HOBO’S LULLABY

The Name of That Tune, Installment #3

Have you ever heard the song Hobo’s Lullaby? If not, I will satisfy your curiosity and let you know that “steel rails hummin’” is the answer to the question that the song’s title evokes.

If you have heard the song (and already knew that), my guess is that you probably either heard it by Woody Guthrie, his son Arlo, or Emmylou Harris.

Due to the fact that I first heard the song on the Folkways album “A Vision Shared: A Tribute to Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly” (sung by Emmylou Harris), I naturally assumed that Woody Guthrie had written the tune. Research revealed, though, that a certain Goebel Reeves (also known as “The Texas Drifter”) had written the song. His version can be heard here:

Reeves (1899-1959) was an interesting character: he had been born into “comfortable circumstances,” but later chose to live the life of a hobo. He knew Jimmie Rodgers (“The Singing Brakeman”), and was influenced by him. Possibly the influencing worked both ways, as Reeves said he taught Rodgers (1897-1933) to yodel as they traveled together in the 1920s.

So, after hoboing around following his stint in “The Great War” (later renamed World War I when it proved to not be “the war to end all worlds” after all, as it had been billed), Reeves knew whereof he wrote and sang with Hobo’s Lullaby.

Woody Guthrie (1912-1967, writer of This Land is Your Land, and described by Wikipedia as “a complex man who was at once poet, musician, protester, idealist, itinerant hobo, and folk legend”) also recorded Hobo’s Lullaby; you can check out his version here:

Woody’s son Arlo Guthrie (born 1947) recorded Hobo’s Lullaby on a 1972 album of the same name. Among the many well-known studio musicians featured on that album are such stalwarts as Linda Ronstadt and Hoyt Axton (a singer-songwriter known for “Boney Fingers” and “Greenback Dollar” as well as many songs made popular by the rock bands Three Dog Night and Steppenwolf, as well as Ringo Starr) on vocals and Ry Cooder on guitar.

Arlo and company’s version can be heard here:

Long-necked banjo picker and folk legend Pete Seeger (1919-2014) also recorded Hobo’s Lullaby, as can be heard here:

And as to the first version of Hobo’s Lullaby that I heard, you can hear the heavenly voice of Emmylou Harris (born 1947, as was Arlo Guthrie) here with her interpretation:

Last but not least, and which I would also say is my favorite version, by Billy Bragg (born 1957, sometimes associated with Wilco) and Joe Henry (born 1960, who has written several songs for Madonna, his sister-in-law) can be heard and seen here:

Albums containing Hobo’s Lullaby by the artists mentioned above can be found here:

GOEBEL REEVES

https://www.amazon.com/Hobos-Lullaby-Goebel-Reeves/dp/B0000282UP/garrphotgall-20

WOODY GUTHRIE

https://www.amazon.com/100th-Anniversary-Collection-WOODY-GUTHRIE/dp/B008PCDP9I/garrphotgall-20

ARLO GUTHRIE

https://www.amazon.com/Hobos-Lullaby-Arlo-Guthrie/dp/B00B1G3VW6/garrphotgall-20

PETE SEEGER

https://www.amazon.com/Essential-Pete-Seeger/dp/B00BQH9UXY/garrphotgall-20

EMMYLOU HARRIS

https://www.amazon.com/Vision-Shared-Tribute-Guthrie-Leadbelly/dp/B0000026HV/garrphotgall-20

BILLY BRAGG & JOE HENRY

https://www.amazon.com/Shine-Light-Recordings-American-Railroad/dp/B01FKKJPL4/garrphotgall-20

Previous installments of the series “The Name of That Tune” are:

#1: The End of the World: https://ramblingnotesofageezer.substack.com/p/the-end-of-the-world

#2: City of New Orleans: https://ramblingnotesofageezer.substack.com/p/city-of-new-orleans