Released: 2001

 

The Black Irish Band honor all those who worked on the railroads in this tribute recording. They came from the dry plains of Africa, the famine starved shores of Ireland and the torn provinces of China to tke part in a Great American Experience. Lowered in wicker baskets they set the dynamite throughout the Sierras. In the heat of the deep south they toiled with a pick and shovel. They braved the freezing temperatures of the Alaskan winter while laying rail. It is to their memory that this album is dedicated.

 

Traditional songs "Paddy Worked on the Railway," "John Henry," and "The Wabash Cannonball" are mixed with original ones like "Men of Iron," dedicated to the Chinese laborers, and "Dreams of the Yukon" about the building of the White Pass and Yukon Railroad.

 

TRACK LISTING

 

1. John Henry 3:00
2. They Called Them Mick and Paddy 4:50
3. Wreck of the Ol' 97 1:55
4. Dreams of the Yukon 4:45
5. Paddy Worked on the Railroad 3:30
6. Jesse James 3:39
7. Men of Iron 3:41
8. Drill Ye Terriers, Drill 2:44
9. The Sierra 4:04
10. The Wabash Cannonball 3:43
11. Paddy Worked on the Railway 2:45
12. Train to Utah 4:35

13. 900 Miles 3:40
14. That Train 4:15