Boogie Woogie Articles

Meade Lux Lewis' Honky Tonk Train: 1927-1961

by Colin Davey

The history of Honky Tonk Train is a microcosm of the history of boogie woogie piano. It was originally recorded the year before the recording of Pinetop’s Boogie Woogie. This original recording sparked the interest of John Hammond in boogie woogie. Hammond sought Meade Lux Lewis for years, and finally found him working in a car wash. Hammond put Lewis in Carnegie Hall (with Ammons and Johnson) for the Sprituals to Swing concerts of ‘38 and ‘39. Lewis performed Honky Tonk Train at both of these concerts, and these concerts led to the boogie woogie craze of the 1940’s. After the boogie woogie craze ended, Lewis continued to record this piece, but performed it in a wooden fashion, at a breakneck speed. The last recording took place shortly before his death.

What follows is a list of all known recordings of recordings, by Meade Lux Lewis, of Honky Tonk Train.