Rock Island Line (disambiguation)
Line Skirt Iceland is the title of a recorded first by Leadbelly railway songs that was in the version of Lonnie Donegan worldwide hit. The sung railway company is the Chicago Rock Iceland and Pacific Railroad.
Genesis
The song was first discovered in 1934 by music researchers Alan and John Lomax during her visits to state prisons in the southern states in search of folk songs. During these trips, the driver of the musicologist in Arkansas the dismissed from prison blues singer Huddie " Leadbelly " Ledbetter was from September 1934. Ledbetter heard the song and saw him up; he was to become one of his most famous tracks and a permanent part of his repertoire. Leadbelly took the title for the first time on 22 June 1937 in Washington DC for the Library of Congress (the U.S. National Library ) on.
Other recordings followed, as at June 15, 1940 along with the Golden Gate Quartet and in January 1942 for Moses Asch, who later co-founder of Folkways Records and the New York record label Asch Recordings (# 102) on the single Ol ' Riley / Rock Iceland Line with a 12-string guitar. The last version is a live recording from Texas on June 15, 1949.
The song deals with the Chicago rock Iceland and Pacific Railroad Company, the first time the state of Arkansas reached in April 1902, when they there acquired a majority stake three smaller railway lines.
Success
The song was first played in 1953 during a concert by Lonnie Donegan in London's Royal Festival Hall. In July 1954 he was admitted to the British LP New Orleans Joy of Chris Barber's Jazz Band & The Lonnie Donegan Skiffle Group, which was sold 60,000 times - a huge turnover for a then debut album.
Donegan producer asked for the recording session on July 13, 1954 exclusively instrumental tracks, but the trio played in his absence, two vocal tracks one of which was a rock Iceland Line. He took over this Lead Bellys complete package, but increased the tempo. The song was released in November 1955 in the UK on Decca Records with John Henry B side as Lonnie Donegan 's first single. Donegan received only 50 pounds for the recording session, but no royalties.
As the song in January 1956 on the BBC Light Programme aired, it sparked among British teenagers from the skiffle shaft. In the same month he entered the local charts where he reached down to eighth. The same placement reached the title in March 1956 in the U.S. pop charts. An infectious rhythm, slowly at first and then speeding like a freight train, dominates the simply instrumented song. From then established himself as a skiffle combination of guitar and banjo and for the rhythm a washboard. In the U.S., 700,000 were first sold in Europe a total of 350,000 copies. After six months, three million copies had been converted. It was the first debut recording of a musician, which was awarded in the UK with gold.
Composer
Whoever comes as a composer of rock Iceland Line in question is controversial. Although Ledbetter is associated with the song, it is due to the genesis probably not the author. BMI deals with the composition as traditional, because it has all reviewers assigned different serial numbers. Thus, in particular, Huddie Ledbetter (# 1260902 ), Joel Newman ( # 1260905 for the music publishing Folkways Music Publishers ) and Lonnie Donegan (# 1260911 ) registered as a composer; the latter received a BMI award for this. For classification as Traditional speaks the indication on the record label of Donegan, while Ledbetter a copyright claim is stayed.
A total of 27 versions of this classic are listed. Important versions come from Louis M. " Grandpa " Jones, who received the title on 14 March 1956 ( King Records # 4918 ). Bobby Darin's first single in April 1956 was rock Iceland Line, which he TV show presented in the Dorsey Brothers on March 10, 1956. A version of Johnny Cash can be found on his published in October 1957 LP Johnny Cash With His Hot and Blue Guitar. The title belonged to the standard repertoire of the Beatles precursor band, the Quarrymen.
The song in advertising
The song was heard in the TV commercial for the Opel Astra TwinTop 2006.
Web Links & Resources
- "Rock Iceland Line" at All Music Guide
- Lonnie Donegan version of the song
- Genesis