Lester & Earl - Wreck of Old 97

[MrDanmeyers]

sounds like this tune was stolen from M.t.A.

[irgifted]

@MrDanmeyers They're basically the same song. A lot of songs have the same chord progression as this but those two songs (MTA and the Old 97) have nearly-identical melodies as well. MTA is basically a parody/cover/different arrangement of the Old 97. Wreck of the Old 97 antedates MTA, although MTA is a great tune. I love the Kingston Trio.

[unionrdr]

We used to call that kinda dancin the hillbilly stomp down home. I ad one uncle that played banjo,another that played a hand carved violin. Grampaw had this big,curved harmonica. sometimes,in the evenin,them ol' boys would get goin...

[phantomvibrationsX]

The wreck of the old 97 was a key moment that led to it all and eventually the bristol sessions. it was the first million seller and is a ballad that is virtually totally correct except each writing the speed kept getting higher and peaked out at 90--(it was 55) when it jumped.. good ol vernon dalhart

[Halo101st]

Joi Lansing Born: 1929, Died: 1972 of breast cancer. What a waste!

[4orsaorsa]

The man dancing (with tie) is he Walter Brennan! Sounds like him!

[GooglFascists]

@4orsaorsa Actually that is Buddy Ebsen who was a renowned dancer like

40 years before he played Jed Clampett in "The Beverly Hillbillies".

He was cast in the role of the Tin Woodsman in The Wizard Of Oz but was

allergic to the silver paint, so Jack Haley wound up with the part.

Ebsen hoped to make it to 100 years of age and had his own web site.

But pneumonia got him at 95, which still isn't a bad run.

[doughesson]

@GooglFascists I always thought that Buddy Ebsen still got the part of the guardsman who said "She's dayid.You killed her" after Dorothy threw a bucket of water on the Wicked Witch & melted her.

[Pickinbuddy]

LOVE that Joi Lansing!

[adanhawki]

What a song!

[rocmaven]

ricky skaggs is playing watseka theatre watsek illinois on friday aug 26, 2011

[mattanaih]

holy cow, jane could sing!

[kiwikate2]

Believe what Jed was doing could be considered buck dancing. Best time ever sitting at someone's home in the country listen to the fiddle, buck dancing, and eating home ice cream.

[SHADOWMAN296]

the brady bunch was ok but the clampets were more interesting, they always had it going on. takes me back,thanks for posting!!!

[graverobber35]

Miss Jane SINGING !

[mcul2112]

OMG this is epic.....

[canyondogh]

I can't believe they did that on the Beverly Hillbillies . . ! : >)

[jeffrey19621]

Buddy Ebsen from Belleville IL was the original tin man on the wizard of OZ but lost the role to Jack Haley when he had a severe allergic reation to the makeup . He was a trained dancer long before the role of Uncle Jed.

[61mrmusicman]

Gladys was played by Joi Lansing, a talented lady who was type cast as a blonde bombshell. She did record an album toward the end of her career, but few people paid any attention to it. If I do recall, she died relatively young. Also, like Casey Jones, the Wreck of Old 97 was based on an actual incident that happened on the C&O railroad early in the 20th century.

[deebeagley]

Boy, Does this bring back a lot of memories.

Thank you so very much.

Dee

[Acefan66]

Do you happen to have the clip of Flatt & Scruggs singing "Mail Order Bride" from the episode "A Bride for Jed"? I saw it a few days ago on WGN and would love to watch it again. The actress who played Gladys had a really great voice, too!

[JoeTom5]

Jed's the man!!!

[LastAyleidKing]

of all the versions I have heard I like this one the most it just sounds.....good.

[lekocafe]

Jed can rock it!

[lindagood1947]

Thank you so much for posting this here, it was a favorite song of my brother, and he is gone now but it was really nice remembering him today when I heard this song.

[librarybob1958]

I first knew this song via Hank Snow's old recording, and Johnny Cash did it a fine turn on the classic "Johnny Cash at San Quenton" album.

