I watched Tom Rush perform this song in 1963, when he was a student at Harvard. He played it in the Club 47 after it had moved from Mt. Auburn to Palmer Street in Cambridge, MA. It was very different from the other folky stuff they played on Hootenanny Night. Those were the days! Thanks Tom!
I've been listening to Tom Rush constantly since the early '60s. He's one of my guitar heros. I've spent many hours happily trying to figure out how he does the things he does--mostly unsuccessfully. This video gave me some insights. Thanks for posting.
Me too Jon . He was so gracious & invited my girlfriend Chris & i upstairs to his room at the Shaboo Inn Connecticut. A great memory I saw him again on Mt. Dessert Island in Maine at a folk festival Odetta was also performing a bitter sweet memory she passed a year later :( MY friend Chris passed away also I never got a chance to say Hi to him or ask about the Shaboo, there were too many people ;) but I got some sweet pics : )
I will tell you one thing...as a lover of music, and a lover of those who are masters of their craft...Tom is a pleasure to watch play. The guitar is an extension of his body, and it shows. I hope he's around to make music for another 30 years...and I hope that one day I'll achieve the same excellence that effortlessly exudes from his being. He is the man. Bartender Al from Key West.
Success is fleeting, talent is everlasting, anyone who has not bought Toms new album "What I know" is missing out on more of the same from this truly gifted songsmith. Anyone living stateside, you dont know how lucky you are to be able to get to a concert. I would love the chance to see him unfortunately there is a rather large pond between Ireland and the states stopping me at the moment. Teddy O'Neill Dublin.
fantastic...great to hear someone really play an old style acoustic until it squeals.. a tour de force...now go back and hear his early albums...Duncan and Brady, Rye Whiskey etc...the man's a legend.
I watched Tom play this in coffeehouses in ft Lauderdale and Miami in the mid ‘60’s and loved it. I have his albums and have played the Panama limited hundreds of times. A classic.
Tom, thank you so much for being on here; have not heard Panama Ltd. by you for many years. Saw you in person many times in the old days - Phila Folk Festival, 2nd Fret, Main Point, etc. Used to be so in love w/you, (still am I guess), you and all your train whistle joins. Remember when you introduced the songs of Jackson Browne at the Main Point. But Tom you were the main point all the time. Handsome and still with a brain and talent!
How weird a coincidence, eh? Was also in Durham 68-70 -- though at ORHS. Was at PSC in '72 and '73; followed by UNH (class of '75). Then off to gradual school at HU in Cambridge MA -- another favorite haunt of his. FWIW, my wife and I met at PSC in '72, then followed the above trail together. We were listening to The Very Best of Tom Rush the other night -- what was nice was how much our two teenagers also appreciated his music on first listen!
I first saw you play this song at Boston Symphony Hall circa 1967 and it sounded great then and just as great now. Thanks for posting this, one of the great "guitar" songs.
Great, great stuff from (as he once described himself) "little Tommie Rush from... New Hampshire". Many a night at PSC and UNH spent listening to his artistry, both on vinyl and -- when we were really lucky -- in person. Terrific then, terrific still -- thanks a ton for posting this.
Tom released an album around 1983 called "New Year", taped live at Symphony Hall in Boston on New Years Eve. It was also videotaped and shown on PBS. Two members of his back up band were Buskin and Batteau. They played The Boy With the Violin at that concert. It was on the video, but not the album.
jacques brel 11? anyway... Tom sounds fine. He played this in the late 60's, and it's so good to see him again. Merci Tom, for a lot of white Northern Bostonians Tom turned us on to blues, and other stuff like Joni Mitchell, so Merci beaucoup mon ami
Late reply to kjcon54- If you REALLY want to see how Tom does this, and other tunes, he has a DVD titled "How I Play 'some of' My Favorite Tunes with tuning and tricks revealed. You can obtain it via his web addy. Saw him in Chicago recently at The Old Town School of Folk Music. After the regular show, he sat on the stage and played some requests there was no time for in the regular program. He is a marvelous entertainer!
agree that the record version's better but if I'd been there for this performance I'd have been enthralled. Nothing like live performance. Hope to see TR in Scituate MA tomorrow night! Check out Doug McLeod's "New Panama Limited" for another take on this Booker White amalgam.
I REALLY wish that he would release a current live album, with this version of this song on it! I should have had our sound man record it off of the board when he performed this song at our concert series at each of his 4 appearances there. :(
PS -- (still as a reply to wrkngsnwbrd, below) -- I take it from your board name you've since moved further south? :-) FWIW, still have a nice closeup photo I took of him playing steel guitar at an outdoor concert behind the Field House -- maybe spring of '70? Great then, still great.
Sorry -- typo that I was slow to correct in time: slide guitar (not steel). Cool pic, though. Also agree with the comment further below about how great the earlier albums also are. Still have about 7 or so in the basement; have been using the new TEAC to convert them to CD's...
