In this series Francis Smith shows how much can be learnt about the life of the black American from the blues he sang. 6: Trains
The noise of trains has inspired many imitators, for example, William Mc-Coy - with his harmonica and Booker White with his bottleneck guitar. The railroad itself has always been important as a means of either bringing people together or separating them - ' I hate that train called the M and O ' sang Bessie Jackson. Then there is the metaphoric use of trains as in Blind Willie McTell 's Broke down engine blues '.