The actual wreck of Old 97 actually took place near present-day Del Rio, Tennessee, in early 1903. While it wasn't one of the worst train wrecks in US history, in terms of lives lost, it is one of the most documented, largely via the success of the song, supposedly written by a local singer/guitarist later that same day.

[ssimmons0602]

oh Lord. My dad used to sing this!

[pegcage]

@yznf Look up him dancing with Shirley Temple in Captain January. The Codfish Ball. He started out as a dancer you know.

[gastonave]

Like a lot of people The Beverly Hillbillies was my introduction to bluegrass music and I've loved it ever since.

[ThePatrioticlady]

@sandinyears - I had to laugh at your comment about the Kingston Trio and Charlie and the MTA -- that is also one of MY favorite Kingston Trio songs. They do an excellent job with it.

[tyme4mike]

@ThePatrioticlady Ain't that true? I was actually listening to it on my mp3 today!

[younghoss]

Can't take my eyes off Joi Lansing

[bigman1916]

@yznf  He was the orginal Tinman In the "Wizard of Oz"

[tranurse]

miss jane graduated from fsu. kind of cool, huh?

[vacontractor]

Confession ...I only watch this cause I have a crush on Miss Hathaway

[pecosRoy]

@vacontractor unrequited love as she was gay

[crcausey]

@vacontractor Ellie May gave me a kick-start into puberty!

[lindaparker591]

@vacontractor

funny you made me chuckle

[timsvtgen1]

why does the woman in the blue look like a disney animatronic when she sings?

[jaimev21]

damn earl sure knows how to pick the shit out of that banjo, im in love with elly may!

[STU676]

Who's better than Miss Jane ???

[darkoanton5]

Elly May didn't have to do anything. What a great actress.

[psoriaclear]

great! Too bad this isn't mainstream. I really love Flatt and Scruggs and am learning to really appreciate bluegrass and this is a lover of the classics. Sara

[lennonrevolver]

HILLBILLIES! love it.

[ThatsMrMoronToYou]

Ah, to see Jed dance again. thanks for posting.

[Woody615]

Regarding Jigaboo123456's question, the 'hot babe' is Joi Lansing. According to IMDB she died of breast cancer at 43, back in 1972.

[Clarinetboy82]

Good ol' Buddy Ebsen. Quite the charater!

[Jigaboo123456]

whi is the incredibly hot babe?

And don't say "Miss Hathaway" --I mean the blond in blue!

[vcomp1960]

Old Jed is from Belleville, Illinois, where I grew up!!!

[mvbeckril]

Fantastic! Ole Barnaby Jones is dancin' up a storm here!! Love it!! Thank you for posting!

[wmsfarris]

Whoa! Good thing that clip ended when it did.

In another thirty seconds Earl's banjo and Jed's shoes would have burst into flames.

[sportsbra]

got to admit old jed could put im up &set im down

he was a real good ol boy !

I HEERE BY VOTE JED CLAMPET FOR PRES OF BUGTUSSEL TENN.

[NOMADdaf]

well he was a professional dancer! was supposed to be in Wizard of Oz .

[texasdustfart]

He would have made a fine Tin Man he really looked the part back in his day

[vacontractor]

"thump us a chorus, Jed"..lmao.. I love Miss Hathaway. She never did get enough play...

[RoyFive]

Did Nancy really need to trill her "R's?" Oh well, it was in character for Miss Hathaway.

[stillwaterguy04]

Neither Nancy nor Gladys was born to be a singer.

[RoyFive]

Not at all. As pretty much everyone knows, Joi wasn't really married to Lester. The running joke in the first season was that Les and Earl were obsessed with Pearl (Bea Benaderet), but had to "settle" for the wives they had on the show.

[diggiemac]

Thank you very much for this. I have thought of this particular rendition through the years but couldn't bring myself to watch the Beverly Hillbillies to listen to it again.

[theddavis44]

I was told that this song was true.

Was it and what year did the wreck happen?

[sgl49ers02]

Yes this is a true to life ballad. The "Old 97", a Southern Railway train officially known as the Fast Mail, was en route from Monroe, Virginia to Spencer, North Carolina when it left the track at Stillhouse Trestle near Danville, Virginia on September 27, 1903.