First, sorry for the VERY delayed reply. Absolutely remember Gunnison Brook (!) -- spent many a great night rocking to you guys up there. Aside from some serious rocking, you also did a fine cover set medley from a certain Brit group's (arguably best) album, no? Ask me to remember two really fun bands who played PSC in that era, and it would be you guys (GB) for rocking/partying, and "The Shittons" for their very funny 50's group sendup. Any chance you remember the latter? best, Richard B.
@ytdsgdjgfueyxn537 i HAd not heard this song since 1969 untilI picked it up a few months ago. Had a friend, Don Shjanklin, who played this at college coffee houses in West Virginia,Don wasa great young guitrar picker singer at the time.He turned onto early Dylan, Rush, Ochs, Von Schmidt, Baez, Collins, Paxton, all of em. I agree, Iike the slowertempo and his voice is deeper on the original. still this song is just so great to hear, I miss my friends from the 60s and this song stabs my heart.
Lacks the sheer primitive force and sadness of the Bukka White original but has a nice melodic sound all of its own. If you like slide guitar you must listen to Bukka White, just brutal power and emotion.
I watched Tom Rush perform this song in 1963, when he was a student at Harvard. He played it in the Club 47 after it had moved from Mt. Auburn to Palmer Street in Cambridge, MA. It was very different from the other folky stuff they played on Hootenanny Night. Those were the days! Thanks Tom!
Saw Tom perform at Cambrdge folk festival , England,1967/68 brilliant. No regrets is possibly the best song ever written
I've been listening to Tom Rush constantly since the early '60s. He's one of my guitar heros. I've spent many hours happily trying to figure out how he does the things he does--mostly unsuccessfully. This video gave me some insights. Thanks for posting.
When I bought the album with this song all those years ago I just played it and played it and played it. Love you Tom for posting this.
Saw and met Tom many many times over the years...he never fails to deliver for me, including this.
-SeamusMac
Me too Jon . He was so gracious & invited my girlfriend Chris & i upstairs to his
room at the Shaboo Inn Connecticut. A great memory I saw him again on Mt. Dessert Island in Maine at a folk festival
Odetta was also performing a bitter sweet memory she passed a year later :( MY friend Chris passed away also I never got a chance to say Hi to him or ask about the Shaboo, there were too many people ;) but I got some sweet pics : )
I will tell you one thing...as a lover of music, and a lover of those who are masters of their craft...Tom is a pleasure to watch play. The guitar is an extension of his body, and it shows. I hope he's around to make music for another 30 years...and I hope that one day I'll achieve the same excellence that effortlessly exudes from his being. He is the man.
Bartender Al from Key West.
A great song... Story songs like this are a dying breed... God bless the storytellers like Tom and Gordy Lightfoot!
Success is fleeting, talent is everlasting, anyone who has not bought Toms new album "What I know" is missing out on more of the same from this truly gifted songsmith. Anyone living stateside, you dont know how lucky you are to be able to get to a concert. I would love the chance to see him unfortunately there is a rather large pond between Ireland and the states stopping me at the moment. Teddy O'Neill Dublin.
Now I'll be here for another hour watching it over and over, sigh.
yep
Saw him tonight at the Iron Horse in Northampton MA. Awesome song!
fantastic...great to hear someone really play an old style acoustic until it squeals.. a tour de force...now go back and hear his early albums...Duncan and Brady, Rye Whiskey etc...the man's a legend.
He almost makes it sound like a National Steel at times, quite the maestro!!
This is magic. Has been for 40 years. We're all gone everywhere but home.
I watched Tom play this in coffeehouses in ft Lauderdale and Miami in the mid ‘60’s and loved it. I have his albums and have played the Panama limited hundreds of times. A classic.
Tom, thank you so much for being on here; have not heard Panama Ltd. by you for many years. Saw you in person many times in the old days - Phila Folk Festival, 2nd Fret, Main Point, etc. Used to be so in love w/you, (still am I guess), you and all your train whistle joins. Remember when you introduced the songs of Jackson Browne at the Main Point. But Tom you were the main point all the time. Handsome and still with a brain and talent!
Great to hear again,Had it on vinyl and loaned it out in 19??. never heard again till today!!!Thanks
How weird a coincidence, eh? Was also in Durham 68-70 -- though at ORHS.
Was at PSC in '72 and '73; followed by UNH (class of '75). Then off to gradual school at HU in Cambridge MA -- another favorite haunt of his.
FWIW, my wife and I met at PSC in '72, then followed the above trail together. We were listening to The Very Best of Tom Rush the other night -- what was nice was how much our two teenagers also appreciated his music on first listen!
Just saw Tom last night at Bull Run in Shirley, MA. He performed this live and it was awesome as was all the songs!
