I am a big fan of Country Music and I have two versions of the song "The Orange Blossom Speical" in my collection of record albums.The two versions I have are done by Johnny Cash and Buck Owens. The first version is done by Johnny Cash and the other is the instrumental version which features Don Rich doing the actual fiddle solo on the entire song. I know there alot of music lovers out there and I would ove to hear from all of you who might have some infoprmation about this classic country song.

-- Bradford Paulson (bpaulson909@msn.com), August 11, 2002

Answers

I have to say getting these great replys about the song "Orange Blossom Special" is really amazing. In the Johnny Cash version of the song, Larry Verne who had a hit with "Please, Mr. Custer" asks Johnny Cash about if he is going back to Florida and then asks about "gettin' 'nuff nourishment in New York. I say both the Buck Owens and Johnny Cash versions are the two best that I have heard so far and they are always the best whenever I listen to them.

-- Bradford Paulson (bpaulson909@msn.com), August 17, 2002.

I've seen the song credited as being co-written by Ervin Rouse and Chubby Wise. Wise lived in north Florida and died only a few years ago- I seem to recall an interview with him on NPR about the OBS and its writing, inspired by the diesel-powered train of 1938. And Billy Vaughn's version is one of the best, ind

-- Larry Brennan (lpbrennan@aol.com), August 17, 2002.

"OBS"

Best attributed to "Kentucky" Bill Monroe, but written by Ervin Rouse (go to this page - http://maninblack.net/Albums/re_OrangeBlossom/orange_blossom_special.h tm#Liner%20Notes - for some other scoop and personal interview of Mr. Rouse by Johnny Cash / While there note the error of attributing the OBS to the ACL)

The song has been performed a zillion times by an untold number of recording artists, both country and rock. One of the most interesting versions I have ever heard was done by a "one hit wonder" group from the early 70's called SEATRAIN.

Great fiddle tune...timeless.

-- Buck Dean (bdean@jngray.com), August 12, 2002.

I do not know who wrote the song. I've heard two stories, one stating that the song was written in 1927, not too long after it was inaugurated, and the other says it was written in 1938, when the train was dieselized.

A glance at the sheet music would solve the mystery almost immediately, but I've never seen a copy.

The best version of the song I've heard is an instrumental version recorded around 1959 or 1960 by Billy Vaughn and his orchestra. Marvelous!

Bob Hanson

-- Robert H. Hanson (RHanson669@aol.com), August 12, 2002.