[starsandbarsDixie]

Yep, it's true. Just like that guy informed you. Wrecked in Danville, and that's where I'm from and live. There's still a few parts down there. During the summer if the river gets low enough, you can find a few things.

[STU676]

@theddavis44

1897

[acountrygent]

When Les Paul and Mary Ford broke up Les actually tried Joi Lansing as a musical partner but she was too Hollywood for the fans and just wasnt' Mary Ford. Still, shehe had a lovely singing voice that never got properly reckognized,

[rnielsenjr]

damn Jed now thats dancin!!! The bros aint got nothing on you

[theshadow1932]

Beautiful Joi Lansing. God bless her.

[owsleyforkmusic]

haha look at earls at1:16

[chiefnut48]

Man used to hear this song as a kid

[sportsbra]

go jed go !!

[seaangelrainqueen]

Growing up in Danville, VA, this was always a song I loved to hear because of the history of Danville it represented.

[LeftiusMaximus]

I still live in Daville VA......and everytime i hear it it reminds me of where and what I am

[thejoser]

I learned to dance from the ol' Jed Clampet stomp! Some of the greatest television ever offered..

[klbrist]

fer more singn' hillbillies

check out my site

[MegaCacita]

i could watch jed dance all day. bitchin moves!

[YT28666]

My grandfather from Virginia would sing this song a capella.

[johnniescarlett]

I know what Miss Gladys could do for me! (0.50)

[jertzie]

HAHAHA That ain't right!

[Stringwinder1]

I love it when they ask to jed to stomp one for us. It always puts a smile on my face.

[Ronplucksstrings]

Wow...I do believe that's the only time I ever heard Miss Jane sing...boy it's hot today...I think I'll jump in the cement pond this afternoon to cool off...

[iggyono]

Hoo WHEE. Miz Jane am hotter'n a pile of flapjax!

[owlet1963]

LOVE jed's dance!!! :)

[ross1962]

Yup! That dance just about made my day!

[STU676]

@owlet1963

awesome dancer

[cokerg2003]

@owlet1963 Oh, yeah, man - Ol' Uncle Jed could do some step-toe (!!!)

[davehutchinson67]

@owlet1963 Funny thing...Only an old Vaudeville pro like Buddy Ebsen could make a fool dance look so real and believable. Are there any real STARS left out there?

[MrPhingers]

@owlet1963 Jed ("Buddy Ebsen") before he was Jed and before he was Davey Crockett's sidekick he was a dancer in Vaudeville and considered by Gene Kelly, Fred Astair and Dan Duryea to be an artist of the highest order, much like Andy Griffith and Jackie Gleason. Many of these outstanding talents often pull a banjo/or guitar (rabbit) out of a hat and wow us with their technique. I enjoy being wowed by these hidden talents and welcome the surprise they evoke in me and others (I believe.)

[sandinmyears]

I still think of Kingston Trio's CHARLIE and the MTA when I hear this song.

[seansvoice]

MTA is essentially an arrangement of "Old 97"...

[Hikikomori013]

@seansvoice

Actually, MTA is a direct parody of "The Ship that Never Returned", the 1865 ballad by Henry Clay Work. "Wreck of the Old 97" used most of the tune, but completely new lyrics.

[sandinmyears1]

@seansvoice Right. It's just that I learned the MTA many years before Old 97. My dad had Kingston Trio albums and I grew up listening to them.

[wrightchix]

@seansvoice How will he ever afford to see his sister in Roxbury!

[sidDkid87]

Elwood: Well uh.. sorry we couldn't remember the Wreck of the Old 97.

Bob: Oh, well, hell you guys can learn it next time well ya come back

[sportsbra]

like he said !!

[yerrj]

Miss Jane was a lesbian, lol.

[BestManMe09]

Combine "exodus" and "international" and ".org" and see where you get linkwise!

[porcupine07]

I'm glad I checked the site out before i marked it as spam. It's good to knowthat there are people ot there to help them, because they really do need help.

[RiverRenegade]

Jeds gettin down.

