Mystery Train



"Mystery Train" is a song written and recorded by American blues musician Junior Parker in 1953.

History
Junior Parker (aka Herman Parker), billed as "Little Junior's Blue Flames", recorded the song, considered a blues standard, for producer/Sun Records owner Sam Phillips. The song was released on the Sun label. The song was written by Junior Parker, with a credit later given to Phillips.

One commentator 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's "Worried Man Blues", itself based on an old Celtic ballad, and their biggest selling record of 1930:
 * The train arrived sixteen coaches long
 * The train arrived sixteen coaches long
 * The girl I love is on that train and gone

Parker's lyrics include:
 * Train I ride sixteen coaches long
 * Train I ride sixteen coaches long
 * Well, that long black train carries my baby home

"Mystery Train" was the follow-up single to Junior Parker's 1953 number five Billboard R&B chart release "Feelin' Good" (Sun 187). Accompanying Parker (vocal) is his backup band the "Blue Flames", whose members at the time are believed to have included: Floyd Murphy (guitar), William Johnson (piano), Kenneth Banks (bass), John Bowers (drums), and Raymond Hill (tenor sax).

Elvis Presley version
Elvis Presley's version of "Mystery Train" was first released on August 20, 1955 as the B-side of "I Forgot to Remember to Forget" (Sun 223). Presley's version would be ranked #77 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list in 2003. It was again produced by Sam Phillips at Sun Studios, and featured Presley on vocals and rhythm guitar, Scotty Moore on lead guitar, and Bill Black on bass. Moore used a country lead break, and toward the end of the record is an echo of the 1946 "Sixteen Tons" by Merle Travis. For Presley's version of "Mystery Train", Scotty Moore also borrowed the guitar riff from Junior Parker's "Love My Baby" (1953), played by Pat Hare.

Victor released a pop version of the song by The Turtles (not to be confused with the 1960s pop group, The Turtles) with backing by Hugo Winterhalter and his Orchestra (Victor 6356) in December 1955.

Paired with "I Forgot to Remember to Forget", the record was in the Top 10 in Billboard's C&W listings.

RCA Victor rereleased this recording in December 1955 (#47-6357) after acquiring it as part of a contract with Presley. This issue of the song peaked at # 11 on the national Billboard Country Chart.

"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.

Black, who had success with the Bill Black Combo, once said to a visitor to his house in Memphis, as he pointed to a framed 78rpm Sun Record of "Mystery Train" on the wall, "Now there was a record."

Presley's version was ranked the third most acclaimed song of 1955, by Acclaimed Music.

Presley's version also appeared in Jim Jarmusch's 1989 independent film Mystery Train.

The Band version
In 1973, with the approval of Sam Phillips, Robbie Robertson of The Band wrote additional lyrics for "Mystery Train", and the group recorded this version of the song for their Moondog Matinee album. They later performed the song with Paul Butterfield for their 1976 "farewell" concert The Last Waltz.

Other recordings
A variety of musicians have recorded "Mystery Train", including:
 * 1965 – Sam the Sham and the Pharaoahs on the album On Tour.
 * 1965 – Vince Melouney did a cover of this song with Robin Gibb and Maurice Gibb on backing vocals. The song was on his album, Punkville.
 * 1965 – The Paul Butterfield Blues Band from The Paul Butterfield Blues Band
 * 1967 – Ricky Nelson from Country Fever.
 * 1969 – Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash during the Nashville Skyline sessions
 * 1970 – The Doors from Live in Detroit (released 2000), Live in Philadelphia '70 (released 2005), Live in Boston (released 2007), and live in Pittsburgh as part of "Black Train Song" from 1997's The Doors: Box Set
 * 1970 – Roger Miller from Roger Miller 1970
 * 1972 – Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed from Me & Chet
 * 1974 – Alvin Lee from In Flight
 * 1976 – Kingfish from Kingfish in Concert: King Biscuit Flower Hour (released 1996)
 * 1977 – Jerry Garcia Band from Pure Jerry: Theatre 1839, July 29 & 30, 1977 (released 2004)
 * 1980 – UFO from No Place to Run
 * 1981 – Tom Fogerty from Deal It Out
 * 1981 – The Soft Boys feat. Robyn Hitchcock from Two Halves for the Price of One (live); also another version on 1976-81 (released 1992)
 * 1981 – Gene Summers from Gene Summers in Nashville
 * 1983 – Neil Young from Everybody's Rockin'
 * 1986 – Emmylou Harris from Thirteen
 * 1986 – The Flying Burrito Brothers from Live from Europe
 * 1990 – The Neville Brothers from Brother's Keeper
 * 1992 – Stray Cats from Choo Choo Hot Fish
 * 2005 – Rick Danko from Cryin' Heart Blues (with Paul Butterfield)
 * 2010 – Robert Gordon and Link Wray from Live Fast, Love Hard! (recorded 1978)
 * 2012 – The Grascals from Life Finds a Way

Book
In 1975, rock author Greil Marcus published his widely lauded book Mystery Train: Images of America in Rock 'n' Roll Music, inspired by the Elvis Presley recording of the Junior Parker song.