1920 to 1929 with its peak from 1923 to 1925. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Delta blues are named for the Mississippi Delta. ... The electric blues is a type of blues music distinguished by the amplification of the guitar, the bass guitar , and/or the harmonica. ... Jump blues is a type of up-tempo blues music influenced by big band sound. ... Piano blues refers to a variety of blues styles, sharing only the characteristic that they use the piano as the primary musical instrument. ... Fife and Drum blues is a rural derivation of traditional country blues. ... Jazz blues is a musical style that combines jazz and blues. ... Blues Rock or Blues-rock is a fusion genre of music which combines elements of the blues with rock and roll. ... Soul blues is a style of blues music developed in the early late 1960s and 1970s and combining eliments of soul music and urban contemporary music. ... Allmusic. ... The British blues is a type of blues music that originated in the late 1950s. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Detroit blues is blues music played by musicians resident in Detroit, Michigan, particularly that played in the 1940s and 50s. ... The Kansas City blues music is mostly famed for the Kansas Blues & Jazz festival and has its own society named the Kansas Blues Society. ... The Louisiana blues is a type of blues music that is characterized by plodding rhythms that make the sound dark and tense. ... The Memphis blues is a style of blues music that was created in 1920s and 1930s by Memphis-area musicians like Frank Stokes, Sleepy John Estes, Furry Lewis and Memphis Minnie. ... The Piedmont blues is a type of blues music characterized by a unique fingerpicking method on the guitar in which a regular, alternating-thumb bass pattern supports a melody using treble strings. ... The St. ... The swamp blues is a form of blues music that is highly evolved and specialized. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Little Willie Littlefield, a West Coast blues performer and pianist. ... Performers in the blues style range from primitive, one-chord Delta players to big bands to country music to rock and roll to classical music. ...