[Motoguzzi750]

Impressed. But then I'm a banjo picker, owing it all to Earl. :-)

[southsidebanjo]

Why post then ?

[sandunguera503]

LMAO this music makes me want to chew on grass and spit in a can....... must be the redneck Gene's

[michaelinsanantone]

That Elli May sure was a looker!

[GeorgeVreelandHill]

Wow!

I love it!!

A classic song on a classic show!!!

Thank you!!!!

George Vreeland Hill

[willminkorea]

Buddy Ebsen's dancing starting at 1:09 is wonderful- just like his older movies.

[redcarpetlounge]

This song still makes the hair on the back of your arm stand up.

[russell56443]

That was a trip to memory lane!!!

I learned to love Bluegrass from Lester and Earl on the B.H. and the Dillards on Andy Griffith!

Still get the shivers when I hear them :0)

[NamVet70Mike]

THANK YOU THANK YOU such a-wunderfull music! Great seeing and hearing that classic song played by the classic duo accompanied by the good folks from Beverly Hills!YeeeeHaaaahh!

[wlittle]

Who was the actress that played Lester Flatt's wife in this clip? You can tell from that beautiful voice that she was a singer or at least had voice training.

[greennice]

Joi Lansing. She also sings in a couple of other BH episodes.

[wlittle]

Thanks for the info. Was she a singer?

[greennice]

Lansing (1929-72) was primarily an actress but she did do some nightclub appearances and made a few recordings.

[EdVidz]

Buddy was a well-known dancer in 1930's movies.

[srvfan454]

God i love the Jed dance!

[WoolDeluxe]

Wow. Jed was the first break dancer. Historic.

[dudemantwo]

Jean Hathaway went to Bryn Mawr College...

[holykernow]

im a guitarist whos interested in playing banjo but i have one question i dont get along with stell fingerpicks is it possible to just lay with my fingers with no picks on scruggs style that is

[dudemantwo]

Whose Marilyn Monroe?

[fluffaduck]

Trust me once you get used the fingerpicks

you won't do without them. Losing fingerpicks sometimes means no playing

[HeyRadialMoon]

The only thing that could have made this better would have been if Granny had danced!

[CanadianJackChi]

Thank You :-)

[stillwaterguy04]

I wish I knew the name of the other folksong/bluegrass-type song that Miss Jane sings in another episode - I was really fascinated by it.

[hrothgleas]

I'd forgetten that Buddy started off as a song and dance man.

Funny to see Earl smile. We saw the Earl Scruggs review in 1980 (??) and he grinned twice - once when Randy played an awesome solo, and once when Earl did a blues solo and moved up and up the neck, finally pulling a comb out of his pocket and using it for a slide way past the frets...

[hillbilly62052]

earl always gits me in the mood to play no matter what kinda day i had

[Orsino89]

A friend's aunt owned the station where it happened in Danville... I can't remember if they turned it into a cafe or what. He told the story about it last Saturday.

[mdlman583]

i love lester and earl,they captured america .old songs that meant something to mankind.listen to booger holler and boiling cabbage down.thats bluegrass.

[countryboycutlery]

awsome I love it.The song Wreck of ole 97 was based right around my home town In Virginia!

[Aubergineberger]

agh I accidentally rated it a 1

[Aubergineberger]

Anyone notice in the first verse, that the video doesnt match earls backup. they must have re-shot it. Thanks for the post.

[willminkorea]

The highlight is Buddy Ebsen's dancing.

[konzwambii]

amen. I just adore Buddy's dance style. This song may not be much, but the cast of characters is Excellent!

[yeauxxx]

"This song may not be much" Are you crazy?

[weekendjammer]

If there has been a better more Wholesome, Funny, Family comedy on tv I have not seen it. Even you old Goomers must like this as Granny would say.

Now I'm gonna rustle me up some possum inerds, and eat em by the Ceement Pond. "Ya all come back now you hear"

[pepper2840]

As a damn yankee i grew up with lester and earl and buddy ebson.Wish i,d been born in the south cause ,while in south carolina in the army,that,s where my heart lays.

