Casey Jones (western adventure, starring Alan Hale, Jr.)

    (Syndicated, 1957)

    [This series took as its point of departure the life of John
     Luther "Casey" Jones, a real-life train engineer hero who saved 
     a town by crashing the runaway locomotive he was driving, but
     lost his life in the process of that heroic deed .

     Jones was a native of Tennessee who became an engineer on the 
     Illinois Midwest and Central Railroad line during the late 
     1800s. He took his nickname "Casey" from a town near his home 
     named "Cayce", Kentucky.

     At one point in his career he ran the famous "Cannonball 
     Express" which from Chicago to New Orleans, Louisiana. This
     Screen Gems TV series elaborated on the adventures of railroad 
     man Jones so that it became more of a western than a realistic
     railroad series. 26 episodes were produced and syndicated.

     The life of Casey Jones was also the subject of a Disney short
     subject called "The Brave Engineer" scored by Ken Darby.

     Actor Hale went on to his best known role as the "The Skipper"
     on the sitcom "Gilligan's Island".]


Theme: "This Ballad of Casey Jones"

    [aka: "Casey Jones";
     aka: "The Brave Engineer";

     This THEME was a folk ballad originally composed by black "engine
     wiper" Wallace Saunders of Mississippi, about his friend and co-
     worker, the real-life train engineer hero John Luther "Casey"
     Jones. After his basic version was sung among friends, it was
     taken up by folk singers and vaudevillians who added new verses.
     Over 40 variants of the short original song were written over
     the years.
     
     The vaudeville team of Eddie Newton and Lawrence Seibert filed
     for copyright in 1909 a version they made, and they were
     considered the "composers" for legal purposes after that.

     Folk Singer Burl Ives performed a version used on the TV series
     and it was recorded later.]

     Composers: music & lyrics by Wallace Saunders (not affiliated),
                adapted by T. Lawrence Seibert (not affiliated), and
                Edward "Eddie" Newton (not affiliated)

     Original Publisher: Seibert & Newton (1909)

     2001 Publisher: Shapiro, Bernstein & Co. (ASCAP),
                        of New York, NY

     Published Copyright Date: 1909

     Recordings:
          45 single: by Burl Ives



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