"Orange Blossom Special" is a fiddle tune about the luxury passenger train of the same name. The song was written by Ervin T. Rouse (1917–1981) in 1938 and was first recorded by Rouse and his brother Gordon in 1939. Often called simply "The Special" or "OBS", the song is commonly referred to as "the fiddle player's national anthem".

Importance

By the 1950s, "The Orange Blossom Special" had become a perennial favorite at bluegrass festivals, popular for its rousing energy. "For many years, Orange Blossom Special has been not only a train imitation piece, but also a vehicle to exhibit the fiddler's pyrotechnic virtuosity. Performed at breakneck tempos and with imitative embellishments that evoke train wheels and whistles, OBS is guaranteed to bring the blood of all but the most jaded listeners to a quick, rolling boil. —Norm Cohen, author, Long Steel Rail: The Railroad in American Folksong"

Authorship

Rouse copyrighted the song before the Orange Blossom Special train ever came to Jacksonville. Other musicians, including Robert Russell "Chubby" Wise, have claimed authorship of the song. Wise did not write it although he claimed for years that he had. Rouse, a mild-mannered man who lived deep in the Everglades, never contested the matter. Years later, Johnny Cash learned of Rouse and brought him to Miami to play the song at a Cash concert. In a video on YouTube, Gene Christian, a fiddler for Bill Monroe who knew both men, confirms that Rouse wrote and copyrighted the song. Christian says in the interview that Chubby Wise popularized the song by playing it weekly on the Grand Ole Opry. As Wise tells the story, he and Rouse decided to visit the Jacksonville Terminal in Florida to tour the Orange Blossom Special train. "... even though it was about three in the morning we went right into the Terminal and got on board and toured that train, and it was just about the most luxurious thing I had ever seen. Ervin was impressed, too. And when we got done lookin' 'er over he said, "Let's write a song about it." So we went over to my place ... and that night she was born. Sitting on the side of my bed. We wrote the melody in less than an hour, and called it Orange Blossom Special. Later Ervin and his brother put some words to it." Rouse copyrighted the song in 1938 and recorded it in 1939. Bill Monroe, regarded by many as "the father of bluegrass music", recorded the song (with Art Wooten on fiddle) and made it a hit. Since then countless versions have been recorded, among them Wise's own, as an instrumental in a 1969 album Chubby Wise and His Fiddle. And that version, said Wise, "is the way it was written and the way it's supposed to be played". Leon "Pappy" Selph in this interview dated 1997 that he authored the song in 1931.

Lyrics

The lyrics of the song are in the 12-bar blues form but the full piece is more elaborate. Look a-yonder comin' Comin' down that railroad track Hey, look a-yonder comin' Comin' down that railroad track It's the Orange Blossom Special Bringin' my baby back Well, I'm going down to Florida And get some sand in my shoes Or maybe Californy And get some sand in my shoes I'll ride that Orange Blossom Special And lose these New York blues "Say man, when you going back to Florida?" "When am I goin' back to Florida? I don't know, don't reckon I ever will." "Ain't you worried about getting your nourishment in New York?" "Well, I don't care if I do-die-do-die-do-die-do-die." Hey talk about a-ramblin' She's the fastest train on the line Talk about a-travellin' She's the fastest train on the line It's that Orange Blossom Special Rollin' down the Seaboard line The lyrics of the first verse are very reminiscent of the Jimmie Rodgers song "Freight Whistle Blues".

Notable versions

Video