[hrtoflove]

absolutely awesome....loved Ms. Jane....Earl and Lester, ole Jed doing his little part....absolutely smashing!!!!

[themandolinman95]

lester flatt is the best lead singer EVER!

[Denisova321]

Gosh, Miss Hathaway is awesome!

[Pickinbuddy]

Man, that Joi Lansing was a FOX!

[MugsySkull]

That there was entertainment!

[fluffaduck]

earl my heeeroo

[bobanddoug96]

for some reason when i watch this i get goosebumps

[alderbaran1]

That's about the happiest version of that tragic old song I've heard. Fun though. Thanks for posting.

[nort17]

Not that's pickin and a grinnin

[bobanddoug96]

johhny cash's version of this is good

[lecriveuse]

i love watching buddy dance. and i didn't care who nancy kulp, marjorie main etc were dating. i always like jane hathaway's clothes. :)

[pegcage]

Is someone trying to say Marjorie Main was gay? I don't know about Nancy Kulp, but Marjorie Main was not gay. She was a widow and always talked about her dead husband. They say she talked to him all the time. She was rather strange.

[VA24541]

What does Majorie Main have to do with this video or the Beverly Hillbillies?

[weekendjammer]

She was Lesters' Cityfied wife in this sitcom

[VA24541]

Not even close. Marjorie Main never ever appeared on the Beverly Hillbillies show.

[Soujurn]

Preacher Sly:

The sexual preferences of actresses Nancy Kulp, and Marjorie Main, have exactly what to do with anything?

[PreacherSly]

Nothing..I just think it's awsome that back then people were not gay friendly but they were still open with who they were.

[porcupine07]

that's not awsome, and you're an idiot.

[porcupine07]

by the way loved the video, and i love all the old tv shows where they played music like this and andy griffith.

[squigglesy]

why does one of the hillbillies have a posh english accent?

[rmstudio]

That was the secretary Miss Hathaway she was not a hillbilly she was a rich bankers secretary in Beverly Hills. Thats why she had the english accent.

[Karlam20001]

From this episode is when I first listened to the song "The Wreck of the Old 97".I love this song,because it has a good beat to it.

[PreacherSly]

Uncle Jed looks like me on Sunday morning when I dance in the Holy Ghost, LOL.

[sweetgrannie]

good wholesome comedy

[ellymaysam]

ive always loved the beverly hillbillies. my username says it all!

[PreacherSly]

I always loved it when Uncle Jed broke out in a dance

[PreacherSly]

Did you know Ms Hathaway was a lesbian in real life? Look it up. So was Ma Kettle.

[A1l2l2e2n4]

Miss Jane singin' "The Wreck of the Old 97"! If that ain't somethin'!

[VA24541]

It's a stretch to call her part singing.

[A1l2l2e2n4]

Aww, come on, be charitable. But really, Miss Jane? She doesn't very "hillbilly", anyway.

[flatpikinguitar]

shes a city slicker

[palmercomm]

Who, Jane? She was good!

[MidiPunk]

I'd thumb roll it.

[eugeneripper]

oh geez...so much for my version

[GentleWill]

Joi Lansing was hot. Not the best actress however and certainly not that good at lip synching. She died in 1973 from breast cancer. It's rumored Frank Sinatra paid her medical bills

[srvfan454]

ahhh, just what i needed! thanks!

[Pickinbuddy]

Man, that Joi Lansing was HOT!

[lancetop]

FUN!

[JSW999999]

Joi Lansing was much better looking than Ely May

[bigtallbiscuit]

There's no way that chick in blue was singing that. Love Flatt & Scruggs, though.

[saxonfield3]

"A classic moment" from "The Beverley Hillbillies Show" .. ?? I'd forgotten how cute Gladys could look back in those days

[SgtPeppersGirl]

I love this song and Flatt and Scruggs I'm a Virgina girl myself and I didn't know it was a true story till my Daddy told me...I'm 14 and I call my Dad Daddy

[VA24541]

It really happened in Danville, on the banks of the Dan River, September 27, 1903.

[BeautifulChi]

I know my dad told me thank you though

[2boredfortv]

cool,