Boxcar Willie
b. Lecil Travis Martin, 1 September 1931, Sterratt, Dallas, USA. Boxcar Willie sings Daddy Was A Railroad Man with pride and conviction as his father was a farmer and section hand on the railway, who sympathized with the hobos. Boxcar Willie's own love of trains is reflected in I Love The Sound Of A Whistle. As a youngster, he ran away to ride the rails but he was always brought back to school. He developed an early love of country music and has recorded many songs associated with Jimmie Rodgers, Hank Williams and Lefty Frizzell as well as writing several tributes—Hank, You Still Make Me Cry, Hank And The Hobo and Lefty Left Us Lonely. Boxcar's first performances were as a straight country singer. He wrote a song called Boxcar Willie and thereafter adopted that name. Although Marty Martin's first album was released in the late-50s, it was not until 1975 that he decided to create Boxcar Willie. The cover of the first Boxcar Willie album shows him in battered hat, striped bib overalls, crumpled jacket and worn-out shoes. It included The Lord Made A Hobo Out Of Me. He subsequently became one of the biggest-selling country artists in the UK. His US albums were short on playing-time and the UK releases have tended to be more generous. The television-advertised, 20-track KING OF THE ROAD reached number 5 on the UK album charts. Boxcar Willie has been an enormous success at London's Wembley country music festivals, as is evidenced by his live album, which dates from 1982. Boxcar's noted Train Medley is an express featuring seven songs and seven train-whistles in four minutes. His jokey name and love of train whistles led to wide public recognition although he has been mocked by country star, David Allan Coe. Boxcar Willie's duets have been diverse: he has recorded with Roy Acuff (Fireball Mail, Streamline Cannonball), Willie Nelson (Song Of Songs, Boxcar's My Home) and Hank Williams, Jr. (Ramblin' In My Shoes). Boxcar Willie's single of Good Hearted Woman was recorded, partly in English, partly in German, with European country star, Gunter Gabriel. In 1981, at the age of 50, he won the Music City News award for Most Promising Male Vocalist! In 1982, he finally found success on the US country charts via a revival of Johnny Cash's Bad News, this time complete with train whistle, and he was made a member of the Grand Ole Opry. Amongst his subsequent entries are Country Music Nightmare, Not On The Bottom and a duet of We Made Memories with Penny DeHaven. In 1985 he recorded some tracks with Willie Nelson. He acted as a hobo in a jail scene in the film about Patsy Cline, Sweet Dreams. Boxcar Willie is the World Ambassador for the Hobo Foundation and he owns a travelling railway museum. While never a serious contender for country stardom in the USA, his persona and his belief (probably sincere) in old fashioned values have allowed him to retain major popularity in Europe, where he has been much more available than many bigger stars. He has apparently composed several hundred original songs, but is best known for versions of country classics like Wabash Cannonball, Wreck Of The Old 97, Kaw-Liga. One of his best compositions, London Leaves, was written while he was travelling from Gatwick Airport to London, and, in interviews, he mentions his ambition is to raise the Titanic.