Amazingly enough, that song, and most of the rest of the stuff the Sons recorded for Columbia, sat unreleased in the CBS vaults for a couple of decades, until the great Bob Irwin (of Sundazed Records fame) assembled that first-ever album for them (which is still available, and your collection is the poorer without it). I should add that "2:10 Train" was recorded live in the studio, i.e. without overdubs (by Byrds producer Terry Melcher), which should give you an idea of just how transplendent those guys must have been in person.
BTW, I recently discovered that Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Poneys did a version of the song as well, which I won't link to because I'm not crazy about it. Let's just say that it uses exactly the same band arrangement but Ronstadt sings like a bird. In the sense that you can't tell whether a bird is happy or sad by the way it sounds, if you know what I mean.
I should also add that back in the day, I actually owned a copy -- as seen below -- of another song that, years later, surfaced on that Rising Sons album. How, you ask? I had a very hip uncle who worked in the advertising department of Columbia Records back then (I was living at his house on Long Island during summer school at CW Post). And he would bring home stacks and stacks of promo 45s for me to check out, including this one (the b-side of "Candy Man.")
Incidentally, I had often wondered just who the hell "2:10 Train"'s writer, one Linda Albertano, was and what her other credits were, so I looked her up the other day. Turns out she was a pretty interesting character -- well known in L.A. arts circles (until her death in 2022) as a feminist activist/performance artist as well as a songwriter and actress. Here's a glimpse of her onstage from 1985.
Whether a folk-blues like "2:10 Train" was an anomaly vis a vis the rest of her work I wouldn't venture to guess.
4 comments:
Testing…testing….is this thing on…😛
Well, I'll throw my 2¢ in.
I recall when I read the review in R/S.
'65 was a long time ago but I recall that this album intrigued me. I had Ry's album
Chicken Skin Music and Taj's first album.
Unfortunately this album was not available to me at the time. Back in the day before college we had a record shop in New Haven called Goldies, the East Coast version of Tower Records
rob
thought they had to list songwriters on singles. guess the publishers r same?
Had the Rising Sons bootleg on Groucho Records since it came out in the late 1970's. I was happy to have it even though they got a lot of the song titles wrong. "2:10 Train" was listed as "Untitled." But I knew the song because Steve Gillette, a perennial SoCal folk club opening act, included it in his sets. The bootleg had 17 tracks. The 1992 official issue had 22, but some of them were doctored by having Taj overdub some vocals 20+ years after the fact. The album also was the first to feature a recording of Pamela Polland's "Tulsa County," a favorite of Steve's when the Byrds covered it for "The Ballad of Easy Rider" LP. The Rising Sons version features Jesse Lee Kincaid on vocals, who later did three worthwhile singles as a solo. The bootleg mistitled it as "Down To Mexico.” Bob Dylan and Robbie Robertson were present when the Sons’ "Tulsa County" was recorded at Columbia’s Hollywood studios on Sunset Boulevard. They had just blown into town from a gig in San Francisco and had a few days off before doing a handful of gigs in the Southland.
Re: Ronstadt - I've always felt she was a stiff when it came to emoting. Especially early on. I did happen to see her do "2:10" in a pizza joint in Westwood with my beloved uncle when I was a kid. It was better than the record. And it was before the record. The Stone Poneys later played the Purple Haze in Riverside. They were underwhelming, perfunctory and curt. The local, unsigned band, House of DBS, blew them off the stage. DBS had been rivals of the Misunderstood before the latter became ex-pats. People started to leave when it was obvious that the Poneys were a lackluster band. They were just going through the motions. None of them were having fun. Unfortunately, one couldn't get away from the Stone Poneys around here at that time. They did a lot of opening slots, were at just about every love-in and did all the fairs and festivals. They were always weak. The only time I ever saw them headline was at the Haze, but, like I said, they didn't deserve top bill.
re: Linda Albertano - She co-wrote "2:10 Train" with Tom Campbell. So credit where credit's due. Coming full circle, Campbell also collaborated with the aforementioned Steve Gillette on the revered “Darcy Farrow.” Notable covers of this tune were done by Ian & Sylvia, John Denver, Matthews Southern Comfort, Townes Van Zandt, Nanci Griffith, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and the Sunshine Company. Getting even more entangled, the Sunshine Company had a Los Angeles Top Five hit with a cover of Gillette’s “Back On the Street Again.” Linda Ronstadt/Stone Poneys also covered it along with another Gillette/Tom Campbell collaboration “A Number and a Name.” Back to “2:10 Train,” the writer of “Tulsa County,” Pamela Polland, covered it on Gentle Soul’s last single. Earlier, Polland also wrote “I’ve Got to Know” for Linda Ronstadt/Stone Poneys. It ended up on the flip of Woolhat’s “Different Drum.” The web of these interrelationships spun out of the Troubadour’s Monday night hoots.
Linda Albertano was 6 feet four inches tall. For this reason, and that she looked pretty good in a bikini, she was featured in a Monkees episode. The one with Bobby Sherman.
VR
I forgot to mention that I saw the Rising Sons with my beloved uncle twice. Once opening for the Byrds, and another opening for the Temptations. Both shows were at the Trip.
P.S. I made a brief mention of the Misunderstood. If you're interested in the band, you need to check out the lengthy interciew with lead singer and songwriter Rick Brown. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpYfL1RW1I4
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