I first saw you play this song at Boston Symphony Hall circa 1967 and it sounded great then and just as great now. Thanks for posting this, one of the great "guitar" songs.
Thanks Tom!Strong as ever.
Great, great stuff from (as he once described himself) "little Tommie Rush from... New Hampshire".
Many a night at PSC and UNH spent listening to his artistry, both on vinyl and -- when we were really lucky -- in person.
Terrific then, terrific still -- thanks a ton for posting this.
Fantastic! Absolutely brilliant performer, love it. A new discovery for me, I'm happy :)
What master piece!
First time hearing this song. I'm a big IC railroad fan. Beautiful and exciting song.
I have an album of his called Circle Game; dont know how long I've had it or how old it is, but have always loved it
Tom released an album around 1983 called "New Year", taped live at Symphony Hall in Boston on New Years Eve. It was also videotaped and shown on PBS. Two members of his back up band were Buskin and Batteau. They played The Boy With the Violin at that concert. It was on the video, but not the album.
One of my favorites from Tom's student days at Harvard at the Club 47. He used a phone jack as a slide for this song.
Really fantastic .Love it. Over the moon.
I always liked this song. I think Tom's version is better than Bukka White's. It's good to see Tom's still playing it.
jacques brel 11? anyway... Tom sounds fine.
He played this in the late 60's, and it's so good to see him again.
Merci Tom, for a lot of white Northern Bostonians Tom turned us on to blues, and other stuff like Joni Mitchell, so Merci beaucoup mon ami
superbe.
Merci à toi Tom Rush : toute une chanson qui fait frisonner.
CRaZY Good playing & remember ing the lines !
Late reply to kjcon54- If you REALLY want to see how Tom does this, and other tunes, he has a DVD titled "How I Play 'some of' My Favorite Tunes with tuning and tricks revealed. You can obtain it via his web addy.
Saw him in Chicago recently at The Old Town School of Folk Music. After the regular show, he sat on the stage and played some requests there was no time for in the regular program.
He is a marvelous entertainer!
brilliant !
Thanks for uploading this version. Another vid I had of this got deleted.
Bravo!
wow, i dont know anything about tom rush (found this when searching for van halen) but if u saw him in 65, he looks very good for whatever age he is
WOW..I love it.....Mel
agree that the record version's better but if I'd been there for this performance I'd have been enthralled. Nothing like live performance. Hope to see TR in Scituate MA tomorrow night! Check out Doug McLeod's "New Panama Limited" for another take on this Booker White amalgam.
Great performance train songs seem hard to voice the beautiful sounds that old steamers make..on a guitar but bye Christ Tom Ya did a Beautiful Job...
agrees. Hes early version on the Tom Rush album is more carefully played, both vocally and instrumentally.
I REALLY wish that he would release a current live album, with this version of this song on it!
I should have had our sound man record it off of the board when he performed this song at our concert series at each of his 4 appearances there. :(
PS -- (still as a reply to wrkngsnwbrd, below) -- I take it from your board name you've since moved further south? :-)
FWIW, still have a nice closeup photo I took of him playing steel guitar at an outdoor concert behind the Field House -- maybe spring of '70?
Great then, still great.
Sorry -- typo that I was slow to correct in time: slide guitar (not steel). Cool pic, though.
Also agree with the comment further below about how great the earlier albums also are. Still have about 7 or so in the basement; have been using the new TEAC to convert them to CD's...
Great entertainer
Oh! The bell rope!
First, sorry for the VERY delayed reply. Absolutely remember Gunnison Brook (!) -- spent many a great night rocking to you guys up there. Aside from some serious rocking, you also did a fine cover set medley from a certain Brit group's (arguably best) album, no? Ask me to remember two really fun bands who played PSC in that era, and it would be you guys (GB) for rocking/partying, and "The Shittons" for their very funny 50's group sendup. Any chance you remember the latter?
best, Richard B.
Witchcraft!!!!
how does he sustain that!
Can you make a song talking about the Rock Island's famous streamliner, The Golden State?
Have the record with this song. I think, he´s playing a little bit to fast but nevertheless: This is one of my all time favorite songs.
What tuning is he in?
@ytdsgdjgfueyxn537 i HAd not heard this song since 1969 untilI picked it up a few months ago. Had a friend, Don Shjanklin, who played this at college coffee houses in West Virginia,Don wasa great young guitrar picker singer at the time.He turned onto early Dylan, Rush, Ochs, Von Schmidt, Baez, Collins, Paxton, all of em. I agree, Iike the slowertempo and his voice is deeper on the original. still this song is just so great to hear, I miss my friends from the 60s and this song stabs my heart.
Lacks the sheer primitive force and sadness of the Bukka White original but has a nice melodic sound all of its own. If you like slide guitar you must listen to Bukka White, just brutal power and emotion.
Festival Express.....
D A D F# A D, capo 2nd fret
N