Floyd Cramer - Night Train

Night Train, a 1967 release on RCA's budget Camden imprint, gathered some early to mid-1960s recordings by Nashville pianist Floyd Cramer (1933-1997). Most had not appeared on LP previously and most are not available on CD or as downloads, although a few, such as Woodchopper's Ball and Night Train, turned up on a 1988 CD on the Pair label, Country Classics.

It has been out of print for years but used copies are fairly easy to find online as are vinyl copies of Night Train.

The LP is well worth picking up for tracks like Town Square, a jaunty little tune by fellow Nashville pianist Jerry Smith. It had appeared in 1965 as the "B" side of the single Long Walk Home. Both tracks had been recorded at the RCA Victor Studio in Nashville in January of that year, with Chet Atkins producing.

Town Square



Town Square has an almost honky-tonk feel to it, which isn't surprising since composer Jerry Smith played in a pop-flavored version of the honky-tonk style on his recordings. As a matter of fact so did Cramer on early recordings (1957) he made for MGM. There was none of that smooth countrypolitan sound that characterized most of his RCA discs.

Here's the title tune from the Night Train LP.